Vulpine Clothing

I ordered some merino stuff for partner (woman) as they had plenty of stock from them, but to try and find anything in the Men's is utterly painful - i mean come on just dont show anything that has no stock in any size would be a start!

bahhh so much for their IT system/stock system........ email today

"Regarding your Order" ... "Unfortunately due to the high volume of traffic causing issues with website orders we sold out of the Men's Fortress Jersey & Arm Warmers - Graphite - Small in the sale."

Yeah, have had stock problems about 3 out of the last 4 times I've ordered from them. All of them have been in sales TBF, but for a premium online-only brand it's a bit of a poor show. I do think their merino polos are great, mind.

Vulpine are after Crowdcube investment again.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on this before I launch into my own.

Vulpine are shit?
Now you go.

^this

I have a lot of vulpine stuff, I like and wear it a lot, despite some IMO really shit design issues - but found the pitch of those investment emails kinda gaggy, especially in the context of the last round of sales, flash sales, oh look the website's fucked again, more sales, fancy new stuff coming, can we bore you with another story...
not for me thanks.

why!!!!??? just get a job in the city or something ..

Let me expand - shit products and shit business practices.
Reeks of Foffa-esque monetisation of cycling "coolness", and just a little less unprofessional.

you only buy it so you can slag it off, no?

The person I feel most sorry for is Chris Hoy.

Big fan of my softshell gilet. Great for when it's bastard cold. Merino jersey a little baggy but hey.

Well.

1. They went through the original VC investment - fine, that's what it's there for.
   
2. Didn't turn a profit - not unusual, early days for a business.
   
3. Went to Crowdcube, used astonishing goodwill of investors to raise £1m.
   
4. A year later, still no profit, company goes to Crowdcube again looking to raise another £1m.
   
   

It's interesting seeing the books on the investor doc, and noting that the reason they need the investment is so they can simply get more stock in.
I'm most confused over the need for new stock vs their semi-permanent fire sale/discounting strategy. If they're running out of stock, it can only be after their 'sample' sales and flash 50% discount sales - they wouldn't be discounting if their stock was selling at full price.
They position themselves as a premium brand, but very clearly they don't shift much at full price.
They reckon that they can very quickly go from a loss making business, to a huge profit making one, in 2 financial years - just by increasing stock levels. But that's kind of fantasy island stuff, because why would you buy anything at full price if you know it's going to be put in a sale a few weeks down the line?
So essentially, none of the investor document stands up to that much scrutiny.

I feel Vulpine have made a rod for their own back in some ways - they put so much of the behind the scenes stuff up online, and also the Crowdcube thing demands that they put their books and strategy up.

I absolutely know this post will raise the hackles of Nick if he happens to drop past here again, but assuming anyone who follows Vulpine is a potential investor, I'd say these are valid concerns and questions.

The sexism apologist?

Yeah, that guy!

Hey. That's Sir That Guy to you.

Did they have a particular sale/website issue around last summer? Seems they shed a load of Directors in July. Previously included a few Investment Bankers and now just Hussey.

No! Unlike many of the anti Rapha whingers I speak from experience.

I keep being suckered by the sales only to be disappointed by poor fit, questionable design features and garments shrinking when washed as per instructions.

So Vulpine is now an alternative to Rapha city collection.

But with shrinky merino :/

Yeah they've said that in the past - grew too fast, took on too many exec level positions.
As for the sales/website problems - ongoing, as far as I can tell.

The Hoy branded thermal tights were tres bon, thankfully.

I've not had major problems with fit or shrinkage, but I note my favourite garments - the merino polos - are not in this year's S/S collection. They are fragile though - I've a collection of 2 or 3 tops that I keep meaning to send back to try out their repair service.

I do agree that the perma-sale/website death of the past year hasn't done them any favours. I think Foffa-esque is harsh, though; my take is that Nick is entirely genuine in his love of cycling, and comes across as more inclusive than most other brands.

Are they doing a Hoy range this year? Quite like picking some of those items up in the inevitable fire sale.

Twitter feed says they've got a 30% sale on now (though link takes you through to their crowdfunding page).

Their online growth of 142% is quite disingenuous, it is clearly down to selling through overstocks which were originally destined for wholesale at vastly discounted rates. Their bottom line clearly shows this. So to use it as some beacon of success of their new model is simply not true.

Secondly as any good Retailer knows, tight control of stock vs. sales is key, so you are not holding loads of cash in stock which affects the viability of the business by reducing your cash flow, something they are clearly experiencing. I would seriously question the strategy of lend us some cash so we can buy more stock = profit.

As referenced above, the constant fire sales and discounting have seriously damaged their brand, I mean who seriously would pay full price for anything when you can almost guarantee a big sale is just around the corner?