Department stores and luxury brands alike have invested millions in courting VIP customers in recent years, building out tech solutions for store associates to communicate with shoppers and even opening private boutiques for top-spenders.

In all of these efforts, personal relationships play a critical role. Enter In-Seam, a shopping platform for stylists, personal shoppers and former high-yielding department store associates. In-Seam aims to cut out the middleman by allowing its users to reach their rolodex of VIP clients directly in one app.

The company, founded by former wholesale buyer Ann Wehren, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding, led by early-stage venture fund Far Out VC, it announced Monday.

“Luxury retail is broken — it is decentralised, overwhelming, inefficient, and driven by markdowns,” said Wehren. “The future of luxury is relationships: creating more value for brands and clients and empowering those who connect the two.”

Typically, personal shoppers and stylists work with dozens of brands at the same time, each with its own thread of order logistics and commission structure. In-Seam is able to pool labels like Dior, Khaite and Peter Do onto one platform, centralising functions including shipping and payment. In-Seam takes a cut of each sale made on the app, as do its users and participating brands.

“It’s hard to chase brands on how much they owe you,” said Casi Stewart, a stylist who is among In-Seam’s 125 users. “There’s shipping logistics and also liability for clothing if it gets lost … And when you’re working independently with brands, if stuff gets lost, you’re screwed.”

In-Seam, Steward added, has changed the game. “It feels like you have a team behind you but you don’t,” she said.

With the new funding, Wehren will continue to build out In-Seam’s technology and expand her team.

Learn more:

How to Build a One-on-One Relationship With Your Customer

Luxury retailers have long gone the extra mile to serve top-spending VIPs. Now, more brands are finding ways to scale personalised customer service. Here’s how to get it right.