A new online marketplace for men’s fashion and style, Bombinate, is scheduled for launch on 8 May.
Bombinate is centred on curating handcrafted brands that produce quality goods with a unique backstory or heritage. The site was the idea of young entrepreneurs Massimiliano Gritti and Elliott Aeschlimann, who won a share of £25,000 in the CitySpark student business pitching competition.
The pair came up with the idea for the site after travelling the ancient Silk Road from Russia to Mongolia. The Silk Road was originally a trading route for quality goods and the idea of the site is to bring this quality to the modern customer by offering the best artisanal fashion brands that Europe has to offer in one place.
The two-man team has spent the last year scouting for brands and have settled on a list of 30 for launch, from all over Europe. Bombinate will showcase the brand and tell its stories as well as offering collaborations and cross-promotions with other brands.
Bombinate aims to fill a gap in the marketplace for premium artisanal brands that are unlikely to sell on Amazon or Etsy and don’t want their brand to be associated with other high street labels. As the production processes used by these brands can often be time-intensive to ensure quality, they are also frequently unable to meet the shipping requirements demanded by sites that deal in fast fashion.
Each individual brand will fulfil their own orders on the site, but Bombinate will manage the order-taking and payments.
The site will launch on Monday 8 May at 1pm at Bombinate.com