To design a complete clothing collection from scratch in 20 minutes, produce it, manage logistics, and sell it with just a few clicks within the same platform. This is the model of the startup Fabbric, which has emerged as a tool to facilitate the integral creation of collections promoted mainly by influencers. Alba Rocafort and Hugo Cuesta launched the platform in May 2023, and Fabbric closed the year a few months later with over 310,000 euros in revenue.
"Now, we continue with double-digit monthly growth, and we will close the year with nearly two million in revenue," Rocafort explains to The New Barcelona Post. "The process of fashion design and manufacturing was until now very manual; it had not been digitized," highlights Fabbric's co-founder. The platform centralizes and optimizes the necessary steps to launch a fashion collection, starting with design. In a process where the pattern-making and design team is in contact with the client to help them technically translate their ideas, the user has predefined digital modules on which to materialize their garments. These sample models include all types of garments, from basic t-shirts to bags and trench coats, and can be customized to the user's taste. Thus, on white garments that follow current trends, the client can modify colors, patterns, and elements such as logos and brands.
This design tool allows for significant time and cost reduction, according to Rocafort: "It usually takes months to conceive a collection, and we reduce it to 20 minutes." Furthermore, this design process can require investments of up to 100,000 euros to hire designers and pattern makers, apart from the production cost, assures the now CEO of the company. Using the platform, according to Rocafort, the cost of creating a collection is limited to that of producing it, plus the Fabbric subscription, with prices starting from 89 euros per month.
Opening up the possibility of creating and producing garments and collections without needing to know about design or pattern making has generated interest that has led Fabbric to have more than 5,000 people on a waiting list to use its platform. And for now, the startup selects its users: "We are choosing who can create collections with us, strategically and based on profiles that interest us to give visibility to Fabbric," especially renowned influencers.
The platform, which until now has produced collections for 72 clients, plans to tackle this list with a forceful measure: it plans to open the platform to users without prior filtering in the coming months. Rocafort guarantees that Fabbric will be able to handle the volume of this demand: "We work with more than ten manufacturers, we have no limit," assures the co-founder. Currently, Fabbric works with producers from Spain, Portugal, and China, which allow its users to have their collections within deadlines that vary depending on the types of garments, but in no case exceed three months. Once the collection is made, the user can choose to use Fabbric's e-commerce channels, which also offers the possibility of storing and logistically managing the pieces.
The startup complements these services by developing innovative ways to link its garments with new technologies. Thus, they want to put blockchain technology at the service of the traceability of their clothing and their value chain, and they promote measures to generate community around their products. To do this, they have created a system that allows buyers of certain garments to access exclusive content from the influencers promoting their collection, among other initiatives.
The metamorphosis of Fabbric
Fabbric's initial business model was very different from the current one: in fact, it was just on the other side. The original goal of its two promoters was precisely to launch their own clothing collection, although "always with the idea of trying to digitize the fashion industry and generate a positive impact." Three years have passed since Rocafort and Cuesta founded their company, but decades have passed since they had it in mind: they have been friends since they were 10 years old, and already as teenagers they set as a shared dream to create their own clothing brand. With the pandemic, both decided to go for this dream, and left their jobs in investment banking and marketing, respectively, to focus on this common goal. Cuesta comes from a family of clothing designers, who helped them find manufacturers and promote designs. "However, it was impossible for us to create the brand, due to the resources involved, the production minimums, and our lack of know-how of the industry."
It was only about eight months ago when they realized there was "a huge market opportunity," and decided to transform into what is now Fabbric. "We identified a great need to create brands, just as we wanted to create our collection. And, with content creators, there was a significant increase in this need," according to Rocafort. It all started with the launch of an influencer's clothing line in collaboration with Fabbric, which gave visibility to the startup as a platform for boosting collections. "Since then, content creators started contacting us, and that's how we decided to pivot towards this model."
To transmute their old business into the new platform, Fabbric had the knowledge of what is required to create a fashion collection, as well as the operating system to do it. "We were an e-commerce, nothing to do with the B2B we are now, but we had the knowledge of the process." The fact that they themselves had tried to launch a collection without succeeding gave them an alternative perspective and point of view that led them to take the leap and turn their business around. "We managed to pivot quickly to adapt to a much larger market opportunity." Thus, the prior experience of trying to launch their collection was key in this process and facilitated elements such as having previous contacts with manufacturers.
Since the founding of Fabbric, which has the support of European Next Generation funds and the state-owned Enisa, the company has raised funds through two investment rounds: one of 255,000 euros in 2022 for its previous model, complemented by 147,000 euros from Enisa, and a bridge round in 2023 to transition to the current model, of another 405,000 euros. Now, the company has embarked on a new round with which it aims to raise two million euros, with the forecast of closing it before summer. In parallel, the company plans to increase its workforce, which until now has consisted of only five people. "We want to double the team," specifies Rocafort, who also announces that Fabbric plans to open its platform to a new country in the coming months, as a first step in its expansion. "We will have a quite relevant international acceleration starting next year." This is what Rocafort predicts, with a clear objective on the horizon: to revolutionize the sector and turn Fabbric into the "back office" of the fashion industry.