[jmduke]

A smart move by these guys was targeting a high-profile member of a fashion community (in this case /r/malefashionadvice, though I wouldn't be surprised if they hit up Styleforum and other places as well) and sending him a bunch of stuff to review -- the guy reviewed it and it hit the frontpage of a ~250K community for a day[1]. This isn't a particularly novel or high-cost approach, but its a classic marketing move that seems to be glossed over by nouveau entrepreneurs. Writing a book on Rails? Send a copy of the book to a prominent Rails blogger to see what they think. Launching an AirBNB for corgis? You'd be well-advised to spend an afternoon finding and reaching out to the dozens of corgi forums.

[1] Incidentally, this is why I think Reddit advertising will never take off: the value proposition of stuff like this is just so much more appealing.

[wsul]

Thank you. We're huge fans of MFA (subreddit every dude should check out: http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/) and jdbee was awesome. Since we were avid readers, we knew the rules and how to approach him - we told him straight up that we expected complete honesty and were open to the public. Things like this are a win, win I think. I love reading about new brands, and enjoy the unbiased reviews, and the companies (like mine) really benefit by gaining a few customers and a lot of eyeballs.

[exhaze]

Another good person to approach would be Dan Trepanier of The Style Blogger (http://tsbmen.com). They have a [self-proclaimed] readership of 100K+ monthly, and they offer style advice to specific groups like bigger guys, really tall guys, short guys, etc. I think your product would be a perfect fit for their audience.

[wsul]

I'll definitely reach out. Any recommendations for getting the word out are much appreciated!