Week in Review | Jess Lee of Polyvore, Thierry Dreyfus, The White Space, Image Recognition, 3D Printing, Billabong Worthless, Twitter's Commerce Chief

LONDON, United Kingdom – Our Founders Stories series continues to get better and better, as we hear the about the journeys of the upstart entrepreneurs from around the world who are crafting new technology-driven business models. This week we spoke to Jess Lee who started as a Polyvore superuser and rose to become the company's CEO.

Equally fascinating (and inspiring) was our conversation with lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus, who has lent his skills to some of the best fashion designers in the business, from Jil Sander to Raf Simons to Rei Kawakubo. What stuck with me the most was Thierry's advice to industry aspirants: "Study the work of people you admire and then go knock on their door. But do it with generosity."

Generosity is part of a new intiative in New York, headed up by my friend Ruth Runberg and her partner, Alison Brokaw, who have created a "white box" space in Jeff Koons' studio for five emerging designers to showcase their collections during New York Fashion Week.

Tech trends continue to create interesting new opportunities — and challenges — for the fashion industry. This week, Reuters examined a new image recognition app using technology that could soon radically impact the way consumers discover and buy fashion products.

Likewise, as fashion law expert Rose Auslander pointed out in her interesting Op-Ed piece, the rise of 3D printing presents an opportunity for forward-thinking luxury brands to not only avoid a flood of do-it-yourself infringement, but actually tap new revenue streams, though I suspect that many fashion executives will not see it that way. As Auslander says, "designers who want to lead fashion into the future need to get ready for the world of 3D printing now."

And, in other news, this week Billabong revealed that it has lost a staggering A$860 million, making the brand "worthless," while Twitter announced that it had hired Nathan Hubbard, a former Ticketmaster executive, as its first head of commerce.