American Apparel had a real novelty value when they launched. Not only was it made in the US, it was made in LA! It struck a chord with hip urban audiences.
So I'm left wondering how From Holden differentiates itself with AA. Pricing, branding, location and fit seem roughly equivalent. Would love to hear from the founders on this.
My gut says that it may have been better to stay in Boston and be (for all I know) the only men's apparel company in Beantown; the East Coast AA. Currently, in my below-average monkey brain, From Holden has been classified as "that other LA clothes company."
We love a lot of what American Apparel has done. We've certainly taken a lot of plays from their book.
That said, we think there are a lot of ways we can improve on the model:
1. Price - we think $25 for a tee shirt and $50 for a hoodie is too expensive; at scale we want to be lower on our basics. We won't be supporting retail stores, so this is very feasible. AA can't come down anymore in price, they've had a rough couple years as it is.
2. Quality - we're confident we can make consistently higher quality garments; more consistent in quality and fit, and better fabrics.
3. Style - on items outside their basics, we're not big fans of AA's fit or style. That is personal preference, of course.
4. Focus - we're only focused on men and will keep a very small line. Instead of millions of colors and styles, we're going to focus on delivering things every guy should and can wear. We want to be a safe bet so dudes can trust us.
LA and NY are really the only two places you can live if you want to be down the street from where your production happens. This is important if you are a micromanfacturer and want that kind of control for quality.
Make sure your shirts are able to get as many washes out of them as the AA ones. I've owned a lot of different brands of shirts and one of the ways in which AA has surpassed many other brands is in the number of washes you can get out of a shirt before it looks and feels like it should be replaced. Many cotton shirts end up with a very rough hand after only 5-10 washes. ELS cotton also makes sure that the shirt resists pilling.
These days 95% of the time I can be found wearing the AA "Track Shirt" in multiple colors because it's got great color fastness and maintains a smooth hand. I'd say each of my shirts have 20+ washes and don't look much different than the day I bought them.
I just recently realized that I've had a few AA shirts through multiple years of heavy rotation, and they still look and feel like new. Whatever it is that they're doing, it works.
So I'm left wondering how From Holden differentiates itself with AA. Pricing, branding, location and fit seem roughly equivalent. Would love to hear from the founders on this.
My gut says that it may have been better to stay in Boston and be (for all I know) the only men's apparel company in Beantown; the East Coast AA. Currently, in my below-average monkey brain, From Holden has been classified as "that other LA clothes company."