Solo female founder raises UK’s largest pre-seed round to solve fashion’s $230bn fit problem
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Fashion technology start-up Fit Collective, founded by Savile Row-trained designer Phoebe Gormley, has raised £3 million in pre-seed funding, marking the largest round ever raised by a solo female founder in the UK.
Using artificial intelligence, Fit Collective is tackling the fashion industry’s hidden crisis: inconsistent sizing at the production stage, which costs the sector an estimated $230 billion annually in returns and lost revenue. Rather than relying on outdated pattern-cutting methods or placing the burden on customers to decipher sizing, Fit Collective acts as a co-pilot to brands, analysing returns, fabric behaviour and sales data before garments are made.
The platform is already being used by major brands including Rixo, Ro & Zo and Boden, helping them reduce returns, boost retention, and improve profitability, while giving customers clothing that not only looks good, but fits better.
Gormley’s path to fashion tech began when she left university and used her tuition fees to open Gormley & Gamble, the first women’s tailoring house in Savile Row’s 200-year history. Years spent designing bespoke garments for lawyers, brides, and businesswomen honed her obsession with fit, a passion now scaled through tech to impact the entire industry.
The £3M round includes backing from AlbionVC, Superseed, True Global, and January Ventures, alongside an Innovate UK Smart Grant. The funding will support team growth, product development, and deeper integrations with global fashion brands looking to improve both their bottom line and sustainability credentials.
“Fit is one of the fashion industry’s biggest blind spots, and returns are now a board-level issue costing the industry billions. We’re backing Fit Collective because they’re tackling this challenge at its roots.
Valerie Aelbrecht, Investment Manager at AlbionVC
The team is building the kind of intelligence layer we believe will power the next wave of operational transformation in retail.”
At a time when nearly half of womenswear is returned, and only 1 in 3 items are kept, Fit Collective offers a timely, scalable solution, helping brands design smarter, waste less, and ultimately create clothing that works for real people.
More in Vogue Business here.
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