Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Adams.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My business partner, Katie Demo, and I launched Brass in September 2014. I had been working in sourcing and manufacturing and Katie had been working in e-commerce marketing. We were at a point in our careers where we wanted our external appearance to match our internal ambition. But the brands that we coveted (Theory, Vince, Rag & Bone) were not affordable, nor did we want to spend that much money on our clothes. We decided to launch Brass to help women, like ourselves, streamline their wardrobe and elevate the quality of their clothes in an approachable way. We started with 5 dress styles and grew from there. For the first two years, we packed and shipped every order (10,000 orders) from our 500 sq. ft. office in Waltham. In 2017, we moved to our current office in South Boston and now ship all orders from our warehouse in Devens, MA.
In the beginning, we worked part-time on the business and relied on word of mouth to gain brand awareness and customers. We now have a team of 10 full-time and part-time people and we just opened our first retail pop-up in The Seaport. We’re very excited to finally have an in-person way for women to shop with us and experience the brand.
Over the last 3 years, we have formed lasting relationships with our customers and we strive to create beautiful pieces that help women get dressed faster so they can focus on things that really matter. The most rewarding part of this business is building a brand with a talented team of women for a customer community of talented women. We can’t wait to see what the next year holds for Brass!
Has it been a smooth road?
As an inventory based business, cash flow has always been difficult. We did not raise money when we first started. We bootstrapped the business for the first 3 years and only recently took on our first outside investor. The challenge of managing cash flow and making every dollar count helped us to establish a strong financial foundation for the business. So, even as we grow, we are still thinking very concretely about how we are spending every dollar.
Starting a business requires you to put every ounce of energy and time into it. Late nights, long weekends, doing whatever you have to get the word out there. There has been a lot of anxiety and stress over the last 3 years, but having a team and letting people be a part of building the business ensures its success and helps to relieve some of that stress.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Brass is loved by our customers for our quality, our curated approach to building a wardrobe, and for our customer service. We focus on only making the best essentials for our women so that they don’t have to spend hours looking for the “perfect little black dress”. Our women know that we work hard to give them only the best and we are really proud of the meaningful relationships we have built with our customer community.
We also created a system that helps women streamline their wardrobe. Our Foundations are the basis for a woman’s wardrobe, pieces you can easily mix and match, that transition throughout the seasons that you reach for multiple times a week. Our Editions are pieces that are a little more seasonal; they keep your wardrobe feeling fresh and current and are produced in limited quantities so you can be sure you’re getting something special and unique. Our Layers, which will be released in October, are super soft pieces that you can easily layer under dresses and jackets. They allow your wardrobe to transition and transform even more.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Boston is certainly not known for its fashion. That has been both a blessing and a curse for us. We are a unique offering in the city, but it can be hard to find talented, experienced people to join our team because many people in fashion want to be in NYC or LA. Generally speaking, though, we have loved being in Boston. Both Katie and I are from this area, so we have had a lot of support as we’ve started this business. The city is very welcome to new businesses and wants to foster startups.
Pricing:
- Brass items range in price from $60-$200.
Contact Info:
- Address: Office Address: 423 W. Broadway, #300, Boston, MA 02127
Store Address: 85B Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210 - Website: brassclothing.com
- Phone: (617) 701-7804
- Email: info@brassclothing.com
- Instagram: @brassclothing
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/brassclothing
- Twitter: @brassclo
Image Credit:
The first photo of Jay in the jean jacket photo by Lydia Carmichael, The Thirty-One Percent https://thethirtyonepercent.com/
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