On any given morning in the fashion industry, the business of apparel is already in motion. Designers move between showrooms presenting next season’s collections, while production teams coordinate with factories across global supply chains. Simultaneously, orders move through warehouses destined for boutiques, department stores and online customers around the world. It is an industry defined by speed, creativity and constant reinvention, yet behind every successful brand lies something far less visible: the operational infrastructure that turns ideas into garments, inventory and global commerce.
For over four decades, AIMS360 apparel software has quietly helped power that infrastructure for apparel companies worldwide. Led by brothers Shahrooz Shawn Kohan and Shahin Kohan—well known in the industry as the Kohan brothers—the company and its team have navigated the platform through multiple waves of change, from the manufacturing boom of premium denim to the rise of e-commerce and now the emergence of artificial intelligence.
1984: Building the Technical Foundation
The story of AIMS360 began in 1984, long before the internet began reshaping retail. The platform was first developed to help apparel manufacturers and wholesalers manage their operations more efficiently, built around the recognition that the apparel industry has always been uniquely complex. Unlike generic businesses, a single garment style exists in multiple colors and sizes; collections move through constant seasonal cycles; and brands must coordinate production, inventory and wholesale orders within one integrated system. By building software specifically tailored to the way fashion companies actually operate, the platform established its place behind the scenes of the industry
2005: A New Era of Entrepreneurial Leadership
The platform entered a new chapter in 2005 when Shahrooz and Shahin took the helm. Shahrooz, who had studied information systems and entrepreneurship at the USC Marshall School of Business and built experience across technology ventures and investments, became CEO. Under his leadership, AIMS360 successfully transitioned from a legacy system to a modern cloud-based platform, enabling brands to reduce manual processes, improve inventory accuracy and scale across multiple sales channels. He is also committed to advancing the industry through education and thought leadership, including hosting the “Fashion Means Business” podcast, where he explores how technology is reshaping fashion operations.
Shahin, whose decades of experience spanning both the fashion industry and enterprise technology gave him a rare dual perspective, joined as president. His deep understanding of apparel manufacturing, wholesale distribution and supply chain complexities, combined with his technical expertise, allowed him to shape the technology architecture that powers the platform. In addition to his work at AIMS360, Shahin has been involved in broader technology, investment and advisory roles, applying his expertise to guide companies in leveraging software for growth.
The Kohan brothers began leading the company at a time when global supply chains were becoming more sophisticated, and fashion brands needed better systems to manage production, inventory and distribution across multiple channels. While Shahin focused on product development and technology architecture—translating complex apparel workflows into practical software solutions—Shahrooz focused on the company’s strategic growth and industry relationships. Their combined efforts eventually led to a milestone partnership with Microsoft, which brought the platform into the modern cloud era and allowed fashion brands to access enterprise-level infrastructure through a system built for real apparel businesses.
Scaling Through the Denim Boom
The effectiveness of this infrastructure was tested during the manufacturing boom of premium denim. AIMS360 worked closely with pioneers such as True Religion, Frame Denim and Blue Cult Jeans during their most intense growth phases. As True Religion’s signature denim gained global popularity, the brand faced the pressure of surging orders and complex production schedules. AIMS360 helped bring structure to that process, allowing these denim giants to scale without losing control of their inventory.
This same operational backbone supported the rise of modern lifestyle and athleisure companies. Beyond Yoga, for example, utilized AIMS360 throughout its journey from an emerging label to its $400 million acquisition by Levi Strauss & Co. Today, the system supports a wide range of apparel businesses, from direct-to-consumer and retail-driven brands like Los Angeles Apparel to complex, multichannel operations like Mac Duggal.
Navigating Multichannel Selling
As fashion brands grow, they often find themselves selling through multiple channels at once—operating their own retail stores, selling directly to consumers through Shopify, and supplying products to major department stores like Nordstrom, Macy’s or Saks.
AIMS360 tackled this by offering a unified system that synchronizes inventory across all these channels in real time. This guarantees that style information, pricing and inventory are always in sync across platforms like Shopify, Joor and Amazon. By providing native, in-house integrations with accounting platforms and business-to-business (B2B) wholesale tools, the system enables brands to operate more efficiently. Unlike traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, AIMS360 is built to be affordable and scalable for businesses doing anywhere from $1 million to $500 million in annual revenue.
Operational Insight and the Product Life Cycle
The platform also helps brands manage their entire operational structure—from production, logistics and accounting to design and sales. Through built-in fashion project life-cycle management (PLM) tools, brands manage the process from initial concept through costing and approvals to the eventual handoff to production.
Once a design is finalized, that data flows directly into production workflows, letting teams track work-in-progress garments and vendor purchase orders in real time—all within the same system, with no expensive third-party middleware required. This level of integration helps product teams reduce errors and accelerate their time to market.
A Team With Real Industry Experience
What truly sets the company apart today is its team. The Kohan brothers have intentionally built an organization composed of professionals with real fashion industry experience. The staff includes people who have worked directly with brands, factories, retailers and supply chains.
This team functions as fashion business consultants, offering “boutique-style” customer service and hands-on help with style setup, inventory cleanup or electronic data interchange (EDI) management. Because they have firsthand industry experience, they ensure the technology reflects how fashion companies actually operate. Their guidance is based on real-world use cases seen across hundreds of brands, helping entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes as they scale their businesses.
The Intelligence of the Future
As the industry moves into a future shaped by data, AIMS360 has introduced Insights AI to help brands make sense of the enormous amount of operational data they generate. By analyzing patterns in sales, production planning and inventory movement, the platform helps apparel companies identify trends, forecast demand and make smarter decisions about purchasing and inventory allocation.
For the Kohan brothers and their team, the goal of this technology is not to replace human creativity but to enhance it. “Fashion entrepreneurs don’t start brands because they love software,” Shahrooz noted. “They start brands because they have a vision. Our role is to give them the operational backbone that allows those visions to become sustainable businesses.” After four decades, AIMS360 remains dedicated to that mission, helping fashion entrepreneurs turn creativity into thriving global businesses.
Go to the AIMS360 website to learn more about the company.
