# WardrobeAI

> Clothes from real designers. Picked for you. On your budget.

WardrobeAI is a curated clothing subscription service that sources from small businesses and boutique brands. We learn your personal style through a real conversation (not a multiple-choice quiz), match pieces within your monthly budget, and get better with every box based on your feedback.

## The Problem We're Solving

**For customers:**
- Shopping is overwhelming — thousands of options, no curation
- Small designers are hard to find (buried on Etsy, hard to discover on Instagram)
- Mass-market subscriptions feel generic — same brands everyone else wears
- "Style quizzes" don't capture the nuances of your body and life
- The feedback you give doesn't seem to change what you get

**For small designers:**
- Hard to reach customers without massive ad budgets
- Wholesale buyers require large minimum orders
- No direct feedback on why items don't sell

## Our Approach

| What Others Do | What We Do |
|---|---|
| Source from mass-market brands (Stitch Fix, Nordstrom) | Source from small businesses and boutique designers first |
| Per-item pricing ($40-80 per piece) | Monthly budget you choose ($100 or $250) |
| Multiple-choice style quiz | Real conversation — style interview with a human feel |
| "Style Shuffle" that never learns | Structured feedback loop that actually improves |
| One-size-fits-all | "Invariants" — your hard lines, honored (no florals, no synthetics, etc.) |
| Off-the-rack only | AI design-on-demand: "I want this shape in that fabric" — custom made |

## Product Tiers

### Essential — $100/mo
- 3-5 clothing items per month
- From small businesses and boutique brands
- Style interview and feedback loop included
- Shoes, bags, jewelry available as add-ons

### Signature — $250/mo
- 4-8 clothing items per month
- Higher-end boutique brands
- Early access to new designers
- Concierge-level style interview

### Custom — Variable
- You set the budget
- You choose the components (clothing only, or full wardrobe)
- Custom frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.)
- Priority access to AI design-on-demand

## Market Opportunity

- **$7 billion** global fashion subscription market
- Growing at **6.1% CAGR** (2025-2034)
- No incumbent dominates the "small business boutique" niche
- Stitch Fix is mass market; Rent the Runway is rental; no one is budget-capped with boutique curation

## Competitive Landscape

| Company | Model | Our Differentiation |
|---|---|---|
| **Stitch Fix** ($1.6B market cap) | AI + human stylist, mass brands | We source from small businesses; we have budget caps |
| **Wantable** | Curated edits, $20 styling fee | We have a real conversation, not a quiz; our feedback loop learns |
| **DailyLook** | Premium styling, $40 styling fee | We start at $100/mo, not premium; we honor hard constraints |
| **Dia & Co** | Plus size niche | We're size-inclusive but not niche-restricted |
| **Rent the Runway** | Rental subscription | We sell, not rent; you keep what you love |

**The niche we own:** Small business curation with budget caps and real learning.

## Technology Stack

- **Frontend:** Next.js (React), Tailwind CSS, mobile-first
- **Backend:** Node.js or Python (FastAPI), PostgreSQL + Redis
- **AI/ML:** Python service for curation; LLM integration for style interview and invariants parsing
- **Payments:** Stripe (subscription billing)
- **Hosting:** Vercel (frontend) + Railway/Fly.io (backend)
- **Analytics:** Umami (self-hosted, already deployed)
- **Infrastructure:** Storj for static assets, potential 3PL for warehousing (Phase 2)

## Repository Structure

```
wardrobe-ai/
├── brand/          # Brand identity, positioning, customer personas
├── business/       # Pricing, financial model, vendor targets, roadmap
├── engineering/    # Architecture, curation engine, tech docs
├── legal/          # Compliance, terms, policies
├── marketing/      # Social strategy, content calendar, viral playbook
├── operations/     # Return logistics, shipping, warehouse transition
├── product/        # Style interview, feedback system, invariants, landing page
├── research/       # Competitive analysis, market data
└── site/           # Landing page source (Astro SSG)
```

## Roadmap

### Phase 0: Foundation (Months 1-2)
- Brand identity finalized
- 10-20 customer discovery interviews
- 5-10 vendor partners identified
- Landing page + waitlist live
- Legal structure + insurance

**Goal:** 50+ waitlist signups, 3+ vendor commitments

### Phase 1: MVP (Months 3-5)
- 20 founding customers (friends, family, early signups)
- Essential tier only ($100/mo)
- Manual curation with AI assistance
- Web app: style interview + feedback
- Manual returns processing

**Goal:** 60%+ keep rate, NPS 40+

### Phase 2: Growth (Months 6-9)
- Signature tier launch ($250/mo)
- AI curation engine v2
- TikTok + Instagram content machine
- Referral program
- 100 subscribers

**Goal:** 65%+ keep rate, 10%+ MoM organic growth

### Phase 3: Scale (Months 10-18)
- 500+ subscribers
- AI design-on-demand pilot
- Warehousing or 3PL transition
- 30+ active vendors
- Mobile app

**Goal:** 70%+ keep rate, positive unit economics

### Phase 4: Expansion (Months 18-36)
- 2000+ subscribers
- Men's clothing vertical
- Plus-size specialization
- AI design-on-demand full launch
- Potential Series A or profitable bootstrapping

## Issues & Project Management

All work is tracked via [Forgejo Issues](https://os.scoble.me/forgejo/sscoble/wardrobe-ai/issues).

**Labels:**
- `market` — Market research, competitive analysis, customer personas
- `feature` — Product features and design
- `engineering` — Technical implementation and architecture
- `business` — Pricing, financials, vendor partnerships
- `legal` — Compliance, terms, policies
- `improvement` — Documentation and process improvements

## Why This Matters

Fashion is personal. It's how we present ourselves to the world. But the current options are either overwhelming (do-it-yourself shopping) or generic (mass-market subscriptions).

We believe there's a middle path: curated discovery from real designers, within a budget that makes sense, with a system that actually learns what works for *you*.

Supporting small businesses while helping people feel like themselves. That's WardrobeAI.

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*Work in progress. Phase 0 — validating demand and building the foundation.*

Commit signing enabled: Sat May  2 12:47:38 PM PDT 2026