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Dutch company Suitsupply has made international headlines due to its campaign and unique selling aspect. Everything began in 2000 when law student Fokke de Jong founded the company at 26. The store started operations from his bedroom, wherein he sold affordable suits with Italian fabrics online at a reasonable price. Along with selling clothes online, Suitsupply opened a standalone store near the Hoofddorp and Schiphol airports where the suits can be altered. The strategic location helped boost sales and reached a large target market for being a small start-up. Spanning across 22 countries through more than 80 stores, Suitsupply has amassed a $220 million fortune with its unique selling concept and advertising campaigns.
A business that began in a bedroom has grown exponentially and become a rival to some of the most luxurious Italian and French menswear fashion brands today. Fokke de Jong has credited the affordability and quality of the products as the reason for its success, but there are many reasons why Suitsupply has gained momentum. Let’s take a look at how the brand has established its success.
Vertical Integration With Suppliers
One of the most critical strategic implementations that Fokke de Jong applied was the location of the stores. As mentioned by Fashion United, the standalone stores were located near airports where men commuting could stop by for alterations or purchases. Rather than opening stores in crowded locales, airports and business centers were chosen as Jong believed that quality and customer service were more important than marketing and expensive locations. By 2003, the tenth Suitsupply store had opened in Amsterdam near a luxury shopping street. While the location and price created a drop in sales in 2008, the company won the Marketing Excellence Award that year for its advertising campaigns.
What makes a Suitsupply store stand apart from the others is the one-stop suit supplier for a painless experience. The tailors are seated right in the middle of the stores for any basic alterations, while complex changes take not more than three days. In addition, each fabric at Suitsupply is bought in Italy from high-end mills and goes straight to the brand’s factories before reaching the customers, without a middle man's involvement, as Forbes stated. This improves the supply chain and minimizes the additional cost.
Famous Collaborations To Draw Customers
As a standalone brand, Suitsupply has gained momentum, but the famous collaborations that increased its sales truly made the brand noticeable. The Olympics has become a destination for the best fashion houses to support their country and showcase their fashion through the athletes. Suitsupply has consistently been the menswear brand for athletes since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Followed by the Winter Olympics in 2010, the brand made waves at the 2012 London Olympics with its fitted suits, as noted by GQ. Made fashion sites named it as one of the best Olympics outfits of 2012. Suitsupply was called again in 2016 for the Rio Olympics.
Some other exclusive collaborations include the Liberty London department store in 2009, which released a capsule collection of jackets with Liberty printed on the pockets. Famed shoemaker Antonio Maurizi also joined hands with Suitsupply to develop a group of six brogues and loafers, a limited edition purchase that gained traction. In addition, Dutch journalist Jort Kelder has released over six collections with Suitsupply and insists that only cashmere socks be sold with his designs. Each collection has various themes, including the 2017 Dandies & Daredevils.
Unique Advertising Campaigns
Many critics have noted that the suits created by Fokke de Jong carry a similar quality to an Armani suit. However, they cost one-fifth of their price. With over 38 stores in the United States, Suitsupply has hit a target market with very little spent on advertising. Instead, using the pull marketing strategy, the brand has grown organically through social media and word-of-mouth advertisement. Instagram has been a primary campaign choice as the page has over 645,000 followers.
Suitsupply has been unabashedly bold with its advertising campaigns, showcasing raunchy advertisements that have sometimes been too intense for the audiences. The sexually charged campaigns have been chiefly photographed by Carli Hermes and tend to show print ads, unlike any other fashion house. According to the New York Times, the 2021 campaign post-pandemic came after a year of wearing masks and covering faces titled The New Normal Is Coming. It showed male and female models in close-ups with sensual poses. These advertisements were a shocking surprise for the audience, who were accustomed to a world without contact for more than a year.
Known for its menswear clothing line, Suitsupply has also ventured into women’s fashion in 2018 by launching sharp outfits for powerful women, stating that power dressing has returned to womenswear. As a result, Suitsupply has become a growing destination for people who want tailored suits with a unique customer experience unlike anything experienced before.
Sources: Fashion United, Forbes, GQ, New York Times