AFC Members Shaping the Future of Fashion Tech

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MEET | Citizen Wolf

Zoltan Csaki, Co-Founder

We caught up with Zoltan Csaki, co-founder of Citizen Wolf, to hear a bit about where he sees the industry changing and how Citizen Wolf is constantly adapting and challenging the status quo to offer the best product to their customers.

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY TO STARTING …

Eric and I are not from fashion backgrounds – we had both previously worked together in Adland in 2003 but the Citizen Wolf story began when we both took desks at Fishburners Sydney (a Coworking community for start-ups) in late 2015. From there we have spent the last 3 years building and proving a proprietary tech stack to deliver custom fit (tailored) clothing at scale and accessible to all. T-shirts are our proof of concept but Citizen Wolf is much bigger than Tees. Over time we'll take the brand into all categories of evergreen wardrobe staples - think timeless classics instead of trend. We opened our combination factory/store in a Darlinghurst garage in April 2016 and opened our second store and flagship in Haymarket last year.

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WHAT IS IT THAT CITIZEN WOLF EXCELS IN?

Citizen Wolf automates the process of tailoring to make the best fitting T-shirts on the planet. Our Magic Fit™ algorithm uses maths not measuring tapes to accurately create custom clothing at scale, accessible to all and ethically made on-demand in Sydney with zero waste. We call it smarter casual.

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WHAT BRANDS AND BUSINESSES ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING WITH?

We're direct to consumer so we don't really work with other brands although we'd like to start doing collabs... So if anyone out there wants to get in touch we're all ears!

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WHAT DO YOU FEEL ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES THE FASHION INDUSTRY IS FACING FROM A TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION STANDPOINT?

Funding - Innovation isn't easy and building a FashTech company is radically different to a regular fashion brand and requires different staffing (and thus funding). Especially as the lead times from concept to launch are often much longer than creating a collection ready for sale.

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WHAT IS CITIZEN WOLF DOING TO ADDRESS THOSE CHALLENGES YOU SPOKE ABOUT?

We're talking to a lot of people but it's hard to find seed investment in Australia for B2C brand-led plays...

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WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AND THE BUSINESS?

Expanding our reach nationally well beyond Sydney, as well as launching our second tailored category by the end of 2019.

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FROM YOUR INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER BUSINESSES AND DESIGNERS IN AN INDUSTRY WHERE CONSTANT CHANGE IS INEVITABLE?

Don't assume business as usual is the right answer. Ask naive questions, be flexible and don't get bogged down in the way things 'should be done' or have been done in the past - sometimes you need to wilfully ignoring existing systems and processes to get to a better solution.

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WANT TO KNOW MORE ?

Head over to the Citizen Wolf website by clicking below.