Ledbury Retail Manager Audie McDougall measures for a custom shirt. Photos courtesy of Ledbury.
Since its founding in Shockoe Bottom in 2009, Ledbury has built its business largely on selling thousands of its high-end men’s dress shirts online.
Now the brand is making a shift in an attempt to tap into another vein of the luxury menswear market.
The company next month will formally begin taking measurements for custom shirts at its shop at 117 S. 14th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
“We think it’s a category that can grow,” Ledbury co-founder and CEO Paul Trible said. “We think it can be 10 percent of our business.”
The custom shirts will only be available to in-store shoppers, who will make appointments to be fitted and can choose from 1,000 fabrics, 30 colors and customize their shirts down to the stitching and buttons. They’ll start at $185 and, like the company’s off-the-rack shirts, will be made in Europe.
Custom shirt customers can flip through 1,000 choices in the store’s fabric books.
“We’re not offering this online,” Trible said. “We think doing this in person is important. We want this to be something that’s truly a luxury experience.”
Ledbury over the years has branched off of its staple business – selling blazers, belts and other accessories. And it has done custom shirts on a limited basis without advertising the service.
But the ready-made shirts, which start at $125, have remained its bread and butter, accounting for about 75 percent of Ledbury’s business, Trible said.
He said having a supply chain already in place from current operations makes it easier to expand into custom shirts.
“We have the fabric reserved,” Trible said. “It lets us add a new component to our business without having to double down on investment.”
Ledbury won’t be without competition in the custom shirt category in Richmond. Recent arrival Alton Lane sells custom shirts from a storefront at 304 Libbie Ave.
To kick off the new product offering, the company is looking outside its hometown of Richmond. It is doing a 10-day stint for its custom shirts at a New York City retail location of well-known shoemaker Cole Haan.
“We’re sharing the space and seeing how it works,” Trible said. “The point is for us to really drive traffic through the store.”
Ledbury has plans for other new products and a more permanent expanded retail presence. Sales of pants and polo shirts will begin in May, and it plans to open a second brick-and-mortar location later this year, though Trible did not say exactly where.
“We’re looking at opportunities in terms of additional locations in the mid-Atlantic and the South,” Trible said.
Ledbury Retail Manager Audie McDougall measures for a custom shirt. Photos courtesy of Ledbury.
Since its founding in Shockoe Bottom in 2009, Ledbury has built its business largely on selling thousands of its high-end men’s dress shirts online.
Now the brand is making a shift in an attempt to tap into another vein of the luxury menswear market.
The company next month will formally begin taking measurements for custom shirts at its shop at 117 S. 14th St. in Shockoe Bottom.
“We think it’s a category that can grow,” Ledbury co-founder and CEO Paul Trible said. “We think it can be 10 percent of our business.”
The custom shirts will only be available to in-store shoppers, who will make appointments to be fitted and can choose from 1,000 fabrics, 30 colors and customize their shirts down to the stitching and buttons. They’ll start at $185 and, like the company’s off-the-rack shirts, will be made in Europe.
Custom shirt customers can flip through 1,000 choices in the store’s fabric books.
“We’re not offering this online,” Trible said. “We think doing this in person is important. We want this to be something that’s truly a luxury experience.”
Ledbury over the years has branched off of its staple business – selling blazers, belts and other accessories. And it has done custom shirts on a limited basis without advertising the service.
But the ready-made shirts, which start at $125, have remained its bread and butter, accounting for about 75 percent of Ledbury’s business, Trible said.
He said having a supply chain already in place from current operations makes it easier to expand into custom shirts.
“We have the fabric reserved,” Trible said. “It lets us add a new component to our business without having to double down on investment.”
Ledbury won’t be without competition in the custom shirt category in Richmond. Recent arrival Alton Lane sells custom shirts from a storefront at 304 Libbie Ave.
To kick off the new product offering, the company is looking outside its hometown of Richmond. It is doing a 10-day stint for its custom shirts at a New York City retail location of well-known shoemaker Cole Haan.
“We’re sharing the space and seeing how it works,” Trible said. “The point is for us to really drive traffic through the store.”
Ledbury has plans for other new products and a more permanent expanded retail presence. Sales of pants and polo shirts will begin in May, and it plans to open a second brick-and-mortar location later this year, though Trible did not say exactly where.
“We’re looking at opportunities in terms of additional locations in the mid-Atlantic and the South,” Trible said.