Hautelook

Is this how the 113-year-old company is taking personal styling into the 21st century?

Expect to see a lot more Nordstrom Rack locations in the next few years.

California, modernist, cool. And lots of print. Trina Turk products are pretty instantly recognizable, whether we’re talking shift dresses, bedding or special edition Barbies. It’s a level of identifiability that designers in today’s fractured market crave. “We try to express the optimism of California in every product we do,” Turk tells us. But, as she is quick to point out, “You can get a printed short for $20 or $2,000. What we do as a brand has to have value.”

A little biz news to shake up fashion week: Nordstrom has just announced that they are acquiring private flash sale site HauteLook for an estimated stock value of $270 million. Considering HauteLook's four million members (as of June this past year Gilt only had around three million but is valued at over 400 million), it's not for a huge amount of money, but it's significant nonetheless. Here's why: The deal marks the first instance of a big brick-and-mortar retailer buying a private flash sale site. Big retailers like Nordstroms make a lot of money through outlet stores and flash sale sites have become the new outlets, so to stay alive, big retailers have to get in the game--only they lack the infrastructure. Nordstrom didn't suffer as badly as many other major retailers did during the recession so they're well placed to make this deal. It's a good deal for HauteLook, too. While they sell everything from Omaha steaks to Cartier watches on their site, as part of Nordstrom the site will have access to more brands.

Sick of shopping for others already? Want to score something for yourself? Live in New York or Los Angeles? Then you're in luck: Mackage, the Canadian outerwear brand known for cool coats that don't break the bank, is opening its first US brick-and-mortar store in New York City. To celebrate, they're hosting an opening event tonight as well as a shopping event on Saturday, December 4. The shopping event will take place at their new store on Mercer Street in SoHo. Customers who spend $150 or more will receive a fancy leather case. (It's a pretty nice gift, we must say.) They'll also get a chance to chat and be fitted by Mackage founders Elisa and Eran.

There's been lots of talk in the past few months about flash sales sites shilling fake or grey market merchandise. However, we never expected HauteLook, one of the most respectable--and successful--sites around, to be caught up in this mess. Cartier, which is owned by luxury conglomerate Richemont, is suing the Los Angeles-based company for over $2 million, first reported this morning on SheFinds. According to court documents obtained by Fashionista--some of which you can review below--the Cartier watches sold by HauteLook are secondhand. One of Hautelook's selling points is that they work directly with the brands, and that they sell new--not used--merchandise, so Cartier feels that HauteLook has made false claims when it comes to the brand. To be clear, Cartier has not accused HauteLook of selling out-n-out fake products.

The rise of the flash sales continues. Los Angeles-based HauteLook has just raised an impressive $31 million round of funding through Insight Venture Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. That's a lot of money. But with 2.5 million members, there's plenty to do with the dough. This afternoon, I chatted with the site's senior vice president, Greg Bettinelli, about what HauteLook has in store. There are four main objectives:

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