For the third season in a row, Fashionista has covered Sao Paulo Fashion Week. Outside of the four main fashion weeks, Sao Paulo is proving to be an important one to follow–in our opinion. The fashion industry has been investing intensely in the emerging markets of the BRIC countries, and while China has been the Read more →
Moda Operandi, the site that brought us the online trunk show–allowing shoppers to buy looks hot off the runway–has had stratospheric success since it launched back in February 2011 with its unique sales model. And it’s about to get bigger and even more innovative.
Moda Operandi just announced that it received a round of funding to the tune of $36 million. Condé Nast, a previous investor, threw some money at the company again, as did LVMH and IMG for the first time. Think about the possibilities: Helmed by co-founders Aslaug Magnusdottir (formerly of Gilt Groupe) and Lauren Santo Domingo (formerly of Vogue) and armed with investments from some fashion business heavy-hitters, the online retailer is perfectly positioned to change the way people shop for fashion.
So what exactly is the company going to do with this round of financing?
Remember Abaeté? The line initially started back in 2003 as a line of swimwear inspired by designer Laura Poretzky’s summers in Rio. The suits garnered a cult following Poretzky expanded Abaeté into a full ready to wear line shown to critical acclaim on New York’s runways from 2007 to 2009. Abaeté quietly shuttered in 2010, Laura Poretzky became Laura Poretzky Garcia (she married musician Diego Garcia and had a baby), and we hadn’t heard much from her…until now.
Poretzky Garcia has returned to her swimwear roots with a new swimwear line, Été Swim, which made its debut on Moda Operandi this weekend. The line came about thanks to Moda’s co-founder Lauren Santo Domingo, who brought Poretzky Garcia together with Lily Dickerson Maddock, formerly the head of knitwear label liDi, who heads up the business side as the President of Été.
So what’s Été all about? Why another swimwear line and why now? We asked Poretzy Garcia.
Really? Kristen Stewart is named the best dressed woman of 2012 by Glamour UK. {Glamour UK}
Taylor Tomasi Hill styled this super cute swimwear vid for Moda Operandi that has us fiending for a beach romp. {Fashionologie}
Step away from the varnish! Neon nail polish is apparently illegal to produce in the US. {SheFinds}
Taylor Tomasi Hill (or TTH as she’s come to be known) is one of those fashion girls who seems to be doing a million things at once: As the artistic director at Moda Operandi, she is responsible for the shopping site’s editorial content; you probably know her best from looking at any street style blog–where her scarlet hair and standout style make her an easy target; but you might not know that she’s also the creative consultant for Sigerson Morrison shoes. Yep, that’s a lot of (very stylish) hats.
So last evening, at the Bowery Hotel, Sigerson Morrison presented their (vast) fall collection at a party hosted by Tomasi Hill and the Street Peeper’s Phil Oh. And while we overheard TTH tell a fellow editor that she was on a “cleanse day” her enthusiasm for the shoe label overpowered any (probable) faintness she was feeling after a day filled with only juice.
Turns out we weren’t the only ones totally enamored with the gold fall 2012 Prabal Gurung gown Jennifer Lawrence wore to the L.A. premiere of the Hunger Games. The lovely ladies at Moda Operandi loved it so much, they’re featuring it over at their website. If you want to have your very own Girl on Read more →
Moda Operandi staffers get to have all the fun, it seems. If you weren’t lucky enough to attend Paris Fashion Week, they’ve squeezed all the best parts into a two and a half minute video. The best shows–Carven, Isabel Marant (which you can shop on their site now), Chanel, Louis Vuitton–are all there, as are Read more →
Last year saw a major influx of new fashion-focused tech startups. With the early success of pioneers like Gilt Groupe and Ideeli, an industry that has typically been slow to embrace new technology has spawned a burgeoning community of game-changing ecommerce sites, mobile apps and social networking and discovery platforms. And with no shortage of new ideas or interest from financial backers, this influx shows no signs of slowing down in 2012–and we think that’s very exciting.
With new start-ups popping up almost daily, we set out to discover which ones are doing it right, how they’re all being funded, and what 2012 holds for the fashion tech biz.
If you’re looking for the opportunity to make connections and broaden your work experience, the careers page is the place to go. Be sure to brush up your resume and put together a great cover letter to send for the chance to work at Moda Operandi as Director of Customer Care, intern with Silent Models Read more →
Justin Bieber Looks Scared in V Magazine: For a young kid with tons to be happy about – like the ability to make basically every under-15 girl in the Western hemisphere burst into tears of joy – Justin Bieber sure looks pretty miz in his covershoot for V Magazine‘s music issue. He’s certainly got that lost puppy thing mastered, anyway!
See the Complete Jason Wu x Target Collection: Finally! Images of the entire Jason Wu for Target collection were released online. And it did not disappoint – February 5 can’t come soon enough.
Kate Middleton Turns 30: Happy 30th birthday, Duchess Kate! Take a look back at her most royally fabulous looks.
Nude Plus-Size Editorial Claims Most Runway Models Meet Anorexia Criteria: In the world of fashion, size definitely matters. Plus Model Magazine pushes the ever-controversial topic of models with eating disorders to the limit in this provocative spread that uses hard facts to question what the norms of the fashion world.
Moda Operandi, the online trunk show that allows shoppers to buy straight from the runway, burst onto the e-tail scene last February with plenty of buzz. It was a totally new concept in online retail–place orders for designer looks immediately after they’re shown–and an answer to the flash sale sites that were on the wane. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the site was founded by socialite and Voguette Lauren Santo Domingo and ex-Gilt Group exec Aslaug Magnusdottir–two women with all the fashion connections and experience you could hope for in launching a new fashion venture. And when the company closed their second round of funding with $10 million from venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, it was clear they were getting something right.
In the last few weeks Moda Operandi has poached names from the top of the masthead of major fashion glossies (Marie Claire‘s Taylor Tomasi Hill is the site’s new artistic director and Nina Garcia is a new addition to the advisory board) and established retailers (Roopal Patel of Neiman’s and Bergdorf’s). No question about it, Moda Operandi is growing like crazy and we wanted to know why. So we chatted with co-founder Magnusdottir to find out the site is doing, what they’re planning to do with all these new hires, and why people want to shell out for designer clothes online.
According to the New York Times, Taylor Tomasi Hill has left her post as style and accessories director at Marie Claire to become the artistic director for retail site Moda Operandi.
It’s an impressive coup for Moda Operandi, which, according to the paper, also managed to poach Gilt’s Roopal Patel, especially since the site only just launched in February. It’s also a huge loss for Marie Claire, who really used Taylor in all her fashion-forward, unbelievably gorgeous, street-style-fodder, glory as the poster child for their recent fashion-y makeover, having wooed her away from her former post at Teen Vogue with, we assume, a hefty paycheck and lots of perks.
