Serial entrepreneur and investor James Caan CBE has made a seven-figure investment in SNAG, the size-inclusive hosiery and apparel brand founded by Brie Read, signalling strong confidence in a business model designed to tackle one of fashion’s most persistent structural challenges: high product return rates.
The investment marks Caan’s first consumer-facing deal in two decades and reflects growing scrutiny on the economics and environmental impact of the global fashion industry.
SNAG has reduced returns to approximately 2%, compared with an industry average of around 40%. Returns remain a major cost centre for retailers, eroding margins while contributing to environmental pressures through transport emissions, excess packaging and waste.
Founded in July 2017, SNAG has sold more than 22 million products and generated over £250 million in turnover to date, underlining both the commercial viability and demand for its approach.
The brand produces hosiery and apparel across sizes 4 to 38, designing for a broader and historically underserved customer base. By focusing on real body diversity and improving first-time fit, SNAG reduces reliance on returns while significantly expanding its addressable market.
Caan, founder of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, said the investment reflects both commercial opportunity and the need for systemic change within the sector.
“The way fashion operates today is under increasing pressure. High return rates erode profitability and create unnecessary waste at scale,” he said. “SNAG’s ability to operate at around 2% returns, compared to an industry average of 40%, shows that a different model is not only possible but commercially compelling. By designing for a broader customer base, the business opens up a significantly larger market opportunity. I back founders with conviction, and Brie has built something genuinely disruptive.”
Beyond capital, Caan will work closely with SNAG’s leadership team to support its next phase of growth, including international expansion and scaling its operational model.
Brie Read, founder and CEO of SNAG, said: “Sizing has always been built around a narrow idea of who clothing is for, and everyone outside of that was expected to adapt. Our model proves that designing for real bodies is better for customers and better for business. Having James on board, with his experience and belief in what we’re building, gives us the platform to take this even further, faster.”
SNAG’s approach combines inclusive design with ethical sourcing and manufacturing, positioning the brand at the intersection of commercial performance and sustainability in a sector facing increasing scrutiny.
Because everyone deserves clothes that fit.
ABOUT SNAG:
Snag is a size-inclusive hosiery and apparel brand founded by Brie Read, offering tights, Chub Rub Shorts, leggings and clothing across a full size range from 4 to 38. Built on the belief that clothing sizing is an unregulated fiction that has underserved most of the population, Snag designs for real bodies and sources and manufactures ethically. Its community is known as Snagglers. Snag trades internationally across six storefronts.
