LacunaFit

Petite women's clothing is a chronically underserved segment. Most brands treat it as an afterthought, producing cut-down versions of standard sizing rather than garments designed for the proportions of the customer.

The problem ran deeper than product, though. Petite shoppers had been burned enough times that they were sceptical of any new brand claiming to solve it, so there was a trust gap to close as well.

The challenge was to build something that actually worked for this customer, earn that trust, and do it without external funding.

I built LacunaFit from scratch and ran every part of it myself. That meant product development, supplier sourcing and management, fulfilment partnerships, customer research, and all growth and distribution channels: email lifecycle via Omnisend, social media (growing to 9k+ followers), and direct customer relationships.

Product decisions were based on evidence of demand from the start. Instead of launching a full range at once, I tested products, changed them, and decided what to keep, drop or rework based on unit economics and customer feedback. This is what kept a bootstrapped brand viable across four years and 10 product launches.

Throughout, I owned the full customer lifecycle: acquisition, conversion, retention and resolution. The 48% returning customer rate came from understanding what customers needed and delivering it consistently, rather than from targeting that number on its own.

When the margin profile no longer justified continuing to scale, I decided to close the business, based on the numbers.

£220k in revenue across the UK and Ireland, a 48% returning customer rate, and an average 4.8/5 star rating across four years. Ten products launched and validated against real demand.