Fashion brands and marketplaces hit the same wall at a certain point. The platform they started on handles simple product catalogues and basic checkout, but it cannot model size runs accurately, cannot personalise at scale, and cannot support a rental or multi-vendor operation without a stack of conflicting apps.
We build custom software for the fashion industry -- fashion e-commerce platforms, multi-brand marketplaces, inventory and production tools, rental platforms, and direct-to-consumer brand tools. The software is built around how fashion actually works, not how a generic SaaS platform expects it to work.
Fashion e-commerce with size run management and personalisation
Multi-brand fashion marketplace with vendor onboarding and inventory
Inventory and production management from sample to delivery
Fashion rental platform with item tracking and cleaning logistics
Summary
RaftLabs builds custom software for fashion brands, multi-brand marketplaces, and rental platforms. We cover fashion e-commerce with size run and variant management, multi-vendor marketplaces with split inventory and returns, production and inventory tools from sample to delivery, and rental platforms with item tracking and cleaning logistics. Most fashion software projects ship in 10--14 weeks at a fixed cost.
100+Software products shipped
·FixedCost delivery
·10-14Week delivery cycles
·24+Industries served
Why fashion needs software built for fashion
Generic e-commerce and marketplace platforms were designed for the median product catalogue. Fashion is not the median. A single garment has size, colour, and fit variants that must be tracked at the SKU level across warehouses, vendors, and sales channels. A sold-out size that still appears available online costs a sale and damages trust. A return flow that doesn't restock items back to the correct size bin costs margin.
We build fashion software that models these realities from the first line of code. Size runs, colour variants, lookbook integration, rental item tracking, wholesale order forms, and multi-vendor inventory are treated as first-class requirements, not afterthoughts bolted on to a generic platform. The result is software that matches how your team actually works and how your customers actually buy.
What we build
Fashion e-commerce platform
Custom e-commerce platforms for fashion brands that need more than a Shopify theme can deliver. Product catalogues with full size run and colour variant management, real-time stock levels per size, personalised size recommendations based on purchase history and measurements, lookbook and editorial content integrated with shoppable product links, loyalty programmes tied to purchase and returns, and a returns flow that triggers refunds and restocks automatically. Built for DTC brands who have outgrown off-the-shelf platforms and need the storefront to reflect their actual inventory and customer data.
Fashion marketplace
Multi-brand fashion marketplace software with vendor onboarding, per-vendor size run and inventory management, unified checkout with split payments and vendor payouts, and returns handling that respects each vendor's policy. Buyer-facing search and filtering by size, brand, style, price, and availability. Vendor dashboards with sales reporting, stock level management, and order tracking. Built for operators running a curated fashion marketplace or a wholesale platform who cannot model their vendor and returns logic in a generic marketplace tool.
Inventory and production management
Inventory and production management tools for fashion businesses tracking product from sample through bulk production to delivery. Sample tracking with approval workflows, bulk production order management, quality check stages, and goods-in receiving with size-level stock allocation. Integration with supplier portals for purchase order management and delivery tracking. Warehouse management with barcode scanning and directed picking by size and style. Built for fashion brands and buying offices managing seasonal production across multiple suppliers and warehouses.
Fashion rental platform
Rental platform software for fashion businesses with item-level tracking, availability calendar management, cleaning and maintenance logistics between rentals, and deposit and subscription billing. Each item tracked by condition, location, and cleaning status so the right items are available at the right time. Returns inspection flow with damage reporting and charge triggers. Built for dress hire, designer rental, and fashion subscription businesses where individual item tracking and logistics coordination are the core operational challenge.
Virtual try-on and personalisation tools
Virtual try-on tools and personalisation features built into fashion e-commerce platforms. Size recommendation engines using customer measurements, past purchases, and brand-specific size charts. Style personalisation based on browsing and purchase history. AI-powered outfit suggestions using existing wardrobe data. Visual try-on using augmented reality for accessories and outerwear. These features connect to your existing product catalogue and customer data rather than requiring a separate third-party tool that does not integrate cleanly with your size run inventory.
Wholesale and B2B ordering platform
Wholesale ordering platforms for fashion brands selling to retail buyers and trade accounts. Buyer-specific price lists and minimum order quantities per style and size run. Seasonal lookbook ordering with visual product presentation and order form built into the same flow. Order approval workflows, credit term management, and invoice payment options. Sales rep dashboards with account order history and outstanding balance visibility. Built for fashion brands managing wholesale accounts that currently run on spreadsheets, PDF order forms, and manual invoicing.
Frequently asked questions
Shopify works well for fashion brands with a straightforward catalogue and standard checkout requirements. Custom software becomes the right choice when the platform's constraints are creating real operational problems. Common triggers include size run inventory that Shopify's variant limits cannot model accurately, personalisation or loyalty requirements that need a stack of apps that conflict with each other, a wholesale channel that needs customer-specific pricing and ordering rules, or a rental or subscription model that Shopify's checkout cannot support cleanly. If a Shopify configuration would solve the problem, we'll say so -- custom development carries ongoing maintenance cost that a platform absorbs for you. But when the platform is the constraint rather than the solution, a custom build pays for itself.
Size run complexity is one of the main reasons fashion businesses outgrow generic platforms. We model size runs at the SKU level, with stock tracked per size per warehouse location. A sold-out size is marked as out of stock immediately when the last unit is sold, without waiting for a manual inventory update. Variant combinations -- size, colour, length, fit -- are modelled as a matrix so buyers see exactly what is available in their size before they select colour. Size recommendation logic is built on top of this: the system matches a customer's stated measurements or purchase history against the brand's size chart and returns a recommendation with confidence level. This prevents the size recommendation from suggesting a size that is already sold out.
The decision depends on ownership of the inventory and the commercial relationship with brands. A DTC platform makes sense when you own the stock and control the fulfilment -- you are a retailer buying wholesale and selling on your own platform. A marketplace makes sense when brands manage their own inventory and fulfilment and you earn a commission or fee on sales made through your platform. The operational difference is significant: a marketplace requires per-vendor inventory management, split payments, per-vendor returns handling, and vendor accountability tools. A DTC platform is simpler to operate but requires capital tied up in stock. Some businesses start as DTC and move to a marketplace model as they scale -- we build for both and can help you think through which model fits your current operation.
Start with the problem that is costing you the most right now. For most fashion brands, that is either inventory accuracy -- sizes showing as available when they are sold out, or sold out when stock is sitting in the warehouse -- or the returns process, which is slow, manual, and disconnected from the buying flow. An inventory management tool or a returns management integration with automated restock and refund logic is a focused build with a clear ROI. Once that is running, you have accurate data to build personalisation and loyalty on top of. Trying to build everything at once usually results in a project that is too large to scope accurately and too complex to deliver in a manageable timeline.
