Meet Whitney and Vadim, co-founders of 3DLOOK

Whitney and Vadim, co-founders of 3DLOOK have built unique mobile-first body scanning and measuring technology which enables a simple exchange of measurement and shape data between business and customers to help optimise processes, cut costs, and deliver better shopping experiences. The 3DLook co-founders recently worked with Withers Worldwide to celebrate their success within the fashion and technology industry, as part of the law firm’s Talking Success series.

What does 3DLOOK do?

Whitney Cathcart: Our flagship e-commerce solution YourFit offers virtual try-on functionality combined with highly accurate data-driven size and fit recommendations. It works in the form of a widget that brands can implement on their product pages. To use YourFit, online shoppers choose an item of clothing and click on the widget on the product page. 

They are then voice-guided through a quick and easy scanning process using a smartphone camera. The solution shows how clothing looks on them and also shows them what size will fit their unique body best, giving brands the unique ability to offer their consumers a genuine and engaging dressing room experience online.

Additionally, the solution provides body data analytics that allows each brand to analyze their existing customer’s measurement and body shape data to identify high opportunity groups. This way, they can offer more personalized shopping experiences and customize products that will fit their customers best. Consumers today have so many choices in brands. Those that can offer better and more engaging experiences around fit will attract and retain more loyal customers.

Also, in April 2021, we launched Uniform Pro — a digital measuring, fit, and size recommendation solution for the uniform industry. It enables uniform manufacturing and rental companies to measure end-wearers remotely, with no need for in-person contact or physical fittings, and accurately determine the right-size garments for individuals. Our customers in the uniform sector have already seen great results as well — for instance, Burlington Medical has seen a 67% decrease in return rates

How challenging was the process of developing 3DLOOK? 

Vadim Rogovskiy: At the time of launch, 3DLOOK's solution was the only technology of its kind on the market. Many companies tried and failed to create one, quickly giving up. We had to find like-minded engineers with very rare Computer Vision and Machine Learning skills that would help us make a breakthrough. It took a year of trial and error to develop the technology, until we finally did it, however, the challenges didn't stop there.

When the tech was ready, we came up against a significant obstacle: 3DLOOK's core technology didn't catch on in entertainment and fitness apps. After conducting market research, we were inspired by the growth in e-commerce and switched the company's focus to the apparel industry. 

3DLOOK's technology immediately caught the attention of leading brands, but the main challenge was creating a product-market fit for an additional three years. Our determination paid off. 3DLOOK pioneered 3D mobile body scanning and today works with some of retail's most prominent players, including Dickies and Tailored Brands. As they say, success never comes without a challenge, and 3DLOOK is a great example.

How did you fund the business in the early stages?

Vadim Rogovskiy: For the first year, I used my savings to fund the business. We spent that time figuring out if it was possible to create a technology that could measure the human body using just a smartphone camera. We didn't turn to investors until we were sure that it was.

Since then, we have been supported by some of the most well-known VCs, which include  Boost VC, 500 Startups, ICU Ventures, U Ventures (part of Horizon Capital), and supermodel Natalia Vodianova, and most recently — Almaz Capital who led our Series A round.

Before launching 3DLOOK together, you'd already accumulated experience as tech founders. So what sparked the inspiration to make 3DLOOK your first joint venture?

Vadim Rogovskiy: I launched my first company at age 18 and then ran a web design studio and a gaming company before turning my focus to the mobile ad-tech industry. I previously founded Clickburner, later renamed Clickky, a private equity fund partially acquired, and AdCenter, which VertaMedia acquired. 

Rather than following the safe route and growing ad-tech businesses, I decided to take a risk and undertake a new challenge. I wanted to create a unique technology that would change the lives of millions of people, bring real value to businesses, and be hard to replicate. 

It was an arduous journey because, at the time of launch, 3DLOOK's solution was the only technology of its kind on the market. But, we were determined to do what others before us failed to do- and it paid off! 

Whitney Cathcart: Having spent almost three decades in fashion and retail, I understood that the industry's future would be built on digital technologies leading to more efficient processes and better customer experiences. I knew that I wanted to be part of a company driving this transformation, so I spent several years doing a deep dive into AI and 3D technologies, which led me to 3DLOOK. The company, still at a very early stage, was building a mobile first body scanning technology and I was impressed by the vision of the founding team and the complexity of the technology. I joined the team as an advisor and the rest as they say is history!

Our founding team is very diverse, which, I believe, is one of the critical pillars of our success: none of our backgrounds overlap. For example, we have Vadim, a serial entrepreneur with prior exit experience and a mobile tech and software background. 3DLOOK’s CPO Alex Arapov is an expert engineering leader, our Chief Scientific Officer Ivan Makeev holds a Ph.D. in computational and applied math and spent almost a decade as a research scientist at Intel Labs.

Where do you draw your inspiration from to continue pursuing and innovating in the tech space? 

Vadim Rogovskiy: Besides having big ambitions, I love the process. I love doing new things in areas that excite me, so I set ambitious goals and try to have fun achieving them. It's vital to build a company around something that you're passionate about; that's what will keep you going even when things are rough.

How can retailers use the data received through 3DLOOK to create a positive change to the way their clothing looks and feels? 

Whitney Cathcart: The body data collected through the technology provides an opportunity to analyze specific patterns in body shape segmentation and distribution at a deep level and compare it to the brand's fit standards and core body and grade rules.

For example, one of our early e-commerce clients, 1822 Denim, discovered that their consumers are shorter and curvier than their fit models, showing that the fit models weren't a great representation of their real customers. This allows the brand to understand what their customers look like, adjust patterns and grading to fit their actual customers better and retarget customers across specific fits.

What does the future of retail shopping look like? 

Vadim Rogovskiy: We believe that the future of retail is all about personalization. E-commerce is inherently product-centered since its inception, and we've all been living in a world where shopping is forced on you. Think of how many ads we see a day or how much stuff we buy that ends up gathering dust in our wardrobes. 

However, things are already changing: responsible young consumers are already rejecting the hype, trendiness, and expendability of the fashion world and retail in general. Instead, they prefer focusing on quality vs. quantity, and they want to feel that personalized touch. This is where technology steps in.

For example, imagine utterly personalised e-commerce pages showing products fitting your exact figure, skin tone, preferences, and how they look on you — that’s a completely new level of personalised shopping experience and the shift is already happening.

Top three tips to young entrepreneurs going into the fashion technology industry? 

Vadim Rogovskiy: These tips could be applied to all B2B startups. First of all, make sure that you have people on your team with fashion and tech backgrounds. It would help if you had experts in both areas. I've seen many companies fail — or just not being able to grow at a fast pace — because they had purely fashion or purely tech teams and they underestimated the complexity of another area. So, make sure you've got both tech and the application space expertise represented in your founding team.

Then, put a lot of effort into customer development. Go out and talk to your future clients; even if you've got nothing to show, just put together some slides about your idea. This investment in customer development will pay off and save you loads of time and money on creating a great product.

Lastly, you should become obsessed with customer experience. You need to understand that the audience is picky since many startups are appearing daily. Their expectations of customer experience are high since they can switch to another product or website effortlessly, so you need to be obsessed with customer experience from day one.

How do you lean into fear?

Vadim Rogovskiy: I love challenges, and I believe that you should appreciate them, not be afraid of them. I treat this entrepreneurship journey as a game, the most exciting one ever, and this helps me take it less seriously. Whenever there’s a big challenging task ahead, I just play it in my head before I do it, and that helps me feel confident and go ahead with new ideas.

What is next for 3DLOOK?

Whitney Cathcart: 3DLOOK is going through an exceptional growth trajectory. Over the past year, the business has increased nearly sixfold. In addition, brands such as Tailored Brands and Dickies have partnered with us to accelerate their digitization efforts and offer a more personalized, contactless shopping experience driven by data intelligence. Earlier this year, we announced a $6.5 million in Series A funding before launching YourFit in July — a product that is set to change the way we shop entirely.

But this is just the beginning! We are already expanding to other industries such as uniforms and furniture. Our growth strategy includes extending into different segments to enable personalized, made-to-measure furniture and car seats, better tracking of health and fitness progress in apps, creating personal avatars in video games, and so on. Our ultimate goal is to become an industry-standard in everything that requires personalization based on human data.