Gustin: The First Fully Crowdsourced Premium Fashion Brand

Gustin has redefined menswear and fashion as we know it.  They have a different approach on things: let the customer decide what they want, and listen.  It seems so simple, let the people tell you what they want and do it.  Gustin has paved the way in this crowdsourced fashion market, for those of you who haven’t heard of Gustin, here is your tutorial.

The Start of Gustin

Coming to us from San Francisco, Gustin has been around for about eight years now.  Starting out as a denim brand and selling to high end retail stores, Gustin quickly made a name for themselves when it came to menswear.  Immediately recognized for their quality, fit and style their jeans retailed for over $200.  A lot of designers and brands would be happy there, lucky for us Josh Gustin and Stephen Powell had another idea.

Gustin wanted to produce high quality at wholesale prices, and only create what their customers were into.  They launched a KickStarter campaign about a year ago to revamp their entire business, and it worked.  Raising over $449,000 (the largest fashion KickStarter campaign to date) they produced a ton of jeans and were able to build the first fully crowdsourced fashion platform.

They continued this model, selling everything they make at wholesale and only creating what the people want to see.  This platform has not only given the consumer a huge say in what they want, but allows us to get $205 jeans for $81… sounds like a good idea to me.

Check out this video to learn a little more about this awesome brand

How Gustin Works

Each product design starts out with a mini KickStarter type campaign.  They showcase the idea, if you like it, you back it.  If the product hits its funding goal Gustin creates the line and sends it out to the backers.  If the product doesn’t receive enough backing, you aren’t charged.  Seems like a pretty simple way to run a company, yes it is completely ingenious.

Have more questions about the Gustin process?  Click here and see it explained in detail by the men themselves.

Current Campaigns for Gustin Products

Gustin has new campaigns popping up all the time.  A lot of jeans, but that’s not all they do.  You can back jeans, shirts, belts, wallets, you name it, it will probably be there at some point.  Here are some of the pieces we hope get backed in the near future.

Japan Black Denim, $91.  Shown here is the Japan Black, the fit will be similar to the second photo but in a premium black Japanese denim (pictured above).

 Blue Rust Flannel Shirt, $76.

 Japan White Oxford, $69.  This shirt will be constructed similarly to the second photo, but will be done in a white Japanese twill fabric (pictured above).

 Simple Wallet, $20.  

Gustin Coupons

Want to save a little money while backing your favorite products?  No problem.  Click here to get Life, Tailored’s $5 discount and spend away.

Our Final Praise

Gustin has changed the way we see the future of clothing.  They have created a world that weeds out the poor choices designers can make and leaves it in the hands of the people.  We can only hope other brands take on the innovative ideas Gustin has put out into the world.  Thank you, Gustin, your ways inspire us all.

Want to see more Gustin on Life, Tailored?  Click here to see the previous posts we’ve done on one of our favorite brands.  And be sure to check out our review on Gustin’s oxford shirts!