In less than 12 hours last week, a Chicago-based menswear fashion startup exceeded twice its funding goal of $15,000.
The Kickstarter for Portefini's first product, the Everyday Blazer, launched Nov. 1, and one week later, it has raised more than $43,000 from 177 backers, according the fundraising page, www.portefini.com. That's $28,000 more than the goal Ramzi Assaf, the startup's founder, set.
Leading up to the crowdfunding campaign, Assaf and his two teammates, who are also students at University of Chicago, worked with the Polksy Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the development of their men's blazer. In addition to the Summer Accelerator program they participated in, Assaf said that Polsky helped them with the design, marketing, research and marketing of their product.
The Everyday Blazer is a jacket designed for men to wear for any occasion — at the office, riding a bike or out on the town, for example — and it was an idea inspired by the clash of styles Assaf experienced when he first moved to the U.S. from Lebanon last fall. He had spent time living in Europe and Dubai, where his fashion style was — as he describes it — preppy and formal. When he arrived to the Chicago, he said, he quickly noticed that Americans have a culture of dressing much more casually than he was used to.
So, he adapted to that style. But he still wore many of the blazers he had previously designed and was used to wearing abroad, and pretty soon, he noticed that people liked the idea of a blazer they could wear for multiple occasions.
"Guys started liking the look and the fact that a blazer can be worn casual and every day, not only on those rare formal occasions," he said. But, he said, the blazers they were used to buying and wearing were too formal to be worn in a casual setting.
"That was a first driver to understanding why they perceived those blazers formal, and why couldn't they just buy a blazer and put it on a t-shirt," he explained. "Then with time I designed this Everyday Blazer, which solves all of those points I heard from people about blazers in the market."
And so, he began the research and design process behind the Everyday Blazer. Assaf, a masters student at University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, described it as versatile — blending formal and casual.
"Either they have casual options, or they have too formal options," he said. "The idea of this was to give them an in-between option."
The jacket is a combination of cotton and spandex, making it wrinkle resistant; the location and design of the side pockets mimick the casualness of sweatshirt pockets and the roll-up sleeves make switching the blazer from formal to casual even simpler, Ramzi said. He also said the length is shorter than most formal blazers, adding to the ability for the jacket to be worn casually. The jacket also has a deep pocket on the inside of the jacket.
While the blazer doesn't come cheap, the Kickstarter price that its being offered for does fall within the price range of most name brand blazers. Currently, Portefini is selling the blazer on Kickstarter for $199, which is $100 off the future retail price. The Everday Blazer is similarly priced, if not more expensive, than Zara ($100-200) or H&M blazers ($35-150), but cheaper than Ralph Lauren blazers ($325+) or Brooks Brothers ($350+).
Assaf said that he expects the pre-ordered jackets to ship in July, 2017. After the Kickstarter campaign ends on Dec. 21, people will have another chance to place pre-orders for their own Everyday Blazer through Indiegogo.
Image via Portefini
