![]() ![]() As an Asian woman founder working in a predominantly male industry of menswear, I really wanted to understand the pain points of my customers to create a better fit for them. I realized how little attention Asian/API consumers were getting across almost all industries even though Asian American buying power grew 68% from 2010 to 2018, surpassing $1 trillion. As I grew a better understanding of how the world worked, I knew I wanted to pave my own path for what success looked like and create a brand with impact. I was an art director and designer that worked in advertising, tech, consulting and was climbing the corporate ladder, much to my parent’s approval, but sought something more fulfilling. Navigating my career path, I did not think of entrepreneurship as a viable career path. ![]() Going off to college and then moving to New York City for work really opened up my eyes and mind to what diversity truly was. TZ: I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, California which is a predominantly Asian community. Tell us about your own story growing up and how that impacted your world view. YW: You are passionate about Asian American representation. Being one of the only shirt brands with a bold Asian American narrative, we are excited to cater to this niche with a better slim fit and strive for more Asian representation in the clothing industry. We really wanted to create dress shirtsthat fit off-the-rack for slim guys. It was important to create accessibility for good fitting and affordable shirts because having a good fit should not have to come with a premium price tag. Our sizes are created through height and weight, in contrast to the industry’s “neck and sleeve”, which provides a more proportional approach to fit. Our Actually Slim fit is slimmer than the industry’s “Slim” because we realize there is a sizing gap to fill. ![]() This creates a gap in menswear for guys who are shorter, smaller framed, or just slim in general. Our average customers at the same height can be as slim as 140 lb. male who, on average, is 5’9” in height and weighs 200 lbs. Wearing an ill-fitting dress shirt and feeling self-conscious about it all day can affect one’s confidence at the workplace.īecause large retailers cater to the mass market, their sizes are made to fit the “average” U.S. It is important to be inclusive in clothing, specifically dress shirts, because the dress shirt is a staple item that holds importance in professional settings and needs to be well-fitted. I created Nimble Made, a new Actually Slim dress shirt brand, for guys like my dad and Wesley. They both couldn’t find a good quality dress shirt that fit well without needing a tailor, shopping in the junior’s section, or paying a premium for it. My co-founder Wesley Kang had the same issue as a slimmer and shorter Taiwanese-American working at his finance job where he had to settle for baggy dress shirts on a daily basis. TZ: I remember my immigrant father telling me, “American dress shirts don’t fit me”. Why do you think it is so important to be inclusive in clothing and at an affordable price range? YW: You quit your jobs to start a brand that catered to the needs to Asian American men, as well as other men who find slim fit shirts hard to find in America. Yinsey Wang interviews Tanya Zhang on the brand, her approach to business and her aspirations moving forward. Having been featured on platforms such as Huffington Post, Nimble Made is an exciting game changer and is diversifying to meet the challenges posed by Covid19. Tanya felt that the way in which we present ourselves in the workplace can help with confidence and impact impressions of colleagues and others, yet Asian-American men’s experience of finding clothing suited to corporate life remained difficult. Taking a leap, Tanya quit her steady corporate job for a path of entrepreneurship with her co-founder, Wesley Kang, to found Nimble Made, to fill this void in the market. Fashion Features Interviews United States 0 CommentsĪ much-needed solution to a gap in the marketĬhinese-American Tanya Zhang grew up in a predominantly Asian community in the United States of America, and when she ventured out to New York to pursue work opportunities, she came to a realization.ĭespite the diversity of the American workforce, the power of Asian-American spending power, men like her father could not find American dress shirts that fit well. ![]()
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