The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
"'Airbnb For Retail' Startup Storefront Raises $7.3M From Spark Capital, Expands To LA" (TechCrunch)
“Now more than ever, both big brands and independent merchants are looking for flexibility in the way that they reach consumers. With Storefront, they’re able to find space to set up popup shops or sell items in boutiques without all the hassle that comes with leasing space and building out their own stores. After raising $1.6 million in seed funding last summer, the AngelPad-backed startup is announcing today that it has brought on an addition $7.3 million in funding led by Spark Capital.”
"'Like Fantasy Football for Shopping.' The Hunt Grabs $10M to Spin Social Shopping Into Intent-Based Gold" (Pando Daily)
“Today, The Hunt announced $10 million in Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures with participation from existing investor Javelin Ventures. The company has raised $15.5 million to date, including seed funding from Ashton Kutcher, Tyra Banks, and a handful of other celebs. The Hunt was created to solve the problem of knowing exactly the look you want to achieve – thanks to seeing it online, in a magazine, on TV, or in person – but not where to buy the items at a reasonable price.”
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"India's Snapdeal Acquires Fashion Discovery Site Doozton, As Battle For Online Fashion Heats Up" (TechCrunch)
“Online fashion retail is fast becoming the next battlefront for India’s growing e-commerce startups. With two of the biggest Indian e-commerce companies — Flipkart and Myntra — preparing to merge as part of $330 million deal, rival Snapdeal is now pushing aggressively to get its piece of action in the online fashion retailing space. Less than two months after eBay invested around $134 million in Snapdeal, India’s biggest e-commerce marketplace is putting some of that funding to use by acquiring fashion products discovery site Doozton, a bootstrapped startup, which is less than a year old.”
"A Social Network to Find Clothes That Fit" (The Financial Times)
“Research by Credit Suisse last year found that 40 per cent of online clothing purchases are returned, often because the size was not as the shoppers expected. A Copenhagen-based venture, called Fitbay, is hoping to fix this problem through another great innovation of the web: social networking. Having compiled a database of more than 2m items of clothing, from high street brands to those available only in independent boutiques, Fitbay is building a community of users who can connect with similar-sized people to work out what fits them.”
"DKNY Shares New Wearable Tech App That Could Be Game-Changing" (New York Observer)
“No matter how seriously you take shopping, there are really only two ways to do it: in stores and online. But if the new wearable tech software pioneered by Israeli startup Awear Solutions takes off, there could be a third way to spot the clothes and accessories you covet: on the streets. Awear functions through a digital chip embedded in garments. Users who have the Awear app can use it to scan, say, a stranger’s cute bag at a coffee shop, as long as they’re within 30 feet of the item.”
The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely.
The app, owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance, has been promising to help emerging US labels get started selling in China at the same time that TikTok stares down a ban by the US for its ties to China.
Zero10 offers digital solutions through AR mirrors, leveraged in-store and in window displays, to brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Coach. Co-founder and CEO George Yashin discusses the latest advancements in AR and how fashion companies can leverage the technology to boost consumer experiences via retail touchpoints and brand experiences.
Four years ago, when the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok in the US, its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. worked out a preliminary deal to sell the short video app’s business. Not this time.