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Trendible.com
I was lucky enough to be on the scene Thursday night as the next big thing in indie fashion was unveiled. Like MySpace for the fashion conscious, Trendible is “an online community where members can meet friends, discover and interact with new fashion brands, give/receive style advice, blog and shop for the fashion brands and products that are right for them.”
The fully loaded site is set to open to the public in December, but I got a preview from CEO Angelito Tan. After years of working in branding and marketing for major labels, Tan realized the current business model was falling short by not embracing the digital possibilities. So he moved from Shanghai to New York and created Trendible.
Beyond social networking, the site will provide online galleries of the latest fashion finds, editorials from across the blogosphere and user-generated content all focused to give indie labels exposure to the masses. “Small designers have the energy and enthusiasm to get their brand out there,” but don’t have the money to advertise, says Tan. Thus, Trendible will introduce an interactive interface that allows users to view whole collections and easily buy the pieces they want at no cost to the designer (except a small commission from sales taken by the site). DIYers can now have real exposure to an international audience with product packaged just as nicely as the major labels.
Also on hand to celebrate was Daniel Saynt, editor of net-turned-print-based publication Fashion Indie, who is lending his editorial skills to the startup, and self-proclaimed “fashion nerd” and Project Runway alum Diana Eng. Eng was on hand to host and to show off her latest foray into DIY fashion with a “blog purse” developed by herself and a team from Yahoo Research Berkeley. Hooked up with a camera, phone and pedometer, the Lucite-sided bag beams Eng’s surrounding to the internet every 30 steps (I swear that’s me on 9/6/07 at 7:22PM). This is just one of Eng’s projects in working with “fashion technology,” a topic she explores further in books and ready-to-wear clothing hitting stores next year.
DIY fashion and the internet: perfect together.
Check out Trendible now, and sign up for an exclusive invitation to join before the site goes public.
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