Oak and Fort, stylized as Oak + Fort, or OAK + FORT, is a well-known clothing brand with stores located across North America.
Oak + Fort also has a global eCommerce platform, meaning you don’t have to be in the U.S. or Canada to enjoy what the brand offers. The brand is known for offering luxury quality at an affordable price point.
Do you think you might be into Oak + Fort?
Let’s take an in-depth look at it:
History
Oak + Fort is a digital native company that was first launched in 2010 as a small online boutique. It was based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The founders, Arjuna Thiagarajah and Min Kang are husband and wife. Soon after its founding, Oak + Fort expanded into physical retail.
Its first brick-and-mortar store opened in Gastown, Vancouver, Canada in December 2010. A second physical location opened in Edmonton, Alberta in April 2011.
Oak + Fort now has its head office in Vancouver. It also has 40 brick-and-mortar stores all across Canada and the United States.
Eunice Quan, a fashion branding expert, joined Oak + Fort’s team early on. She was behind many of the concepts that define the brand today.
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From the beginning, Oak + Fort has displayed a unique and unified brand concept. Quan mentioned that she wanted Oak + Fort to present a holistic lifestyle as opposed to just being a provider of clothing.
Oak + Fort’s brand was conceptualized to unify “clothing, career, creativity and community” into one aesthetic. This brand was to be a fashionable expression of art, innovation, and exploration.
Oak + Fort settled into a cozy minimalist design. A key facet of the brand’s minimalism is the neutral and monochromatic aesthetic that is found in the wide variety of clothing and goods it offers.
The brand prides itself on providing luxury at an affordable price point. It offers clothing for both men and women as well as accessories and home decor.
Oak + Fort has grown in leaps and bounds since 2010. It initially did not run a traditional advertising campaign, instead relying on word-of-mouth, social media, and grassroots marketing.
In 2017, founder Arjuna Thiagarajah said, “A lot of our customers are millennials, so I think we do a fair job with social media, including Instagram and Facebook, and I think that’s driven a lot of our appeal.” Before using paid digital advertising, Oak + Fort depended on brand loyalists who tended to engage heavily on social media.
Their eCommerce revenue came from this pool of customers as well. Most of their online customers made repeat purchases and were geographically located near the brick-and-mortar Oak + Fort stores.
In response to this buying pattern, Oak + Fort launched its first paid digital advertising campaign in 2014. The goals of this campaign were to expand their customer base for both online and physical stores.
The campaign was a success. Today, Oak + Fort is a great example of the click-and-mortar business model.
Click-and-mortar, also known as ‘bricks and clicks,’ is when a company has both online and offline operations. Oak + Fort’s diverse customer base and great revenue is a result of effective operations both online and offline.
Oak + Fort’s aesthetic is incorporated into the physical design of its stores, which it calls “OAK studios.” The color, design, and architecture of each OAK studio is bright yet tastefully minimal.
Each studio has ‘OAK Studio’ stylists who work with clients to ensure a convenient and personal shopping experience. In the U.S., OAK studios can be found mainly in California, but also in Washington, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
A similar unified brand aesthetic is visible in Oak + Fort’s digital presence. It has over 440,000 followers on Instagram, where its stylish designs are featured on relatable millennial models.
The above statistic is very impressive when you consider that Oak + Fort began as a small online store catering to a small city in Canada less than 15 years ago. Today, Oak + Fort has expanded its eCommerce foundation to include more than 40 countries outside North America.
Oak + Fort’s garments are of great quality. They are made from a diverse range of lovely materials that vary according to design needs and the season in question.
Recently, Oak + Fort began offering a collection called ‘Oak Refined.’ All the fabrics used in the collection are either organic, recycled, or sustainably sourced.
Another great initiative by Oak + Fort is Oak Renew. Through Oak Renew, you can buy or trade in gently used second-hand Oak + Fort clothing to reduce your carbon footprint.
Oak + Fort is definitely big on sustainability. In addition to Oak Refined and Oak Renew, Oak + Fort has numerous other sustainability commitments.
For example, the brand is a member of the SAC (Sustainable Apparel Coalition), a global non-profit organization that seeks to improve sustainability outcomes in the fashion industry. Moreover, Oak + Fort has received Organic Content Standard (OCS) and EU Ecolabel certifications, among other sustainability credentials.
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Reviews
Oak + Fort’s unique outlook on style and fashion has been featured in publications such as Instyle, Hollywood Reporter, Narcity, Elle, PureWow, and Forbes. The brand has garnered over 400,000 followers on Instagram for its innovative yet minimalist designs.
Oak + Fort’s major selling point is that it offers luxury at an affordable price. In 2017, it was reported that almost everything from the brand was above $150, but that nothing was above $220.
Don’t shy away from Oak + Fort because of the price point. Oak + Fort ensures stunning minimalist design on good quality garments making it worth your investment.
For example, it’s important that Oak + Fort’s clothing and accessories appear luxurious yet tasteful. The brand’s investment in its stated goals has worked so well that its garments have been spotted on many celebrities like Blake Lively, Hailey Baldwin, and Jessica Alba.
Oak + Fort offers all kinds of clothes for both women and men. It also offers accessories and homeware.
It offers a comprehensive collection of garments for women, ranging from outerwear that includes blazers, jackets, and coats to dresses, pants, blouses, skirts, denim, and t-shirts. It also offers sweatshirts, sweaters, and cardigans.
As a woman, you can shop exclusively at Oak + Fort for a complete, updated wardrobe. The brand even offers swimwear for women.
And all this is before we mention the many great Oak + Fort accessories. From the brand, you can get bags, shoes, sunglasses, hats, belts, scarves, socks, hair accessories, nail polish, and even gift cards.
Oak + Fort also offers good selections for men’s clothing. There’s a good variety of tops, bottoms, and outerwear.
For the customer who wants to infuse Oak + Fort’s luxury minimalist aesthetic into their home, the brand has a lovely homeware collection. These include plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, diffusers, charcuterie boards, and even throw pillows and throw blankets.
You can shop for clothes on Oak + Fort’s website. Or if you were browsing Oak + Fort’s Instagram and liked what you saw, the website has a cool feature called the ‘Shop Instagram’ tab where you can easily shop for the clothes you’ve seen.
For customers in the mainland U.S. and Canada, Oak + Fort provides free shipping for orders above $78, pre-tax. Shipping costs for orders from Alaska and Hawaii are based on FedEx rates.
For mainland orders below $78, there’s a flat shipping rate of $4.95, in addition to taxes. Give Oak + Fort up to five business days to get you your order, although customers report that orders often arrive in less time.
You don’t have to be in North America to enjoy Oak + Fort’s products. Depending on where you are in the world, you can have them shipped to your home.
In Europe, Oak + Fort ships to all major countries including France, Germany, and the UK.
It also ships to countries in Asia such as India, China, and South Korea. Other countries included are Mexico and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Unfortunately, you cannot ship your products to a P.O. Box address. The shipping process varies from country to country.
Reach out to Oak + Fort’s Client Experience Team for country-specific information on shipping. You can reach out to them via the live chat on their website, or through this email address: hello@oakandfort.com.
You may return Oak + Fort products depending on when and where you bought them, what you purchased, and how you purchased them. For example, ‘exchanges, store credits, or refunds’ are valid only in the country where the purchase happened.
You can return a product at a physical store or through the mail. Unfortunately, if you live outside North America, then the items you bought are not eligible for return.
To return an item via the mail, use their website or email hello@oakandfort.com.
All online and offline purchases are eligible for a refund. However, for a full refund, you have to have the original receipt and the item must be in the same condition it was in when you bought it.
You have 30 days from the date you bought the item to return it. You are not eligible for a refund if you bought the item for a 30% or more discount.
Among Oak + Fort’s wide range of products, there are kinds of items that are not eligible for refunds, exchanges, or store credits. These include intimates like underwear, masks, socks, headwear, swimsuits, and earrings.
Although earrings are not available for refunds, exchanges, or store credits because they are considered “intimates,” all other kinds of jewelry can be returned.
One more note to end this review. We think it’s advisable to buy Oak + Fort’s clothes in person if you can.
First, because the ‘OAK Studio’ is a lovely concept. Second, past customers have reported a bit of inconsistency in the quality of clothes, despite their generally high quality.
These reports are quite old, so take them with a grain of salt. However, if you walk into one of OAK Studios and try on the garments yourself, you are guaranteed a great find for a great bargain.
If you do decide to shop for Oak + Fort’s goods online and you are in North America, there’s always the return option. That will most likely not be necessary because there’s a high chance you will love your item.
Oakandfort Alternatives
You don’t have to shop at Oak + Fort to achieve the Oak + Fort aesthetic. You may even decide to mix and match clothing items from different stores to achieve a more personal look.
If you are inspired by Oak + Fort but still choose to look beyond it for your clothing needs, the following alternatives will help you in your journey:
1. Aritzia.com
Founded in 1984, Aritzia is older than Oak + Fort by almost 30 years. Aritzia began as a small family-owned boutique.
Aritzia is headquartered in Vancouver, just like Oak + Fort.
Similar to Oak + Fort, the focus of Aritzia’s first boutique in Vancouver was to create a beautiful aesthetic that endured through their clothing, physical space, and customer service. Their brand motto is ‘Everyday Luxury,’ with the focus on luxury being very similar to Oak + Fort.
Unlike Oak + Fort, Aritzia offers only women’s clothing. Aritzia also has price points that are very close to Oak + Fort’s.
However, Aritzia’s offerings are more diverse. Where Oak + Fort is one unified brand, Aritzia offers 12 sub-brands that each cater to different demographics according to age, career, etc.
Although this diversity allows Aritzia to appeal to a wider range of the population and therefore get a higher revenue, the brand’s identity is weakened. Oak + Fort has a very strong brand because its customers know what to expect, earning it a loyal customer base.
Oak + Fort began as an online store, but Aritzia slowly expanded into the eCommerce space after developing its identity before the advent of the internet. Oak + Fort is extremely modern and brand conscious in a way that Aritzia is not.
Still, Aritzia is a larger operation than Oak + Fort. It has over 100 stores across North America, compared to Oak + Fort’s 40.
It ships to more than 220 countries internationally, compared to Oak + Fort’s 40. It also has a stronger Instagram presence with more followers.
2. Everlane.com
Everlane.com offers clothing for both women and men. Everlane is based out of San Francisco, California. It has stores across New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Much like Oak + Fort, Everlane’s clothes are stylish, modern, and minimalist. Both companies were launched around the same time in 2010, as digital native companies.
Everlane began as an online store selling menswear.
Everlane’s digital-first approach endures in its brand today, even though the brand began opening physical stores in 2017. The bulk of its revenue comes from eCommerce sales.
Everlane beats Oak + Fort hands down when it comes to denim. The brand has over the years invested a lot in denim, maintaining a line of denim and a special sizing guide for denim buyers.
If you want to buy jeans, Everlane would be an excellent choice. However, all of Everlane’s clothes give the classic yet casual vibe it became famous for.
Just like Oak + Fort, it maintains a strong focus on luxury and high quality. It often uses cashmere, silk, and Peruvian cotton for its clothes.
Everlane’s price point is very similar to Oak + Fort’s. However, Everlane maintains a more durable brand identity without sacrificing the diversity of clothing they offer.
Sometimes, Oak + Fort clothing can feel monotonous because the company focuses on maintaining brand identity. Everlane easily escapes that trap.
Everlane also ships to more countries than Oak + Fort. As of 2023, Everlane ships to more than 140 countries while Oak + Fort ships to only 40 countries.
3. Mango.com
Mango was founded in Spain back in 1984. It’s a well-known clothing brand. Mango.com is its online retail counterpart.
Mango’s first online store was opened in 2000, ten years before Oak + Fort was opened. It has a variety of lines that target different customers according to gender, age, etc.
Mango is a large retailer which brings in a lot of revenue. But it is also stylish and modern, and the variety it offers could be something you need in your wardrobe.
Unlike Oak + Fort which has physical stores only in North America, Mango has a physical presence all over the world on almost every continent. It has at least one store in nearly 120 countries.
Because of its strong physical presence, Mango can ship its clothing to way more countries than Oak + Fort. Additionally, although Its price points are similar to Oak + Fort’s, it’s often cheaper.
Wrapping Up
There you have it folks! An exhaustive overview of Oak + Fort with guidelines on how customers should position themselves with regard to this amazing brand and company.
Although the brands mentioned above are oakandfort.com’s key alternatives, you might want to consider a few more options.
These include frankandoak.com, zara.com, and abercrombie.com.
