Introducing Fitz, The Closet Organizing and Styling Company You’ve Been Waiting For

by Paige Reddinger

Suffering from fashion overflow? Is your closet so messy, it looks like you’ve been robbed? Still can’t locate those Prada shoes you bought last summer? Fitz to the rescue! The new closet organizing and styling service from former Gilt co-founder and GlamSquad CEO Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and serial entrepreneur and Fandango founder Michael Cline is the best new in-home service on the market. Trust us—we tried it last weekend, and in just a few hours our closet looked like an MTV Cribs situation (sadly, a much smaller version). How it works: Two stylists come to your apartment and in 3 hours they’ll completely dismantle your closet, re-merchandise your wardrobe, replace your hangers, add new organizing techniques you’ve never thought of, and make more room and sense of your space. Voilà, everything “fitz”! If that’s not brilliant enough for you, let Wilson fill you in on the multitude of services Fitz has to offer.

How did you become involved with Fitz?
I’m a born and bred New Yorker, so I’ve always suffered through the pain of limited closet space, and I’m also a lover of fashion. I connected with a man named Michael Cline, who is a serial entrepreneur—he’s founded 13 companies, including Fandango—and he had some hypotheses about how difficult it is for consumers to get dressed. I felt like Fitz was a perfect mix of my experiences from Gilt, which was all about shopping and impulse purchasing, combined with what I learned at GlamSquad, which was all about delivering in-home customer service to help consumers feel their best and most confident. The two of us spent a lot of time together last year, and by September, I left my role at GlamSquad to focus full-time on this concept. With Michael, who is chairman and co-founder, we’ve built an amazing team at Fitz. We have over 30 stylists and we’re hiring about 10 a month. We’re really focused on building this business, because we feel it addresses consumer pain points in a way that is relatively affordable. Fitz is a service that everyone needs, but they just don’t know it.

Why did you name it Fitz?
Fitz is a play on words. One of the things we do in our styling-focused appointments is put together outfits for clients. We think a lot about the fit of a garment and we think about fitting all of the clients’ items into their closet space or drawers. So there are a lot of meanings to the word “fit,” and that’s where it came from.

Did you test the Fitz method on your own closet?
Oh yes [Laughs]. Our stylist, Alex, and a junior stylist came to my home in August and did my closet so we could time how long the process would take on average and how many items could be organized during a given time frame.

How much does it cost?
Our service is $300 for two stylists to go to your home for three hours and it’s a $100 for every hour after that. We’re also creating two-hour appointments, which can be focused on styling go-to outfits for your work wardrobe, dates, or social functions. We can also do specific event styling. We have a lot of clients reaching out to be styled for weddings. We also have brides requesting help for events related to their own wedding, like bridal parties. We help people with life transitions, like if they have a new job. We can also help clients pack for a personal or professional trip. We can plan out their outfit for each day of the trip and pack the suitcase for them.

You also come ready with organizing supplies. Explain!
We believe in excellent customer service and that all of our clients should have skinny matching hangers. Not only does it look nice, but it helps maximize space. We have a supply van that comes to the appointment to satisfy the immediate needs of the client. We carry hangers, sweater boxes, bag stuffers, boot stuffers, shelf dividers, and all of those kind of things.

Which other services do you offer during the appointment?
We work with Leather Spa to send the client’s shoes and bags to be repaired or for preventative care. We also partner with two tailors, Alteration Specialists and Air Tailor, and we can help our clients with tailoring needs. We can even arrange for the tailor to come by the client’s home after the appointment. We also work with the online consignment shop Lynda’s Stuff, which is something that our clients really respond well to. Over 91 percent have sent items to Lynda’s Stuff to be sold during the appointment. We also take any items to be donated to Goodwill. We offer touch-up appointments for clients who have already experienced the full closet overhaul, but need a little refresher. And we do vertical folding in drawers, which creates more space and visibility. We are big believers in visibility, because if you can see it you are more likely to wear it. After the appointment, we always send shopping recommendations so you can fill the gaps in your wardrobe.

Will the business expand beyond New York City?
We will be expanding to the suburbs of New York this Spring. We’ve already had many clients from Westchester, Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey request appointments and we’ve been servicing them as one-offs, but now we’re actually recruiting a team in Greenwich and Westchester so that we can easily cater to the suburban clientele as well.

Do you see this as a business that could expand nationally?
We have the potential to expand, but we’ve just started, so we’re focused in New York—it’s a huge market. We are just scratching the surface.

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