Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service in the United States and United Kingdom. It uses

recommendation algorithm A recommender system, or a recommendation system (sometimes replacing 'system' with a synonym such as platform or engine), is a subclass of information filtering system that provide suggestions for items that are most pertinent to a particular u ...

s and

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and unstructured data, and apply knowledge from data across a br ...

to personalize clothing items based on size, budget and style. The company was founded in 2011 and had an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in 2017 with a valuation of $1.6 billion. Stitch Fix generated more than $1 billion in sales during 2018 and reported 3.4 million customers in June 2020. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and employs 8,000 people worldwide.

History

Stitch Fix was founded in 2011 by

Katrina Lake Katrina Lake (born December 24, 1982) is an American businesswoman who is the Founder and former CEO of Stitch Fix, a fashion-based subscription service. Stitch Fix was established in 2011 in San Francisco and went public in 2017. In 2017, Lake ...

and former

J.Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

buyer Erin Morrison Flynn. The business was originally called Rack Habit, and was initially run out of Lake's apartment in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. The company began by catering only to women, but it has subsequently expanded to men's clothing, plus sizes, maternity wear, and kids. In 2014, Stitch Fix started to be profitable. In July 2016, the company ended its fiscal year with recorded sales of $730 million, and in May 2017, the company had raised $42 million from outside investors. In November 2017, the company went public on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

. It was the first female-led company to launch an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in over a year. In October 2018, several

class action lawsuits A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

were brought against Stitch Fix alleging that the company had violated federal securities laws by making misleading statements about its growth prospects. As of 2019, the company had 8,000 employees including 5,100 stylists and more than 100

data scientist Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and unstructured data, and apply knowledge from data across a bro ...

s. On June 2, 2020, the company announced layoffs for 1,400 employees, which was 18% of its total workforce, all of whom were remote workers in California. The affected employees were given the option of remaining with the company if they relocated. The online retailer also announced it would hire roughly 2,000 stylists in cities that have a lower cost of living than those in California, such as Austin, Cleveland, Dallas, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh. In August 2021, Elizabeth Spaulding replaced founder Katrina Lake as CEO.

Service

Stitch Fix is a personal styling service that sends individually picked clothing and accessories items for a one-time styling fee. Customers fill out a survey online about their style preferences. A stylist at the company picks five items to send to the customer. Stylists pick items based on a customer's survey answers and any access the customer gives them to their social media outlets. The customer schedules a date to receive their items, which is referred to as a "Fix". Once the shipment is received, the customer has three days to choose to keep the items or return some or all of them. If the customer keeps at least one item, the initial styling fee is credited towards the cost of the item. In addition to the styling fee being credited, if the customer decides to keep all five items, the customer receives 25% off the total cost of the items. Customers choose the shipping frequency, such as every two weeks, once a month, or every two months. The company also supports integration with

Pinterest Pinterest is an American image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboard ...

boards, allowing customers to add photos of fashion looks that they like. These boards may be viewed by a Stitch Fix stylist. The company uses

and has combined personal stylists and

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

(AI) for personalized recommendation.

Media

Stitch Fix was referenced in a ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' article about recommendation algorithms, data science and astrophysics in Silicon Valley. ''Wired'' also highlighted a new feature known as "Shop Your Looks," which suggests items matched to those previously purchased by customers. ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

'' profiled the company and called attention to "its data prowess across every aspect of its business to reinvent the $334 billion U.S. apparel industry." It was recognized as one of the "50 Most Innovative Companies" for 2019. Stitch Fix hosted a

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

-like red carpet event in the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station in New York City and had a 60-second spot before the 2019 Academy Awards.

References

External links

*{{official, https://stitchfix.com American companies established in 2011 Retail companies established in 2011 Internet properties established in 2011 Non-store retailing Retail companies of the United States Companies based in San Francisco Companies listed on the Nasdaq 2017 initial public offerings Subscription services