Menswear line Indochino’s CEO & Co-Founder Kyle Vucko is not only quite the businessman but also quite the visionary. What started as an idea in 2006 between then college buds, Kyle and his best friend Heikal Gani, turned out to be the leading online retailer for custom fit suits and apparel serving over 130 countries and thousands of stylish men worldwide. If for any reason you’re not already impressed, you should also know that Kyle isn’t even 30 years old yet. Yep, that’s right. Amazing.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Kyle all about the brand, their multinational culture, and a few essential style tips for the guys who are new to the suit and tie game. You don’t wanna sleep on this.
Sabrina: First off Kyle, explain to me who the “Indochino man” is, what is his style aesthetic and what does he represent?
Kyle: Indochino is unique in that we never really set out to build the brand around a certain guy. My co-founder (Heikal Gani) and I started this brand back in college, we didn’t have any money and had never bought a suit before. What we found was that the stuff we liked was very expensive, and the stuff we could afford wasn’t stylish or didn’t fit very well. My co-founder, is your typical 5’6” Asian guy, really slender, who would have to spend way too much on tailoring. All of that lead to the concept of Indochino, which is really just to make it easy for all guys to get dressed while giving them style, maintaining their personality and enabling success for the individual.
S: The brand is based out of Canada in Vancouver, BC, which is a beautiful city. I lived in Vancouver last summer and found it was very culturally diverse . There were so many ethnicities blended together all in one place. I’m curious if the culturally rich city has any influence on the brand?
K: Very much so. We are a very multinational company. Heikai is from Singapore and we have headquarters located in Shanghai which is where I lived for 3 years. We also have American investors from all over the United States like Silicon Valley, Boston, LA, and Phoenix. We’re very global and diverse which is the fabric of our brand. When it comes to our style aesthetic it’s not just a unique to Vancouver or North America look. Diversity in our brand is represented not only in race, but also age and body type as well, and we like to do our best to make sure that shows off in our models and campaigns.
S: So you’re bringing your pop-store to Atlanta which is exciting! What made you choose Atlanta out of other American cities?
K: When we look for locations we are looking for places where there are businesses and cultural elements that make a city great and Atlanta fit that bill. I want to say that the Atlanta airport is probably one of the busiest in North America. It doesn’t necessarily seem like it, but Atlanta is a big international business hub behind the scenes. Much more than it is given credit for. We also have a very broad set of customers there and we’re hoping to grow if possible.
S: It’s great that you already have a developed costumer base here in Atlanta, however I think buying suits in general can be very overwhelming for first time buyers. The ‘GQ’ look is in and I know plenty of men want suits, but don’t know where to start. Do you have any advice for them?
K: Yeah definitely! That’s very much why we even started doing the pop-up stores. When we started the brand that was the exact mode that my co-founder and I were in, we had never bought a suit before and it was just super intimidating. I think in a lot of ways it’s like when a guy buys an engagement ring [laughs], its expensive, you feel silly asking questions and you don’t want to make a bad choice. What we try to do with our pop-up store is make it an open environment where you can just ask questions, and frankly we will ask you questions. ‘What do you do?’ ‘How many suits do you own?’ etc. That way we can size you up, build you up, and help you wherever you are on the fashion spectrum.
I think your first suit should always be a charcoal or a navy, and if it’s a summer suit then a navy linen or a tan khaki. There are few options but I think that’s where you create the foundation or building blocks to build on top of those. All of our suits are always on trend but also very wearable.
S: You already have a successful and inspiring career, but I know there is much more on the horizon for you. I was wondering if you could give me the “inside scoop” on what’s next for you and Indochino?
K: To me we’re still a very young brand, and as a brand we’ve made a habit of always trying to push boundaries. We don’t really see ourselves as a "company" because we see ourselves as a service, to help guys get dressed. The pop-up store that’s coming to Atlanta is something we’re going to be doing more of as a way to also help guys in person which is an important element. We are also going to start evolving in terms of wardrobe. There’s no real timeline on that but we want to get to a point where a guy can get his entire wardrobe from Indochino.
For all things Indochino head over to www.indochino.com.
To see more of their beautiful 2014 summer collection that's pictured above, you must stop by their Atlanta Pop-Up Store located at 999 Peachtree! The store will be open from May 16th to the 23rd and open every day from 10AM – 7PM with stylists and tailors on site. Check it out!
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