Pittsburgh-based Tailor on Tap, which launched a bespoke clothing business in 2018 with in-home and in-office custom apparel tailoring services, has opened its first brick-and-mortar store at Tysons Corner Center in Virginia.
Tailor on Tap targets college students, athletes and young professionals with its bespoke clothing for both men and women.
Prices for custom-made men’s or women’s suits range from around $400 to as much as $2,000. Tailor on Tap says turnaround time from fitting to delivery is two to three weeks.
“We wanted to be in a market with access to college students and young professionals, and with all of the great universities and large organizations in the Washington area, Tysons was a good fit for our first store,” Kayla Druga, vice president of marketing, told WTOP.
All of the fabrics used by Tailor on Tap come from Europe, including England and Italy, as well as from Turkey.
The Tysons store has seven employees, all with fashion backgrounds. Druga said the company does not hire people with only general retail experience.
Tailor on Tap’s Tysons store is in partnership with BrandBox, which provides short-term leases to online retailers who want to test the waters with physical stores. The store currently has a six-month term with BrandBox for the Tysons location, but hopes to extend that or find another permanent spot in Tysons.
BrandBox is a division of shopping mall owner Macerich, which owns Tysons Corner Center.
Druga says the pandemic-induced work-from-home trend has affected demand for their suits, but says custom-made dress shirts are still top sellers right now.
“People need to be professional in their Zoom meetings but aren’t necessarily worried about a full suit. You can wear a dress shirt and look professional even if you’re wearing sweat pants, too,” she said.
Interest in full suits, for both men and women, has been rising, with more professionals beginning to return to the office, Druga said.
Fittings by appointment are with a personal style consultant, which assists customers in choosing from hundreds of suit and shirt fabrics and dozens of threads and buttons.
The Tailor on Tap showroom at Tysons had a soft opening Sept. 12. Its official grand opening is Oct. 16, with live music, food and several promotions.