What could make shoppers shell out up to $100 for a pair of women’s tights? Canadian fashion manufacturer SRTX seems to have it figured out, and its founder thinks the model could be the future of manufacturing.
The company has shipped three million pairs of tights in the past five years at a higher price point than most. In a recent interview, founder and CEO Katherine Homuth told BNN Bloomberg she believes the tights’ durability is behind the brand’s success.
Future of onshoring
SRTX does all its manufacturing in Canada, at its 300,000-square-foot headquarters in Montreal. Homuth told BNN Bloomberg that the intellectual property involved in the manufacturing process is one of the key reasons the company chose to keep its factories at home.
“We wanted to control our IP,” Homuth said.
The company’s proprietary technology uses a polymer previously used in bulletproof vests, a polymer Homuth described as “incredibly expensive.
So we needed to get every single cost out of the system that we possibly could,” she said.
As competitors tackle supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions with major manufacturing bases like China, SRTX says its operation could be a model for reshoring or bringing manufacturing back to North America.
“We do everything here in Canada, we call it ‘powder to product’. By vertically integrating, you can really take out a lot of those margins that some of the other suppliers would have,” she said, calling the model “the future of what manufacturing will look like.”
“Whether that is overseas or here in North America, where you have a lot more augmentation, a lot more automation, that actually means there’s very little labour per unit, and you’re able to compete with lower-cost geographies.”
SRTX sells its products through its own website, and wholesale through retailers like Macy’s, Costco and Amazon. It also sells private-label tights with Sheertex branding through apparel chains like H&M and Simon’s. Homuth said this was the first year that SRTX sold more tights through wholesale and private label than on its own. The United States is currently its primary and biggest market.
Its marketing leans into the features provided by the polymer, with ads showing the tights being mauled by sharp fingernails and cutting implements without ripping or running.
Tabloids have reported that stars like Taylor Swift often step out in Sheertex tights, and the company claims its design engineers a knit that is “10 times stronger than steel, lighter than water, cool to the touch and anti-microbial.”
“This polymer is the future of durability in textiles in general,” Homuth said.
Sustainability pitch
The company also touts the sustainability argument in favour of its long-lasting tights, arguing they contribute to less waste than traditional nylon tights that typically don’t last for more than a couple of wears.
Homuth compared the frequency of buying Sheertex tights to that of shopping for socks or underwear.
SRTX is a product of the University of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab, with the program for startups playing a major role in their Series A fundraising.
Homuth says the company has raised $200 million in equity and debt, and aims to become profitable in 12 to 18 months. Tennis star Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures was among the angel investors in the company. Asked about IPO plans, Homuth said she is focused on building a strong and durable company but is keeping the IPO option open for the future.
Next up for SRTX: a foray into waterproof and water-resistant textiles next year. It’s part of the company’s plan to “disrupt” the $1.5-trillion apparel industry. It would seem that SRTX is betting the apparel sector is more vulnerable than its own tights.
