Eligo: The Marketplace of sartorialism

Ending 2019 with nearly one million euro in turnover, and on track to top 2.5 million in 2020. Since 2016, the year they founded their company, five partners have assembled a 14-member team, and brought 500 additional personal stylists on board in 40 cities all over the world - in Italy, the UAE, Singapore and Sofia

This is the story of Eligo, a young Milanese startup that sprang from the idea of bringing Made In Italy sartorialism directly into the home. And this story, which unfolded from 2015 to 2017, is inextricably interwoven with SDA Bocconi School of Management, when Naomi Kohashi, Giuseppe Catella and Guido Manno found themselves in the classrooms of the Executive MBA program, where they decided to turn their tailoring business into a more articulated project. “Thanks to SDA Bocconi,” Naomi confesses, “and our participation in three ‘Startup Day’ events, we managed to flesh out our original idea, creating a network of advisors who are vital to the growth of our company.”

The aim was to let customers enjoy a bespoke sartorial experience directly in their homes. Inspired by Alessandra Rubino (current head sartorialist and co-founder of Eligo) and the tailor-made creations she made in her workshop, the role of sartorialist emerged: a personal stylist to serve the fashion needs of every customer. In a very real sense, sartorialists are Eligo Ambassadors, working with clients all over the world. After initial contact via the website, the sartorialist’s job is go directly to the customer’s home to offer advice, take measurements, and deliver the final product.

To affirm the importance of the role of sartorialist, the company founded the Eligo Academy, with training centers in Milan, Torino and Rome. Beyond the indispensable technical side of the work of these professionals, which calls for expertise in fabrics and materials, new fashion lines and emerging trends, the Academy also deals with motivational aspects and sales processes.

In the three years since its founding, Eligo has extended the scope of the company, collaborating with 16 brand partners who use sartorialists to promote their products. So today Eligo is a marketplace in every sense of the word, coordinating three players: customers, sartorialists, and brand partners.

This is the reason why the 2020 projections for growth are so wide-ranging and the goals so ambitious. Beyond expanding the network of personal stylists to reach 1000, Eligo aims to reach cities like Paris, London and Amsterdam. What’s more, the startup is planning major investments on all technological fronts: from revamping the website to exploring new forms of digital communication, all while upgrading internal platforms for order management.