What’s the name of your local tailoring and alterations shop?
If you can’t name one, Alexander Harden wants to change that. He’s the owner of new Hollywood alterations shop Stitch, which opened last month.
For now, Harden has a single storefront and a small business-to-business service that provides tailors for commercial, film and fashion shoots. But he has grand ambitions, hoping to turn both the retail and business offerings into a national brand – the McDonald’s of alterations.
“I realized the industry didn’t really have a brand,” he said. “No one had institutionalized it and I saw an opportunity to create Stitch.”
Harden, who used to work at a private equity firm, often got his suits altered at a small shop, but he was frustrated with the experience.
“They weren’t as private as you would like,” he said. “The curtains wouldn’t close properly and a modern fit wasn’t at the forefront of their mind.”
But with Stitch, the décor is modern, with hardwood floors, marble, white walls and large dressing rooms. Prices range from $18 for simple hem jobs to several hundred for alterations such as custom work on a bridal dress. Basic design work can take up to two days with more extensive alterations taking as long as four days.
Stitch tailors can also travel to meet clients and customers can get text messages to notify them when a garment is ready.
Harden said the plan is to concentrate on expanding the retail business on the West Coast then go nationwide.
But in addition to its storefronts, Stitch runs an agency that works with about 15 tailors who are hired by production companies and fashion stylists that want a tailor on the set of film and photo shoots. That side of the business is already taking off, Harden said. Since he started Stitch last month, the company has already worked on shoots with music artists such as Florence and the Machine and Common, and auto manufacturer Chrysler.
“What I found is that they were sourcing tailors by word of mouth or Craigslist, and that looked inefficient to me,” he said.
– Subrina Hudson
