Ministry of Supply (clothing)

Ministry of SupplyCompany type| Private

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Industry| Fashion
Founded| Boston, Massachusetts, United States (2012 (2012))
Headquarters|

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

Products| Clothing and business attire
Website| www.ministryofsupply.com

Ministry of Supply is an American men's and women's business wear fashion brand based in Boston. It was launched in 2012 and founded by former Massachusetts Institute of Technology students using some of the same temperature regulating material as NASA astronauts in their clothing.[1]

The company currently sells the majority of their clothing online and currently has brick and mortar retail locations in Washington D.C., San Francisco, New York City, Santa Monica, Boston, and Chicago.[1]

## History[edit]

The company is named after the Ministry of Supply, a British government department that was formed in 1939 to coordinate the supply of equipment to all three branches of the armed forces during World War II.[2] After a year of product development and small-scale sales in the spring of 2012, the company decided to conduct a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of a synthetic knit-blend dress shirt with heat and moisture management, odor control, and offered a full range of motion.[3] The campaign raised over $400,000.[4]

In June 2013, the company again went to Kickstarter for a campaign to raise funds to produce a dress sock.[5][6] This campaign raised more than $200,000 for the start up company.

The Ministry of Supply display at the Boston Marathon Expo in April 2015.

In late September 2013, the company raised $1.1 million in seed round financing from VegasTechFund, SK Ventures, and Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow.[7] The $50,000 investment from Breslow came after his fiancée bought one of the shirts as a birthday present and he wore the shirt while traveling on the road with the team.[8]

## Design[edit]

The Ministry of Supply's goal is to use new materials, aerospace, robotic engineering, and thermal analysis to create a new category in the design of better-fitting men's business attire.[9] The company seeks limited beta testing through customer input and feedback with when designing their clothing. Early customers are integrated into the development and design process by inviting them to be part of the research into the final product.[10]

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## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Castellanos, Sara (2014-06-04). "High-tech menswear startup Ministry of Supply to launch pop-up store on Newbury Street". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
2. ^ Kirsner, Scott (2012-07-29). "High-tech dress shirts being developed by Ministry of Supply". The Boston Globe. BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
3. ^ Alspach, Kyle (2012-07-09). "Ministry of Supply breaks Kickstarter fashion record with $300K+ raised". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
4. ^ "Ministry of Supply: The Future of Dress Shirts". Retrieved 2014-09-02.
5. ^ Robehmed, Natalie (2013-07-08). "I Wore These Socks For A Week And They Don't Smell". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
6. ^ "ATLAS: Performance Professional Comes to Socks". Retrieved 2014-09-02.
7. ^ Empson, Rip (2013-09-26). "After Kickstarter Success, Ministry of Supply Lands $1.1M To Expand Its Tech-Savvy Men's Line". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
8. ^ Martin, Claire (2013-05-28). "Rolling Up Their Sleeves, as a Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
9. ^ Luna, Taryn (2013-05-04). "MIT student start-ups have their eyes on fashion". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
10. ^ Castellanos, Sara (2014-06-25). "MIT-born Ministry of Supply asks customers to help with design of new products". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2014-08-26.

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* VIAF

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