Third Wave Fashion // NOVEMBER 2013 // FOOD, FASHION + FEASTING | Page 25

TREND WATCH
One of the biggest buzzwords
in fashion tech, or possibly the startup
world in general, is curation. In fact, our
founder Liza Kindred spoke of reasons
“curation” as a word should be banned
from such popular usage, as mentioned in
our September Fashion Tech Report. To
summarize, too many non-experts claim
to be curating content, when in fact, what
they are doing is far from that. When
done by professionals with their expertise
in this area, a curated site is a delight to
use and a great tool of discovering new
things to love and purchase.
Looking beyond technicalities
associated with real curation, we see
many companies and brands doing an
impressive job at curating both content
and product offerings to elevate their
business. One such company is AHAlife.
Similar to Material Wrld, AHAlife focuses
on luxury and high-end product offerings
for discerning buyers who seek unique
items. AHAlife acts as a marketplace
destination for a curated array of products
that cater to an affluent lifestyle. Products
range from design-inspired to fashion,
technology, and food. A carefully selected
group of items on sale at any given time,
combined with a special content offering
that speaks to AHAlife’s target
demographic makes for a special shopping
experience.
Another interesting company
is Shoptiques, a site that brings the most
unique brick & mortar boutiques from
around the world together to one place.
Consumers can buy online and have items
shipped without having to trek to the
boutiques themselves. The boutique
inventory is photographed by the
Shoptiques team, and all boutiques are
visited in person. Boutiques are chosen
for their unique aesthetic on a case-bycase basis, taking into account curated
product offering available within the
retail location. Farfetch is doing much of
the same thing as Shoptiques, bringing the
worlds’ most amazing boutiques into one
online space. Farfetch has recently
expanded to new markets, finding
boutiques in frequently-ignored

/ /

C U R AT I O N

European countries (fashion-wise), such
as Poland, Latvia, and Romania.
Wantering meanwhile acts as a
fashion recommendation engine that
gives users uniquely chosen pieces based
on their preferences. Wantering’s
algorithm is a highly intelligent and
socially aware formula that scans high
levels of retail data and social media
information in real-time to make
recommendations that are highly targeted
for the customer.
Subscription services also make
way for curation to take center stage.
Quarterly Co. is a subscription service
that delivers specially selected designfocused collections once every three
months. Customers can subscribe to
receive a box from an influential
contributor of their choosing. People like
Alexis Ohanian of Reddit have been
featured, and prices are modest, starting
at $25/box. Social shopping sites like
Svpply use curation to find customers
new items to discover. Svpply for
example lets users track items they want
to purchase. Next, using social media data
from Facebook and Twitter, users can
start to see things their friends also like,
which they may like as well through
association. The curated offerings cater to
a community of fashion, design, and art
enthusiasts. Other startups use curation
when it comes to content, to deliver the
perfect punch of information and
inspiration to their users. It’s a given that
most fashion tech sites and fashion
magazines are careful about the content
they put out, making sure it fits the
aspirations of their userbase. However,
one company that has done this very well
as of late is StyleSaint. This site features
original content, style guides, and tutorials
for DIY-oriented customers who seek a
style challenge and love to get hands-on.
StyleSaint received $4.3M in Series A
funding in August this year, as noted in
our September Fashion Tech Report.
Wholesale purchases at StyleSaint drive
prices down considerably, making the site
accessible and popular among young
women.

STYLESAINT

!

There were were 75
Curation companies in
the Third Wave Fashion
fashion tech database
at press time.
// 23

// 32