“Who are you wearing?”

Amazon — their spring collection.

According to analysts, the smirking giant is on track to surpass Macy’s to become the largest apparel seller in America by the end of the year.

By 2021, they’re predicted to own over 16% of all apparel sales, up from 6.6% in 2016, which still earned them $22B from direct clothing sales and commissions.

Sure, clothing’s online overhaul might seem inevitable…But Amazon? Yes, Amazon. Apparel is one of the final frontiers of e-commerce, mostly because people still like trying things on in person.

And, customers often hedge their bets by ordering multiple sizes, meaning that about 35% of all online apparel orders are returned.

This can wreak havoc on clothing retailers attempting to manage their P&L but, not to worry, Amazon has a solution for that, too.It’s called mass-scale custom tailoring.

They’re exploring a service called “5-day custom” — basically making clothing after a customer submits an order with their precise measurements.

Sounds like a grandiose PR play, right? Well back in April, they patented a manufacturing system that would allow them to produce clothing “on-demand,” that would use “print” and “cut” engines to produce custom pieces for assembly.

And when we say “custom,” we’re not just talking waist and inseam. We’re talking hips, chest, shoulders etc, so those of us with disproportionately arm-to-torso ratios will finally get a sweater that fits in the sleeves and the body.“It takes me 3 tries just to measure a square room”Same. To reduce “friction” (user-error) on the measurement front, Amazon’s supposedly developed a camera and scanning software to automatically determine customer’s measurements and upload them to their accounts.

Wait a minute… that sounds familiar. Yeah, the camera is essentially the next evolution of the Echo Look, Amazon’s new intelligent fashion assistant.

While they haven’t confirmed plans for the next generation Look, they have started launching their own private apparel brands for men’s and women’s clothing…

Source: “Who are you wearing?”