Former BBC Dragon James Caan backs SNAG Tights in bet on lower-return fashion model

For years, the fashion industry has treated returns as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Consumers routinely order multiple sizes, retailers absorb the logistical expense, and millions of garments travel back and forth before ending up on shelves or landfills.

Fast-fashion brands have normalized this as part of their business model, leading to online fashion return rates averaging around 40 percent.

The financial and environmental costs have become increasingly difficult to ignore. Returns erode retail margins while generating significant transport emissions, excess packaging and waste. As pressure mounts on brands to improve both profitability and sustainability, attention is shifting from managing returns to preventing them altogether.

James Caan CBE, the former investor on Dragons' Den - the U.K.'s version of Shark Tank - and founder of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, has made a seven-figure investment in SNAG, the size-inclusive hosiery and apparel company founded by entrepreneur Brie Read. It marks Caan's first consumer-facing investment in two decades and reflects growing investor interest in business models that address structural inefficiencies rather than simply competing on price or marketing.

At the heart of SNAG's proposition is a simple premise: If clothing is designed to fit more bodies properly the first time, fewer products are sent back.

The company says it has reduced returns to approximately 2 percent, a fraction of the industry average, by designing products across U.K. sizes 4 to 38 (approximately U.S. sizes 0 to 34) rather than grading garments from a conventional sample size. The approach targets a customer base long underserved by mainstream fashion while simultaneously reducing one of retail's biggest operational costs.

Since launching in 2018, SNAG has sold more than three million products and generated over £250 million ($335 million) in revenue, demonstrating that inclusivity can be commercially scalable as well as socially resonant.

For Caan, the investment is as much about changing the economics of fashion as backing another consumer brand.

"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 percent returns, compared to an industry average of 40 percent, 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."

The investment comes as fashion retailers face mounting pressure from rising logistics costs, tighter margins and increasing scrutiny over environmental performance. Returns have become one of the industry's most expensive hidden liabilities, particularly as online shopping continues to account for a growing share of apparel sales.

Rather than treating returns as an inevitable consequence of e-commerce, SNAG has built its business around reducing the reasons customers return products in the first place.

Read argues that traditional sizing has long prioritized manufacturing convenience over customer reality.

"Sizing has always been built around a narrow idea of who clothing is for, and everyone outside of that was expected to adapt," she said.

"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."

Beyond the capital injection, Caan will work alongside SNAG's leadership team as it pursues international expansion and scales its operations.

The investment also reflects a broader shift in what investors are looking for in consumer businesses. Rather than chasing rapid growth alone, many are increasingly focused on companies capable of solving costly operational problems while meeting rising consumer expectations around sustainability and inclusion.

If those trends continue, fast fashion might be replaced by fashion that fits.