Fixing Fast Fashion

Disheartened by the fashion industry filling up landfills with piles of returned clothes, Andrea Del Risco and her two sisters decided to launch Modi — formerly known as Vitruvian — a software company to help customers select the right size when shopping online.

“Our team is passionate about innovating at the intersection of fashion and technology to improve the fashion industry’s sustainability problem,” Del Risco said, whose company is part of FAU TechRunway’s Venture Class 9.

The three sisters are originally from Barranquilla, Colombia, and grew up around the textile industry — their grandparents owned a small business. They decided to launch Modi due to their own frustrations with online shopping and turned to FAU Tech Runway for help. “Being a minority-founded company, we come with a limited network established in the U.S. and that has been one of our biggest challenges in launching our start-up,” Del Risco said.

“FAU Tech Runway has given us an amazing network and team of mentors to scale our business to the next level,” Del Risco said. “We’ve been able to connect with industry experts and create a Design Partnership Program for our enterprise solutions.”

How it Works

There are two ways to use Modi to get the best fit and preview how the clothes appear on your body, Del Risco said. When shoppers are browsing an online store, they see Virtruvian integrated on the product page as a “Find Your Size” button. Shoppers then manually input their measurements and Modi cross-references those inputs with each clothing product's specification to provide a recommended size.

When shoppers don’t know their measurements, the technology gives them the virtual fitting experience by taking two photographs to get body measurements. Within the virtual dressing room, the technology recreates the shopper’s unique body. “Our approach to solving an individualized sizing problem is with a personalized fitting experience that accurately reflects each shopper,” Del Risco said.

Thanks to Tech Runway’s guidance, the next step for the sisters plan is to grow their team and make their first hire, as well as expand their virtual dressing room development. “We’re so proud of what we’ve developed with our small team of three,” she said. “We’re transforming the online shopping experience.”

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