Yahoo Lifestyle Proper Cloth Opens Showroom in Washington, D.C.
Proper Cloth has branched out beyond its home market of New York City and opened its first street-level store.
The brand was founded in 2008 by Seph Skerritt to create custom shirts online using a proprietary prediction algorithm and 3D visualization tools. Although the first couple of years were rocky, Skerritt admits, the business soon found a foothold. In 2013, it opened its first “showroom” in a six-floor walk-up in New York City, and in 2019, expanded into tailored clothing, including suits, jackets and trousers.
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The showroom closed during the pandemic and Proper Cloth pivoted into making face masks as well as more casual pieces such as custom chinos, T-shirts and sweatshirts, Skerritt writes on the company’s website.
Since then, as men returned to work and started to dress up again, the company rebounded enough to open a showroom and office in SoHo as well as a store on Fifth Avenue.
And now, the time was ripe to take its concept on the road.
Proper Cloth quietly opened its first street-level location at 1307 New York Avenue in The Herald, a restored historic building in Washington, D.C., about two weeks ago. “It was a very soft launch to test the waters,” said Daniel Zisman, the company’s spokesperson.
The space, which is 4,685 square feet, is larger than the brand’s Fifth Avenue store and has attracted men looking for tailored clothing. As a result, initial results have exceeded expectations, he said. “Since opening its doors, the D.C. showroom has seen remarkable success, generating $140,000 in just two full weeks of business — far surpassing initial projections of $30,000. With tailored clothing as the primary focus, the showroom has hosted high-value appointments averaging over $600 per client.”
Next up is a space in Chicago. That location will be on the fourth floor of the former Barneys New York space at 15 East Oak Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood. That store is 6,100 square feet and is expected to open between April 21 and 28, Zisman said, depending upon when the construction is complete.
He said he expects customers in Chicago to be similar to those on Fifth Avenue, where they gravitate toward “flair and pattern.” The D.C. customers are proving to be more formal and the shoppers in SoHo buy more casual pieces.
Zisman said there are no plans right now to expand beyond these two showrooms. “We’ve been an online retailer since 2008 and don’t plan on slowing down,” he said. “Last year, our sales were up over 25 percent and we have the same projections for this year.” As a private company, he did not provide a volume figure.
While online continues to represent the bulk of the business, the showrooms serve a customer seeking “the full experience” of the brand as well as an introduction to men who might be hesitant to shop for tailored clothing online, he said.
“We’re looking at these two showrooms as a test to see how we do with showrooms outside of New York City,” he said.
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