Mark Marengo are sharp cut British tailors offering a wide range of bespoke items that are not only high quality, but are sustainably and ethically sourced. Mark Marengo is looking to continue growing and providing excellent smart-wear to their customers, with a particular focus in the Asian market this year. Following Mark Marengo’s round of crowdfunding last year, we are now looking to move into the second stage of the Mark Stephen and Mark Marengo brand and offer something no one is offering yet.
Classic British tailoring with a twist
At Mark Stephen and Mark Marengo we are passionate about tailoring and achieving the perfect fit for every individual. This sharp-cut tailoring is the signature look of Mark Marengo, designer of the Mark Stephen and Marengo brands.
This round of funding will be used to continue our growth internationally. This will follow on from the showroom and visiting tailor concept trialled for Mark Stephen, where valuable lessons were learnt over the last nine months on how to operate from a retail point of view.
We are very much dedicated to our clients, so, following many discussions with our new millennial cohort, we found that they are looking for a more personalised service with increased speed in delivery. This has highlighted the gap in the market; as retail in other sectors becomes faster and more personal, so will we. We will look to deliver a truly personalised service and made-to-measure suits completed within very short timeframes.
This is not a completely anomalous move, as other tech companies are entering this market. However, it is important to highlight that none have the design background Director Mark Marengo has. Marengo feels this gives the brand an insurmountable advantage as he has years of experience as a designer, experience which will be noticeable through the design-led made-to-measure suits and shirts.
This ties in to the Marengo USP: the perfect fit. We plan to offer this customised service coupled with digital technology; our patterns are currently being digitalised, with plans to be ready within the next month. This will mean our personal stylists will be able to use their iPads to measure the client (no more faff with pen and paper!) and send the precise measurements to the factory. The suit will be ready to deliver within 18 days.
Not only does the client get the perfect fit, this avoids alterations, thus saving our clients money, whilst reducing the time to complete. Furthermore, suits can now be bought online and reordered at leisure, even from abroad, as their measurements will be safely saved online. Your perfect fit is at your fingertips.
We plan on entering the market aggressively, with prices starting at £399 and £499 for more luxurious designs.
The benefits from this process include:
Over 100 fabrics from which to choose
On demand production costs, avoiding large payments in advance for ready-wear
Ready-wear collection, finely tuned to meet demand, will still be available for clients not wishing to wait 18 days
Higher quality than ever before – Chinese workshop which we're using is one of the best in the world
Cashflow will drastically improve, with little stock held by us
Website will be innovative and offer a brilliant range of products
The Mark Marengo brand is moving from its Savile Row store to a showroom at 42 Berkeley Square. This will result in a drastic lowering of our costs. In addition, Savile Row has become very quiet, with many vacant units and little traffic, so we feel the showroom concept can work with our luxury line, focusing very much on made-to-measure and handmade suits, whilst continuing to provide all the aforementioned benefits.
On another note, Marengo has signed on with a Chinese company to open further shops and showrooms in China using the showroom concept. This has catalysed further work in the Chinese state-of-the-art workshop, where the potential for volume is exciting.
Our first shop in China is set to open before the end of the year. Mark Stephen is already available in Northern China (bottom right image), where we work with a Chinese partner and offer our Asian fit range, which has been received with much excitement.
Currently, 20% of all our profits are from our Chinese business. We are lowering our fixed costs by closing our Savile Row shop, whilst the New Berkeley Square showroom only costs £75k a year, all inclusive.
SECURITY: 2nd Charge on - Ash Lawn, High Street, Hurley, Maidenhead, SL6 5LT
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