It seems that convincing women to let a computer choose their clothes wasn’t the right fit for one L.A. tech company.
MyShape Inc. has shut down. The company, which had attracted news coverage in recent years, ran a website where women provided their measurements and style preferences, and then were given a choice of apparel to buy.
The site announced it has temporarily suspended retail operations. A liquidation firm is trying to sell the company’s technology, and any buyer presumably could restart the site.
“Please check back frequently as new information will be posted as it becomes available,” the announcement states.
Rocky Hansler, MyShape’s senior vice president of marketing, couldn’t be reached for comment. An automated response said he is no longer responding to e-mails and referred questions to Sherwood Partners LLC, a Mountain View consulting firm that specializes in company restructurings and liquidation.
Sherwood took over the rights, title and control of assets for MyShape in an assignment for the benefit of creditors Jan. 13. Martin Pichinson, co-founder of Sherwood, told the Business Journal that MyShape was losing money.
“The company just wasn’t able to get to a point of cash-flow breakeven,” he said.
MyShape was founded in Pasadena in 2006 by Louise Wannier to help women find clothing to fit their body type. The company developed a formula that would select clothing based on a personal style survey and body measurements. It also sold accessories such as handbags and jewelry. Its innovative methods garnered the company news coverage, including one article in the New York Times and frequent mention in the Business Journal.
In 2009, MyShape moved its headquarters to Glendale, signing a two-year lease that won’t expire until the end of this year. Last August, the company announced that Mercedes De Luca replaced Wannier as chief executive. A press release at the time said De Luca was hired to help launch a rebranded website and scale the company’s operations.
Since its founding, the company has raised more than $28 million in funding from a number of investment groups, including Tech Coast Angels and Pasadena Angels, and venture capital firms including Tenaya Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Pichinson said Sherwood will try to sell some of MyShape’s intellectual property, which could include its process of matching clothes to body types.
“There is some very interesting intellectual property involved,” he said. “We have a tremendous amount of interest for carrying the concept forward, which is good.”
