Steve Jobs came up with a renowned solution to the everyday problem of choosing an outfit to go to work: he famously wore the same black turtleneck, jeans and sneakers every day.
The father of Apple’s approach was certainly radical. But still, opening the wardrobe, matching shirts to pants and making sure that the overall result is appropriate for the occasion is a task that some people are happy to skip. Especially when your work environment is more formal than 'business casual,' selecting the right attire requires time.
Between 2011 and 2012, Blake Smith - now co-founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based Cladwell - faced the problem himself. At that time, he transitioned from being an internal financial analyst to an external representative.
"If you really want to take a new and different approach to fashion... you actually kind of need to have some healthy distance from that industry."
"Suddenly I found myself in a place where clothing matters, maybe, a little bit more," Smith said in an interview. "What I wanted was somebody to help, to be a friend, to guide me through this."
Luckily for Smith, his friend Chris Merchich - who worked at Macy's as a brand specialist and co-founded Cladwell in 2012 - was ready to answer the call. He created an 'interchangeable capsule wardrobe' for Smith, a selection of 35 items of clothing where everything goes together. "I was delighted," Blake said. "He wasn't trying to sell me anything, he wasn't trying to convince me to buy more clothing: he was just a friend."
Essentially, the Cladwell app is supposed to play the same role as Chris. By paying $5 a month, users get access to an online service that works as follows. First, they select what clothes they own thanks to an online catalog. Then, every morning, they get three outfit recommendations based on the occasion, the weather and their past behavior (the app's algorithms will keep track of your favorite outfits).
"The problem that we solve is this problem of having way too much clothing, and nothing to wear," Smith said. "We have more clothing than any society in the history of mankind... The insight that we have is we say, 'hey, we actually don't sell clothing: we work with what you have.'"
Cladwell, which launched its app in the spring of 2017, said it has between 10 and 20,000 paying subscribers (predominantly women). Currently, the company has 11 employees based in the Deskey Building in Cincinnati.
"If you really want to take a new and different approach to fashion... you actually kind of need to have some healthy distance from that industry," Smith said. "Cincinnati is a great place because no one would think to start a fashion company in Cincinnati."
