Boston Beta featured fifteen startups from the Boston area. We were invited to present at the event which was held at the Microsoft NERD Center. The event was swarming with marketers and investors—And the verdict was great. They loved our idea and the concept of our business. Ministry of Supply is on the move!

MIT Trust Center Fashion Tech Event featured five fashion tech startups–companies that are using technology to influence fashion. We sponsored/organized the event and even brought in Marty Trust (former MIT grad turned fashion entrepreneur) to tell us about his experience in fashion. The companies set up booths and we had a great turnout and even sold some shirts!

Check out the photos from both events.

Check out the pictures of our booth at the event!

Gihan and Kevin are discuss their background/interest in fashion and technology and how/why they started Ministry of Supply. Also check it out for updates on where we are in the process of developing our shirts and our company! Enjoy!

We all had a monster brainstorming session where we thought about what kind of company we are and what exactly we want people to know about us. We even elicited help from friends and fellow entrepreneurs to help us procedurally set up a process of deciding on a name.

During our first brainstorming sessions, many names were thrown out—it was a stream of consciousness type of activity. Some were good and others well, let’s just say we all laughed out loud on several potential names. We then had a five-minute brainstorming session where we threw out ideas of what feelings and images we want our company to represent. At this session, a couple of ideas were shared by everybody:

“Design inspired individuals, creative, forward thinking, sleek, sexy, a support organization for the modern professional.”

It was this brainstorming session that got us thinking about how other professionals have support staff that help them attack their everyday tasks more efficiently. Naturally, as a group of engineers the first thing we thought was how Secret Agents and Covert Spies have state of the art gadgetry. James Bond and his support staff quickly came to mind.

James Bond was always supplied with the best, most effective, and useful gadgets, including cars, pen bombs, car phones etc. We began to read about James Bond’s support staff—Q. Q was the guy who always introducing and making amazing tools for Bond to use.

Q was incredibly critical to the Bond’s mission. Likewise, we think we are critical to the mission of the young professional (to stay cool, fashionable, and professional in a hectic work environment).

We began to research Q and found out that the character was actually based upon a real life person, Charles Fraser Smith. Smith developed and supplied gadgets and other equipment for section XV of Britain’s World War II intelligence organization. Smith supplied clothing and standard props (from second-hand sources) for SOE agents working behind enemy lines, but SOE directives and his taste for gadgetry led him to develop a wide range of spy and escape devices, including miniature cameras inside cigarette lighters, shaving brushes containing film, hairbrushes containing a map and saw, pens containing hidden compasses. Smith’s base and shadow organization he worked for was the Ministry of Supply.

The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply.

The Ministry of Supply represents a unique support organization for the secret agent. We, similarly, are a support organization who provides the most state of the art tools for the young modern professional. We are Ministry of Supply and we are here to support the you, the modern Secret Agent.

We seek to combine the newest and most versatile fabrics to create truly state of the art clothes that would be fit for even James Bond.

And that’s why we call ourselves Ministry of Supply!

Our featured shirt is the  Agent Shirt. The shirts come in XS, S, M, L, XL.

Our latest product. The Agent Shirt.

Whatever your mission, whether it be biking to work or hustling on the street, this shirt will perform with you. Core to this first edition are:

Novel materials including a blend of moisture-wicking polyester with natural, bamboo-charcoal infused fibers which address moisture and heat management as well as control odor.

Innovative, yet subtle, stretch back panels give the wearer a range of motion and flexibility uncommon to dress shirts.

Iron-free fabric that is ready to wear out of the dryer.

We decided to have our first run on Curisma because we like that they had taken up the challenge of bringing to market the newest and latest designs from technology to fashion.

We also want to support Curisma in its effort help you discover and buy cool tech products you love through personalized recommendations and deals, combining community-sourcing with machine learning.