Gilt Groupe

Gilt. Hewlett-Packard. Michael Bastian. Design dream team?

And competitor Gilt Groupe may be interested in buying it.

The founder of the Brooklyn-based fragrance studio Joya tells us how he got into the perfume business.

Gilt Groupe CEO Michelle Peluso spells out her plans for expanding the site's reach abroad. But about those IPO rumors? Still no comment.

And it looks like the flash sale site has chosen Goldman Sachs to manage its public offering.

Erin Heatherton is breaking up with her agency. The model (and former Leo DiCaprio flame) is leaving Marilyn for IMG. {WWD} If ever there were a high fashion comic book, it would probably look a lot like Tom Ford's F/W 2013 ads. {Style.com} Miranda Kerr is topless and wearing granny panties on the cover of Vogue Korea's July 2013 issue. So, it's actually one of her more-covered up shoots. {Fashion Gone Rogue}

Gilt Groupe was a rapidly-growing pioneer in exclusive online luxury retail when it launched in 2007. But now, in 2012, with so many new, promising players in the e-commerce game, the site is likely under more pressure to compete. Despite rumors that they're struggling, however, the company has been working to expand, expects to turn a profit next year, and is hoping for an IPO--a goal that Gilt Groupe's board must have felt CEO and co-founder Kevin Ryan wouldn't be able to reach.

Court docs show that Diana Wang's class action lawsuit against Harper's Bazaar may not actually be so strong after all. Oops! {BuzzFeed} Are you (C) Wondering what happened at the grand opening of C. Wonder's new Time Warner locale? Kelly Rutherford pogo-sticked, Karina Smirnoff sat on a giant teddy bear, and a fab time was had by all! {Fashionista Inbox} Is this the end of adventures in copyright? A new design piracy bill could protect designers against knock-offs for up to three years. {WWD} Model Maggie Rizer's golden retriever Bea died on a United Airlines flight and Maggie is really, really mad. And sad. So are we. That's just so, so sad. RIP, Bea. {E!}

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.