Fashion startups do not get as much exposure and hype as tech startups
Dressing up nice every morning feels special. A cool dress will give a decent start to your day. It drives you. The fashion market has a lot to deliver you ranging from affordable designer clothes to handmade shoes to jewellery and more.
Fashion startups do not get as much exposure and hype as tech startups. This didn’t put a brake on e-commerce fashion startups. The online fashion industry has grown exponentially in recent times. Below is the list of six fashion startups that deliver real value to their customers.
See what these startups have to offer and how each one of them stands out from the crowd.
1. FarFetch
It is a community of fashion boutiques. There are more than 400 fashion designers and boutiques registered with FarFetch. It is more of an intermediary that connects designers with buyers. The orders are processed by the boutiques and are delivered to the customers.
There are more than 1,000 labels available at FarFetch. Probably the best thing about this fashion e-commerce startup is that it doesn’t restrict its labels to a specific geographical location. It hosts boutiques from all parts of the world whether it be Paris, Delhi, or Singapore. The users find everything under a single roof.
FarFetch was founded in 2008. Initially, it operated in the Europe and North America. In 2012, it raised US$18 million and in 2014, it raised US$66 million to expand its operation in the US, Asia, and Brazil. Recently, it raised US$110 million successfully.
FarFetch has five offices which are located in New York, London, Porto, Los Angeles, and São Paulo. The idea of creating a community of multiple boutiques has worked really well for FarFetch. It was valued a US$1B company in 2015.
2. StyleWe
StyleWe is a China-based e-commerce fashion store that features designs from individual designers. It was founded in 2015. In 2016, it raised US$15 million in Series A funding.
It is a community where designers and customers interact, but unlike FarFetch here the company is responsible for production and delivery. The designers upload their designs with prototypes. The StyleWe publishes the product on its online store and starts accepting orders. The production is handled by the company.
In one way, StyleWe is helping individual designers by providing them a platform to sell their products even if they don’t have the production resources. Those designers who have production resources can fulfil customer orders themselves.
The platform is working exceptionally well so far, and it is expected to do even better in the future.
3. Nuji
Nuji is a UK-based social shopping platform that was founded in 2011. It raised US$2 million in 2014. The company was founded by Anton Meryl Nithianandan, Dean Fankhauser, and Vincent Thome.
Nuji is a curation network where users share and curate fashion products. Individual customers, designers, brands, and boutiques are on the platform. You can share your products on the platform which will be instantly available to the visitors and registered users.
There are more than 10,000 designers from around the world on Nuji which makes it a massive platform. Not just designers but it also hosts some of the top brands like ASOS and Stella McCartney.
The idea of creating curation site for fashion designers and brands, and to become a social shopping startup has done great for the founders. It has a lot to offer to its audience. The idea is working well for the company.
4. Nineteenth Amendment
This happens to be an interesting fashion startup that allows early access to new products. Those who need an early access to new products should head to Nineteenth Amendment.
It features both the new designers that are not well-known but are doing well, and the established brands and designers. Designers can use Nineteenth Amendment to offer limited products to the customers (pre-production). This is done before the mass production. It is a great platform for new designers who are about to start mass production. Use Nineteenth Amendment to test the product and to create initial hype.
For the customers, the company offers early pre-sale access to some of the best products. This is something that fashion-lovers and industry followers love.
The company was founded by Amanda Curtis and Gemma Sole. It was funded in 2015 but the amount is undisclosed.
5. Vinted
It is a Lithuania-based startup that was founded in 2008. Over the years, Vinted has grown exponentially. It was started as a desktop application which later turned out to be a leading secondhand marketplace for fashion in Europe and the US.
It is a community where people buy and sell secondhand fashion products ranging from clothing to shoes to bags and much more. It is a marketplace that is dedicated to nothing but secondhand products. It has over 12 million members. More than 11 thousand new members join the marketplace every single day. People love it.
Vinted was founded by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas. It raised US$27 million in 2015 which proves how powerful the idea of secondhand fashion marketplace is. It has expanded its operation to 10 countries including Germany, France, US, Poland, Austria, and Czech Republic.
It is one fashion startup that is an inspiration for a lot of entrepreneurs.
6. Thread
A UK-based startup founded in 2012 which recently raised US$5.82 million. Thread was founded by Ben Kucsan, Ben Phillips, and Kieran O’Neill.
It offers personalised styling services online. It is currently available for the citizens of the UK only but the founders are planning to move into other European markets soon. The platform is simple to use. A series of simple questions are asked from the users such as ‘which trouser fits you prefer’. Based on the answers, an expert stylist suggests clothes that match the interest and the likes of the user.
The idea is to dress well without doing any hard work. Answer a few questions, follow the instructions, and get recommendations from the experts. Thread sounds to be a perfect solution for those who prefer nothing but customised clothing.
It is not always the tech startups. Sit back, the online fashion industry is on the roll!
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