Matt Brussels is the founder of The T-Shirt Bakery, a UK-based ecommerce apparel and print-on-demand company. Having spent more than two decades working across clothing production, ecommerce and online retail, he has witnessed first-hand how technology has transformed the barriers to launching clothing brands. In this interview, Matt discusses how AI, ecommerce platforms and modern production have changed the industry, and why execution, rather than access to technology, is becoming the real competitive advantage.
1. Ecommerce apparel brands have arguably never been easier to launch. What has changed most over the past 20 years?
Technology has lowered the barrier to entry more than anything else.
Twenty years ago, launching a clothing brand demanded significant upfront investment and a much broader range of technical skills. Founders often needed to commit to large stock purchases, commission bespoke ecommerce websites, integrate payment systems, source manufacturers and solve a series of operational problems before they could even begin building a customer base.
Today, much of that infrastructure already exists. Platforms like Shopify have simplified ecommerce; online payments integrate almost instantly; print-on-demand has reduced the financial risk of holding inventory; and AI helps founders research markets, develop concepts, and move ideas forward much faster than before. People can now spend more time developing a brand instead of assembling the systems needed to support it.
That’s unquestionably positive because more people with good ideas can now test them.
At the same time, lowering the barrier to entry hasn’t lowered the standard required to succeed. Technology has made it easier to launch a clothing brand. Building one that customers remember has become much more demanding.
2. Has technology simply made clothing brands easier to start, or has it changed what founders need to be good at?
The fundamentals haven’t changed nearly as much as people sometimes imagine.
Strong branding still matters. Good design still matters. Understanding customers still matters. Technology hasn’t replaced those fundamentals; it has changed where founders spend their time and attention.
Years ago, founders often needed to become part web developer, part systems administrator and part retailer before they could focus on building a brand. Modern technology removes much of that technical burden, allowing founders to concentrate far earlier on product development, marketing and customer experience.
That shift has quietly changed where competitive advantage comes from.
When almost every founder has access to similar ecommerce platforms, AI tools, and production models, success depends less on reaching the starting line and more on consistently making better commercial decisions. Technology gets you into the market. Execution is what keeps you there.
3. AI is now available to almost everyone. Does that make it a competitive advantage, or does it make the market harder to stand out in?
AI has done both.
It has given smaller businesses capabilities that would once have required much larger teams. Founders can research competitors, explore creative directions, draft marketing copy, generate prototype artwork and analyse information far more quickly than they could even a few years ago.
AI is useful. That part isn’t really up for debate.
The real question is what businesses actually do with it.
Because almost everyone now has access to similar tools, AI naturally makes the market noisier. Businesses can produce more content, more concepts and more products than ever before. That doesn’t automatically mean they’re creating better brands.
The real advantage comes from how intelligently founders use it. The businesses that ask better questions, experiment more effectively and understand their customers more deeply will almost always outperform businesses that simply generate more content. AI changes the route. Human judgement still decides the destination.
4. Where do you think founders are using new technology well, and where are they misunderstanding what it can actually do?
Founders are using technology well when they treat it as a thinking partner rather than a decision-maker.
AI excels at accelerating research, testing ideas, exploring creative directions, and shortening the distance between an initial concept and something tangible. That allows founders to iterate much faster than previous generations ever could.
Problems start when founders expect technology to replace experience.
AI doesn’t understand your customer better than you do. It doesn’t develop design taste. It doesn’t recognise whether a collection feels authentic to a particular community or whether a product genuinely deserves to exist. Those decisions still require human judgement.
The strongest founders combine both. They allow technology to accelerate the early stages of thinking, then apply experience, commercial understanding and customer insight before making the final decisions.
5. If modern tools can generate more designs, products and content than ever before, why do some brands still struggle to build a clear identity?
More ideas don’t automatically create a stronger identity.
The strongest clothing brands usually become known for one thing before they become known for many things. They understand who they’re designing for, what community they want to serve and why customers should care about what they’re creating.
Technology has actually made niche brands much more viable than they were twenty years ago. Smaller production runs, social platforms, made-to-order manufacturing, and more efficient ecommerce systems allow founders to build businesses around highly specific audiences rather than chasing mass-market appeal from the outset.
Many founders make exactly the same mistake. They try to appeal to everyone.
That usually results in a brand nobody remembers. Clear positioning has become more valuable, not less, because technology has increased the number of businesses competing for attention.
6. How has ecommerce changed the way customers judge clothing brands online?
Trust has become one of the biggest competitive advantages in ecommerce.
Customers can’t touch the fabric, inspect the print quality or judge how a garment feels before buying. That means they rely on signals that help reduce uncertainty.
Reviews are the strongest trust signal because they come from customers who have already taken the risk. Strong product photography, clear product information, consistent branding and a professional website all matter, but genuine customer feedback often carries more weight than anything a business says about itself.
That’s why I encourage new clothing brands to start collecting reviews as early as possible.
A professionally designed website creates a positive first impression. Consistent positive reviews build the confidence customers need to place an order.
7. Why does production knowledge still matter when print-on-demand and made-to-order models have made apparel easier to launch?
At the end of the day, apparel is still a physical product.
Technology has transformed how brands launch, but customers still judge the garment they receive. They notice the quality of the fabric, the fit, the finish, the print, the durability and whether the product matches their expectations.
Founders don’t need to become production experts, but they do need to understand what they’re selling. Knowing the differences among garments, print methods, artwork preparation, and material choices enables better commercial decisions throughout the business.
Production knowledge also improves customer service.
If founders understand why one garment performs differently from another or why one print method suits a particular design better, they can explain those differences confidently to customers. That understanding creates better products and stronger trust.
8. What role does regional manufacturing play in helping ecommerce clothing brands grow?
As ecommerce brands mature, production decisions become increasingly strategic rather than purely financial.
Choosing the right manufacturing partner means balancing lead times, communication, quality control and customer expectations. For businesses selling into the British market, apparel printing for UK brands can become an important part of building a more responsive and reliable supply chain.
The wider principle applies internationally. Working with regional manufacturing partners often makes sampling easier, improves communication, reduces delays and allows founders to solve problems more quickly. Those advantages become increasingly valuable as businesses grow because operational consistency matters just as much as production cost.
Strong supplier relationships rarely attract attention when everything runs smoothly.
They become invaluable when something unexpected happens.
9. How should sustainability fit into modern apparel ecommerce when customers also expect speed, flexibility and affordability?
Sustainability only works when people look at the whole system.
Too many discussions reduce it to a single decision, whether that’s organic cotton, print-on-demand or recycled packaging. Every one of those choices can contribute positively, but none of them tells the whole story.
Garment sourcing, production methods, certifications, logistics, packaging, order consolidation and product longevity all influence environmental impact. In some situations, larger consolidated production runs may result in a smaller overall footprint than repeatedly shipping small individual orders. The answer depends on how the entire supply chain operates, rather than on a single isolated decision.
The most sustainable garment is often the one someone genuinely wants to keep wearing.
Longevity matters just as much as production.
10. Looking ahead, what will separate the stronger ecommerce apparel brands from the weaker ones?
Technology will continue to become more accessible.
That’s no longer where businesses win.
The interesting part is how differently businesses will use it.
The strongest brands won’t succeed because they have access to AI or better ecommerce platforms. Almost everyone will have access to similar tools. They’ll succeed because they combine those tools with better judgement, clearer positioning, stronger customer understanding and more disciplined execution.
Technology will continue to change how clothing brands operate.
It won’t replace the fundamentals that have always mattered.
The businesses that understand where technology genuinely adds value and where experience, creativity and commercial judgement still lead will build brands people remember long after today’s tools become tomorrow’s standard.
