The Stiff Collar Apparel Company

Launchpad

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Company Name	The Stiff Collar Apparel Company
Mission	a cool new E-brand that sells ‘somewhat snooty English shirts’ at decidedly non snooty prices
Overview	The Stiff Collar is a cool new E-brand that sells ‘somewhat snooty English shirts’ at decidedly non snooty prices. The English cut Stiff Collar shirts are different in three key ways when compared to regular high street shirts. All shirts are made from 100% cotton and have these characteristics imbued into them: Longer than other shirts by 4 inches, so the shirt remains tucked in at the end of the day (even if you have a beer belly. Stronger: because features like the split yoke, the butterfly gusset and cross stitch buttons give our shirts extra strength and flexibility. Fitter with slightly narrower shoulders, a closer fit at the chest and an hourglass shape at the waist with the hip section flaring out gently. Despite their premium tailoring and 100% cotton fabric, Stiff Collar shirts retail for only Rs. 899 as the internet allows us to save retailer margins, expensive real estate costs and working capital and we pass this on to the consumer. We see no reason why the Indian male shouldn’t wear world class shirt designs at a price that is affordable and of great value.
Launch	August 10, 2011
Founder	Kabir Hingorani Kabir looks after design and manufacturing at The Stiff Collar. into the family which launched Liberty, India's 1st readymade shirting brand in the 1950s, Kabir graduated from HR College, Mumbai and then went on to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. He was then associated with a couple of entrepreneurial ventures in the US market before returning to run Fashion Apparels, which focuses on design & manufacturing of contemporary & designer women's wear for the European and North American markets. With The Stiff Collar, Kabir hopes to reclaim his family's legacy as the pioneers behind India's first readymade cotton shirting’s brand.
	Rushabh Sanghavi Rushabh looks after Sales, Marketing and Operations at The Stiff Collar. Before founding Stiff Collar with Kabir, Rushabh was part of the initial team at ACK Media, India's leading children's entertainment company with brands like Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle. As part of the leadership team at ACK Media, he worked in the broad space of Marketing and Business Development looking after several functions at different times of his tenure including Marketing, Alliances, Ad Sales, New Media and E-Commerce. Prior to this he has had stints in the Education, FMCG and Publishing sectors. Rushabh went to business school at IMT Ghaziabad and received a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Mumbai University.
Location	Mumbai, Maharashtra
Team	6
Segment	E-Commerce, Private Label, Apparel, Fashion, Lifestyle, Retail
References	Samir Patil Founder ACK Media “Apparel is one of the fastest growing and largest category in E-commerce worldwide. Not surprisingly, India too has many fast growing companies in this space. Stiffcollar is an interesting private brand combined with an online store. It's appeal lies in aggressive pricing and ease of ordering for busy men. Given the challenges of physical retail in India - high rentals and low availability - I am very bullish on concepts like Stiffcollar that circumvent these bottlenecks and deliver value for money and quality. Since their launch TheStiffCollar appears to be growing at 30% month-on-month and the challenge for them now is to maintain this growth as the user base increases and competition intensifies.”