Tailoring to everyone’s needs
April 9th, 2010 by Ville Miettinen
In an ideal world I’d like to design and make my own clothes. Unhappily for me however, my sewing career came to an abrupt halt at age nine, when I sewed together all four sides of the pillowcase I was working on for sewing class. I could handle the supposedly “cool” kids (those who took subjects more manly than sewing) mocking me, but when the geeky sewing kids started making fun of me too, I realized perhaps it wasn’t for me. It was time to get out.
Now, when I’m walking around nauseating shopping malls, trying in vain to find clothes I like, I often wish that I’d stuck with it. Of course, even if I had, I would struggle to find the time to put my skills to use. Right now I barely get the chance to iron my shirts, let alone make them.
Fortunately, there may soon be a solution for those of us tired of high street fashion but without the skill or time to do anything about it.
In the near future, dedicated followers of fashion will have the chance to be more than just followers. Fashion Stake – which is just about launch – intends to change the way in which consumers and fans of fashion relate to designers in much the same way as the internet has changed the way fans can interact with and support their favorite musicians.
At Fashion Stake you can finally put your two cents in – both literally and figuratively. Visitors to the site will be able to critique and rank designer collections, and even proffer ideas for new items or lines. This essentially amounts to crowdsourcing for ideas, inspiration and constructive criticism – tapping into the wealth of passion out there for particular designers and fashion in general.
If you do happen to have two cents to rub together, (and if you are following fashion you presumably do) you can actually “invest” in designers you believe in. I tentatively use the word invest because the press around the site’s release claim that the return on the investment will be credits to put towards that designer’s clothes. There may be more to it than that but at the moment it sounds like investment won’t quite earn you a seat on the board of directors and a share in the profits.
Nevertheless, this does equate to a rather exciting and innovative way to support designers that you like. However the final model appears, the eagerness of the fashion industry to use crowdsourcing to relate directly to their fans and involve them to some extent in the creative process may well prove to be a huge benefit to both designers and consumers.
While it’s not going to save me from tiresome trips to the mall, by providing a chance to participate in the industry it may allow me to finally put the tragic incident of the empty pillow case to rest.
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marko
