industry
high fashion high tech Four startups that are bridging the fashion & tech industries.
text by janneane blevins + photographs by esther boston and anna ziemniak A decade ago, the ill-fated tech bubble burst and showered the world with highly talented, out-of-work whiz kids. It could be said that, unlike the tech bubble, the fashion bubble bursts every season, spewing forth an explosion of criticism, earnings reports, and demands for faster innovations. Over the past decade of tech-world recovery, these two ailing industries found each other, mutually comforting and catalyzing the other’s needs and goals.
When Fashion met Tech
With the introduction of the flash sale site Gilt Groupe in 2007, the fashion and tech worlds began to integrate. The online wizardry of Alexis Maybank met the sartorial savvy of Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, a marriage that seemed preordained by the fashion and tech gods (or by Gilt’s founder, Kevin Ryan who saw the market opportunity, and pulled the team together). Over the past five years, these industries have continued to replicate the success of this original story, coalescing and building off their shared successes. From that Gilt Groupe seedling sprouted a host of fashion-tech companies. Moda Operandi, The Fancy, Warby Parker, and BeachMint are recreating e-commerce, a U.S. market that Forrester Research Inc. estimates will reach $327 billion in 2016, up from $202 billion last year. Wearable devices like Nike FuelBand and Pebble are developing smart products with killer design. Linked to a service platform, these companies are delivering value long after the point of purchase and are maintaining extended engagement with their users. Social companies like Pinterest, Tumblr, & Svpply are exploding (or, to borrow some tech-world parlance: disrupting) the way we share, curate, and proliferate fashion trends. Lookk, Muuse, and Not Just a Label are allowing new design talent to connect directly with consumers and make-to-order, rather than handle the overhead cost of producing a collection en masse. Even a traditional fashion house like Burberry is not immune to tech’s sway. A model for high tech-fashion, Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts (a native Hoosier) is rolling out a comprehensive strategy that includes both social and digital platforms, as well as sophisticated back-end software.
Eric Tobias, igodigital Below: Eric advises startups to hire the best.Talent is just as important (if not more than) the product. On opposite page: The iGoDigital team whiteboarding and developing online retail solutions.
Indianapolis’ Tech Boom AND Foray into Fashion
Nearly 15 years ago, when IBM bought Software Artistry, Indianapolis experienced a surge in tech-related startups. That catalytic event led to the founding and funding of companies like Interactive Intelligence, Aprimo, Angie’s List, Exact Target, and countless others. Indy is definitely on the tech-world map. City leaders have primed our community with incentives for entrepreneurial growth; profits from successful exits have been plowed back into new companies as venture capital; incubators, meet-ups and co-working spots have provided a kinetic environment for new ideas; and universities are nurturing a diverse talent pool. Likewise, Indianapolis has not remained aloof to that fashion-tech marriage that occurred not too long ago. Companies like One Click Ventures, iGoDigital, My Best Friend’s Hair and Quipol have been integrating technology and fashion industry elements just as adeptly as their coastal counterparts.
iGoDigital Helping retailers create one-to-one relationships with their shoppers through product recommendations and guided selling experiences. Eric Tobias, President The boutique will always be an enthralling retail destination: their curated 41