By @NY Staff
Upscale mens’ clothing retailer Brooks Brothers is trying on digital tailoring at its midtown store.
As retailers look for ways to get customers back into their stores, especially after Sept. 11, Brooks Brothers is rolling out body-scanning software that was developed by Image Twin of Cary, NC.
The company said the use of the Digital Tailoring product at its store on Madison Avenue and 44th Street is the first time that body-scanning technology has been applied to custom suiting.
The move follows in the footsteps of retailers such as Levi Strauss and Land’s End who have used body scanning to help customers order custom-fitted jeans and activewear. Now, Brooks Brothers is hoping that the technology will help more customers opt for custom-fitted suits.
It works like this: After the customer steps into a measuring booth/kiosk, a body scanning software program scans the person’s body for about 12 seconds with a strobe light. The scan gathers over 200,000 data points and turns them into a three-D body map of the customer.
From there, it’s back to the traditional way of ordering custom-fitted suits. The form of the gentleman is then reviewed with a Brooks Brothers sales person regarding clothing item, fabric and cut on suits, trousers, sport coats and shirts, for example.
The price of the specially tailored suit starts at $698, although the final cost depends on the fabric and the kind of detailing that the customer orders. It is sent out to tailors and mailed back within 15 days. From there, the customer is expected to come back to the store for a final fitting — and a final analysis of how the technology performed.
