Custom Clothier J. Hilburn Raises Another $5 Million And Adds Suits To Its Wardrobe
June 09, 2011 at 00:21 AM EDT
Custom men's clothing company J. Hilburn is expanding its product line to suits today and raised a $5 million C round from Bridgescale Partners and existing investor Battery Ventures. That brings the total capital invested in the Dallas startup to $12 million. The funds will be used to accelerate its development of new products and as working capital for clothing inventory. J. Hilburn started out with men's dress shirts, but soon expanded to pants, sweaters, and more casual wear. The company takes a unique hybrid approach to sales, employing a direct sales force of 1,000 "style advisers" who visit customers at their homes or offices for consultations and fittings. That sales army is growing fast. At the beginning of the year, there were only 625 style advisers. More recently, the company launched online sales , which makes it easier to move that relationship can move from offline to online .