Deal highlights

• Founder has managed multi-billion dollar retail brands for 30+ years, including Macy’s, Levi’s, Nike, and Victoria’s Secret
• First mover advantage in a lucrative new fashion retail space 
• +340% Q2 sales growth
• NYC flagship store delivering a 20% customer conversion rate
• Founder has personally invested his own money toward the launch 
• 17k+ Instagram followers & 200K+ page views in 6 months with no paid SEO/SEM
• Boundary-breaking retail mission featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Times of London, Vogue, VICE, Mashable, Teen Vogue and dozens more

Binary fashion
hems people in

The things we wear are meant to help us embrace, explore and express ourselves. But too often, fashion retail is about dividing us into gendered sections, conquering our curiosity and limiting our potential, by forcing us into predetermined molds.

Why do we have to identify with one side or the other? Why can’t we be both?

The Phluid Project:
fashion for ANY body and EVERY body

Our gender-free flagship store launched in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan earlier this year. It’s quickly become a community hub for people to stop, shop and engage. Global buzz and growing sales have proved the concept. Over the next 18 months we’re committing to spreading the love by opening community stores in other strategic North American markets and building a phluid online presence that helps people throughout the world express themselves from the inside out.

Instore

A growing inventory of 50+ brands plus a budding private label offering. We’ve got apparel, accessories, gifts and an in-store cafe. We provide a platform for forward-thinking discussion and activism through weekly events and artist residencies.

Online

Right now, our website is primarily a forum to welcome LGBTQA+ people and allies. It promotes style, culture and resources to challenge boundaries with humanity. We do also have a low-key online store which is focused on our private label offerings and selected brands.

Press

The stage is set for a lucrative e-commerce vertical

The Phluid Project is the world’s first gender-free store - we’ve trademarked that. Our first months have been about building awareness and proving people care. Job done. Now we’re all about growing sales. Our in-store metrics are pointing up, and our first holiday season is just around the corner. The next step is serious online growth.

• $615K 2018 run rate - and we only opened in March!
• 340% Q2 Growth.
• 80% of sales are apparel
• 20-25%of people who walk into the store buy something
• 126K+ organic page views from 50K+ unique web visits in our first 3 months

The Phluid Project is blowing people's minds

Business model

• 15% wholesale private label
• 25% community stores
• 60% e-commerce

A unique retail experience, in-store and online

Our private label offerings stand side-by-side with multiple curated brands. We sell apparel, accessories, shoes, home decor, books, food & beverage, cosmetics and fragrance. Our accessible price points range from $25-500.

We’re planning to grow our business into three primary channels:

• Our wholesale business will target internet pure plays and fashion stores with our private label apparel and accessories. Target $7M in sales in Y5.
• We’re rolling out experiential community stores in hot markets in North America, Europe and Asia. Target $13M in sales Y5 
• www.thephluidproject.com shines new light on classic brands like Levi’s, Fila, Champion and Dr. Martens, as well as helping to amplify fresh, gender neutral brands such as Gypsy Sport and WESC. All our offerings will be carefully curated and merchandised to create a truly unique assortment. Target $30M sales in Y5

Market

$143BGen Z spending potential by 2020 including allowances, earned wages and gifts

Gender-free Gen Z

• 81% of Gen Z believes gender does not define a person.
• 56% of Gen Z shops outside of their assigned gender. They will represent 40% of all consumers by 2020
• 55% of Gen Z know someone with a pronoun other that “he/him” or “she/her”

Our strategy is to foster and serve the market for gender neutral clothing through influential thought leadership, creatively curated, accessibly-priced fashion and accessories, and making a gathering space for our kind of people to embrace, explore and express.

High-end fashion is dabbling with gender neutral

We’re the world’s first gender-free store - it’s the core of our identity. And, it’s not all about us. We’re a community hub designed to promote fellow gender-neutral labels and push other brands that didn’t even know they could be gender free. One of our core principles is accessibility - and that’s always reflected in our pricing. We’re not here to one-up other players in this brave new space - we’re more inclined to take stock, collaborate and listen.

No prior fundraising

It all starts here at Republic. Rob personally invested nearly $600K to kick things off. The Phluid Project has obtained a $300K business credit card loan and has $200K cash in the bank. Conversations about potential future funding are underway with high profile individuals in the LGBTQA+ community.

The Phluid Project has a people-first growth strategy

Most of our raise will go toward building out our ecommerce business. The rest will boost our content, marketing and private label offerings and cover increased overhead.

The Phluid Project will build on our first mover advantage, establish our position as thought leaders and create new revenue streams by curating multi-channel content focused on inspiring individuals across the globe.

Our strategy is designed to grow our ecommerce offerings from 2% of today’s revenues to 59% in Y5. Overall revenues are projected to surge from an estimated $1M in Y1 to $50M by Y5.

Founders & team

Rob Smith | Founder & CEO

Rob’s spent 30 years orchestrating multi-billion dollar business lines through ecommerce, digital branding, marketing, and product development. He was Macy’s youngest ever VP, then their youngest ever EVP. He became Macy’s trusted General Merchandise Manager before moving on to EVP and GMM roles at Victoria’s Secret. He was Chief Product Officer for Haddad Brands - Nike, Levi’s Jordan, Hurley, Converse. He mentors numerous fashion brands and serves on the Board of Directors for Steve Madden Ltd. and Athlete Ally. He’s the Board Chair for Hetrick-Martin Institute which empowers, educates and advocates on behalf of LGBTQA+ youth. He facilitates their HMI Emery Awards. He’s raised $20-30M for non profits and politicians he believes in. He’s a graduate of Michigan State University.

Advisory Board

The Phluid Project is supported and encouraged by a high-caliber advisory board that shares their expertise in founding, investment, marketing, e-commerce, and fashion.

Join the Movement!

Together we can celebrate what makes us different and cherish what makes us the same by creating a community that is profitable in every sense of the word. Thank you for your support.

- Rob