The Idle Man secures investment from Channel 4

Menswear retailer The Idle Man has secured a seven-figure sum of commercial advertising from Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund to help accelerate its 100 percent year-on-year growth.

The investment will see The Idle Man launching a TV advertising campaign across the Channel 4 network, which will mark the menswear retailers first ever TV advert.

Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund offers high growth potential brands not currently advertising on TV at scale, the opportunity to accelerate their growth through TV promotion across its marketing platforms, in exchange for an equity or revenue share in the business.

Vinay Solanki, Head of Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund, said: “We are very impressed with The Idle Man’s management team and its recent strong growth, and are delighted to be working with them.

“We believe that TV driven brand awareness across our Channel 4 network will help expose this burgeoning business to our core young, upmarket audience, particularly as they invest more deeply into their brand. We hope our investment will help The Idle Man to secure themselves as a key player in the online men’s fashion retail market.”

The Idle Man chief marketing officer, Alex Outlaw added: “We are delighted to welcome Channel 4 to our investment portfolio. Their backing, alongside Foresight Group, and prominent angels is proving transformational for The Idle Man, and will allow us to continue our ambitious expansion plans for the next year and beyond. We hope the public enjoy our TV campaign which is all about helping men dress well, or as we like to say: #StyleMadeEasy.”

The Idle Man launches first TV advert campaign

The online menswear destination was founded in 2014 by former Asos exec Oliver Teczan and Outlaw to target fashion-savvy men aged between 25 and 35. It focuses on timeless stapes and sells brands including Barbour, Cheap Monday, Calvin Klein, and Vans, as well as its own brand collection.

Since its inception, it has seen year-on-year growth of over 100 percent in sales and a 500 percent growth in visits to the site. The site currently attracts close to 1 million visitors a month. Its growth has attracted interest from a number of investors, with the last founding round led by private equity firm Foresight Group raising 1.4 million pounds.

Tezcan, added: “Our second year of trading has been an amazing success, our customers are now fully engaged with us and it has been exciting to see our company progress in a relatively short period of time to be in such a great position. Investing in our own line and being able to communicate with potential new consumers across every available channel has been a priority for us since day one, and all those involved have delivered collections and concepts that are both forward-thinking yet attainable and incredibly relevant.”

Image: The Idle Man