Does it seem like no matter how much you spend on a pair of jeans that promises an “incredible fit” – the fit is just NOT that right? According to jean innovator Crystal Beasley from Portland, Oregon, most women do feel a misfit when it comes to jeans, and we go through this because “the way clothes are sized today is fundamentally broken.”
Enter her idea for Qcut, a company that wants to make jeans for women – in get this, 400 sizes! Beasley’s plan is grand and she’s taken it to the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. She wants to revolutionize the way jeans are made and revamp clothes sizes in the process.
“We need more than just a new clothing line,” says Bealey on the Qcut Kickstarter page. “We need a new way of making and selling clothes. I’m looking to replace multimillion-dollar, high-volume, low-wage factories with smaller, more customizable ones that can deliver better fit, higher quality, and more equity for workers.”
As it’s explained on Qcut’s fundraising page, there are only five measurements that determine a perfect fit for a woman’s body type: Height, weight, shoe size, bra size, and the size of those favorite pair of jeans. Working with this data, the company has created a “sizing algorithm” that helps craft the perfect pair of jeans.
Based on Qcut’s chief innovator’s resume, the company isn’t just throwing numbers and figures into the wind, either. Gerald Ruderman, chief innovator for Qcut, invented and built this system back in the mid-1990s for jean giant Levi Strauss Company. Yes, those Levi’s. However, Levi Strauss wasn’t moving in this direction, and so Qcut came on board to adopt the model. Beasley explains the model works because it’s been tested and proven to work.
“Qcut hits the sweetspot between mass manufacturing and bespoke tailoring,” explained Beasley in an email to QMI Agency. Bespoke tailoring is “what you would need to truly cover all sizes.” Since other companies are already offering this service and at high costs (read: $700 plus for a pair of jeans), Qcut is making “made-on-demand” jeans in your size, but since there is no inventory and they’re selling directly to the consumer, the costs come in under $200 per jean.
Besides a better fitting pair of jeans, could this new idea help somewhat solve the size-shaming women face today?
“I wouldn’t claim I can solve our whole culture’s obsession with youth and beauty,” says Beasley. “However, just knowing that you’re not the only one standing in a dressing feeling like you don’t measure up is a fantastic start. It’s a torture chamber for all of us, regardless of whether you tall or short, straight or curvy. We’re not putting size numbers in our jeans because it truly is an arbitrary number. A half-inch square with a number on it in the back of your jeans shouldn’t make you hate yourself. That’s just ridiculous.”
If you donate now, jeans be will be delivered by July to March 2015. As of publish date, Qcute has raised $68,071 out of the $75,000 goal and the campaign has 21 more days to go. This means the project will be funded if at least $75,000 is pledged by December 3 2014 at 6:30 p.m. EST.