Archive for September 2010

FashionStake, the new startup that lets you invest in your favorite emerging designers, wants to send 25 Fashionista readers to New York Fashion Week.

Here’s how to enter: visit Fashionstake.com, support a designer through an investment or a pre-order, and tweet that you used @fashionstake. You’ll win a pair of tickets to one of STYLE360′s runway shows, which this year include Walter and Kim Kardashian for bebe. See the full schedule here.

And good luck!

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Think you’ve got a buyer’s eye? FashionStake, a new e-commerce/micro-finance site launching today, wants to give you the opportunity to make runway looks a reality.

It’s a complicated premise, but its founders, two recent Harvard Business School graduates, believe it’ll work. Co-founders Vivian Weng and Daniel Gulati want to create a place both emerging and established designers can raise funds to produce new collections, and also a place to sell those collections. Users can either put in an initial investment, put in a pre-order for the soon-to-be designed collection, or wait until the collection is available to buy something. The goal is to spread the word about designers who mightn’t have otherwise been able to spread it.

And this New York Fashion Week, designers like Nicholas K will send pieces specifically designed for FashionStake down the runway. Consumers will be able to visit the site after the show and pre-order those pieces.

Still a bit confused? I recently chatted with Weng about FashionStake’s launch, its involvement in New York Fashion Week, and how it plans to make money. Hopefully she’ll be able to clear things up:

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The word in Paris is that Lanvin might be the next H&M collaborator. If it is indeed true, the collection will hit stores in early November.

I must rejoice! I’ve been a bit disappointed by the H&M collaborations over the past few seasons. An Alber collection should be a return to the Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld days of yore.

What’s more, Lanvin is not one of those brands where one can find an “affordable” piece here or there. Even the Acne x Lanvin dresses were $800 or more–I was lucky enough to find one at the Barneys warehouse sale for $40 about a year ago. I think I’ll wear it today in honor of this wonderful news.

I’m hoping for something like the look featured here to show up in the collection. Which Lanvin silhouette would you like to get your hands on?

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