That is not the case with mass production. The fashion industry’s traditional manufacturing methods have, on a global scale, led to huge overproduction and growing losses. Most clothes are sold only at a reduced price and part ends up directly from the shop rails to landfills or recycling.

This means heavy losses for the manufacturers.

This stirred a great deal of interest in Fleischer ten years ago. He had a background in engineering and was working in the manufacturing industry. Though the fashion industry is, in some cases, very innovative due to its nature of creating global trends, it has fallen short of paying similar attention to the development of supply chains and manufacturing methods.

Son of a Tailor was established partly to solve this problem. The company’s business idea is simple – made-to-measure quality clothes that are hand-made using an on-demand manufacturing method that is revolutionising the industry.

The demand-driven model is in Fleischer’s opinion incomparable. Son of a Tailor’s production method no longer produces loss. This reduces production costs and saves resources. With on-demand manufacturing, you can also monitor the quality more efficiently.

Simultaneously this reduces the company’s environmental footprint. Fleischer says that by manufacturing the exact amount of cotton T-shirts that are ordered, Son of a Tailor has managed to reduce the climate-damaging GWP (Global Warming Potential) value of the T-shirts by a quarter.

But, first and foremost, the on-demand production is customer-oriented.

– Our production method allows offering the customer individual, made-to-measure garments. This eliminates the challenges of standardised sizing such as ill fit, Fleischer says.

– We have succeeded in combining a reduced carbon footprint with concrete customer benefit.

Technology and the right kind of attitude

On-demand clothing is not a new phenomenon – before the era of industrial ready-to-wear clothing it was common to have custom-fit, tailored clothes. Although technology nowadays enables large-scale custom-fit production, Fleischer does not see the revival of the production method being primarily about the development of technology, but rather about a change in attitude.

The current on-demand production made possible by the digitalisation is something he compares to Toyota’s lean philosophy. It was not driven by new technology, but rather a new way of thinking that centred around the continuous improvement of the production process and incorporating quality control into every aspect of production.

– Nowadays pretty much every car manufacturer follows Toyota’s manufacturing principles. The fashion industry is identical in having the same potential for development, Fleischer contemplates.

At the very heart of Son of a Tailor’s modern on-demand production is the company’s own creation, the Perfect Fit Algorithm. There is a need for a more individualised sizing according to a survey the company conducted. It concluded that one third of Danish men felt it difficult to find a T-shirt that fits well. The algorithm creates a personalised body profile for each customer taking into consideration their body’s proportions according to information provided when placing an order.

The analysis compares the customer’s height, weight, age, shoe size and body type against data points from thousands of male customers around the world. This provides a personalised profile that takes into account specific details such as the length of the torso, shoulder width and arm length.

– If the client wishes to make additional adjustments, our pattern team can make that fine-tuning to the garment by hand.

Ill fit increases clothing returns constituting considerable costs to manufacturers. In addition to its algorithm, Son of a Tailor has also launched a sizing category consisting of 24 pre-engineered sizes based on the measurements of more than 170 000 customers.

Compared to the traditional S, M, L size categorisation, it gives a higher priority to individual body types. The sizing system has proved successful.

– Whether our customer goes for a custom-fit garment or chooses an outfit according to our pre-engineered standard sizing, our objective remains the same: we want to make sure that they get a product that fits them perfectly and is something that they will wear over and over again.

At the forefront of change

Son of a Tailor has an ambitious vision that goes well beyond the company’s objectives. The motto ”lead the change” shows that the company wants to impact the entire fashion industry and be an inspiration for the change it urgently needs.

– We have noticed increasing interest in our maverick approach to business, Fleischer says. He reckons the single biggest reason for this is that the company has managed to achieve success with its business model both in terms of sustainability and profitability.

The idea is clearly attracting attention. This spring, the company was recognised with an award for sustainability and innovation by mindway and ELLE Education.

However, change will not happen only from within the industry itself. It requires political will. Policy-makers in Denmark, the company’s home country, have woken up to the benefits of on-demand production. The government has included Son of a Tailor’s operating model in the national review assessing progress made in achieving the country’s sustainability goals. The company representatives have also been invited to give a speech before the Danish Parliament.

The customers also seem to have adopted a new way of consuming fashion. Son of a Tailor’s clientele consists mostly of city-dwellers between the ages of 30 and 50. They are tech-savvy people familiar with online shopping.

– Our way of ordering especially appeals to customers who like to experiment and are open to new, innovative purchasing models.

A majority of the customers choose Son of a Tailor because of the quality and the great fit. The responsibility of the products is seen as a bonus. Especially speed of delivery can be considered a key factor behind the growing popularity.

– We are able to manufacture and deliver most of our products in just over a week, Fleischer says.

– Demand among our new clients has clearly risen and their average annual purchases have gone up by 30 per cent. Son of a Tailor has led by example and demonstrated that a company can operate in the fashion industry in a manner that deviates from mass production and is financially viable.

– We wanted to prove that manufacturing quality clothing with a good fit can take place in the EU. You just need the courage to address the core challenges of this business. For us, it’s important to be part of the change and set an example paving the way for a new kind of thinking.