Why we invested in Fit Collective

By Valerie Aelbrecht, Investment Manager

AI / Data

Posted
November 4 2025

Fashion runs on beautiful design and ugly data. Therefore, fit has been fashion’s biggest unsolved problem. Returns keep rising because sizing and buying decisions still lean on guesswork. The fix starts with turning messy product and customer data into decisions at SKU level.

The problem: returns haven’t been tackled at the root

Fashion operates on fragmented systems: PLM, ERP, ecommerce, returns, reviews. It’s hard to know why one SKU flies and the next one flops, so calls on sizing, grading and buying often come down to gut feel. Inconsistent sizing across brands and regions, real body diversity, and the shift to online have turned this into a costly loop. Returns tied to poor fit are estimated at ~£150bn a year. They also carry an environmental cost: packaging, transport, wasted inventory and overproduction that ends up in landfill. This is now a board topic, not back office. The ASOS ‘fair use’ backlash* showed the free-returns era is fading and retailers need structural fixes, not policy tweaks.

The solution: tackle fit at the source

Enter Fit Collective. The team is building an AI-powered operating layer that helps retailers understand SKU-level economics and act on them. Their beachhead is fit analytics and operations. They aggregate data into a proprietary Fit Cloud, enrich it with garment specs, body reference data and material properties, then apply ML across reviews, trends and cohorts. The output routes to the right teams, highlighting issues like poor fit, margin drag or trend mismatch. For example, early customers have discovered that 1 in 3 products are loss making once returns and marketing are factored in, and have used Fit Collective to cut returns by 10–30%, lift sell-through and reduce waste.

And that ‘fits’ nicely within our thesis…

At AlbionVC, we believe the next wave of value in operationally complex industries will be created by intelligence layers that connect previously siloed data and translate it into decisions. We’ve seen it within our portfolio with Mondra in F&B, Papaya in fleet ops and CarbonRe in industrial materials. Fit Collective is that layer for fashion.

Complex supply chain and fashion don’t scream glamour, but that’s exactly where data puts on its best runway show (last pun, promise).

Post-Covid, fashion ecommerce has passed $1T and in some categories return rates hit up to 60%. Margins are tight while expectations keep rising. Brands have finally adopted PLM and adjacent systems, creating the data backbone this needs. Fit Collective sits on top, unifies product, customer and returns data, and turns it into actionable fit intelligence.

Regulators are also turning up the heat on overproduction and sustainability, pushing fit accuracy into board-level KPI territory.

Most importantly, the founder–market fit is real. Phoebe Gormley has spent 11 years on Savile Row and brings hands-on expertise in fabric science and fit. That craft meets product in a pragmatic, data-driven platform that plugs into how designers, merchandisers and ecommerce teams already work.

TL;DR

Fit Collective is the missing layer between design intent and customer reality. It protects margin, delights shoppers and cuts waste. We’re proud to support Phoebe and the team, alongside our co-investors SuperSeed, True Global, January Ventures and Sie Ventures. Our investment in FitCollective reflects AlbionVC’s broader commitment to backing category-leading software companies that leverage data and technology to transform industries.
Valerie Aelbrecht, Investment Manager, AlbionVC

* ASOS recently updated its Fair Use Policy and began closing accounts of customers with high return rates. The move sparked significant backlash, with many taking to social media to argue that ASOS should focus on fixing its sizing instead. It’s a clear sign that the free returns era may be coming to an end, and that retailers are desperate for more sustainable solutions.

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