Shirts 4 Real eyes partners in US, Europe

 

The maker of niche collection t-shirts is open to working with apparel manufacturers to grow the business

SHIRTS 4 Real, which makes niche collection t-shirts, plans to work with distributors in the US and Europe to market its clothing line.

Founder and director Jan Wong Joon Kit said it has established contacts and hopes to tie up with them by mid-2009. Shirts 4 Real is also open to working with apparel manufacturers to grow the business.

The company designs, makes and markets cotton t-shirts under its own brand, Shirts 4 Real.

It was set up in May 2007 by two budding entrepreneurs - Brian Siew Wei Kit, 22, and 21-year-old Wong.

What started as a hobby in their early teens turned into a business deal with a mission to make t-shirts with "real" elements of life that could impact the lives of people.

"We started hand-printing t-shirts and realised we could not go too far doing it. We went up a notch and invested RM10,000 as initial start-up cost to turn it into a business. We wanted to create a brand instead of just a hobby," Wong said.

The t-shirts are produced and packaged by its partners in Johor, ensuring quality in every production.

Shirts 4 Real aims to produce four collections per annum. Each collection will have up to 700 t-shirts, worth RM40 each, with multiple designs.

"We launched two collections in Malaysia and one in New Zealand early this year. The response was good. We have sold all the t-shirts," Wong said.

Shirts 4 Real is also available in Australia.

"We will not aggressively venture overseas. Our aim is to strengthen the presence in current markets and create new collections every year as existing ones run out," he said.

Wong said Shirts 4 Real will set up a factory in Malaysia when demand improves.

It is positioning the company online to be visible by listing on multiple online fashion directories.