New Web Resources for Sourcing, Fabrics
Apparel-industry executives continue to involve the Internet in the product-development process. Two new Web ventures— New York–based eSourceApparel (www.esourceapparel.com) and Toronto-based Fabric Connect (www.goFabricConnect.com)— are aimed at helping designers find fabrics and manufacturers.
The companies have joined the likes of Alibaba (www.alibaba.com) and other online databases of suppliers, which provide a connection point for trading partners.
ESource executives, who launched the eSourceApparel Web site last month, say the site is the apparel industry’s first interactive online network for global sourcing and inventory sales. The site provides a database of 60,000 contacts from factories based in more than 30 countries.
It’s free to look up sources, but only members, who pay the $600 annual fee, can access contact information. What differentiates the site from others, said principal John Barsoli, is that eSource focuses only on the apparel industry, unlike Alibaba and others, which serve numerous industries.
“You can navigate the entire supply chain and easily identify new production sources. It’s also a marketplace where you can buy or sell inventories and obtain leads,” said Barsoli, who runs the site with his father, John Barsoli Sr., and his partner, Greg Suggarman, who together have 50 years of experience in all aspects of apparel trading.
Aside from factories, members can locate freight forwarders, agents, warehouses and designers. The inventory section features a clearinghouse of discounted finished garments.
“If you don’t have the time and staff, it’s difficult to do all this. There’s no place else on the Internet to do all this.”
The site features search menus and categories identified by visual icons, and users can narrow their searches via regions. The results are divided into business types, specific locations, job specifications and traditional industry parameters such as minimums, quality control, retailer configuration and other qualifications.
“We liken it to MySpace meets Google meets eBay,” said Barsoli.
Tetyana Panova, president of Fabric Connect, was in a position similar to those at eSourceApparel and found it difficult to find a central database of fabric suppliers, so she did it herself, assembling a group of suppliers in her native Canada, and she recently expanded it to the United States to include about 6,000 fabric SKUs. Fabric Connect launched in November.
“I really couldn’t find anything good on the Internet. You could go to all the suppliers’ own Web sites and look at swatches, but that takes a lot of time,” she said.
The site is free to navigate but requires a $25 (CAD) membership to connect with sources. Suppliers’ fees are structured based on inventories. The site is open free to designers and companies until June 1.
The site is set up so users can search by fabric type, color, print, supplier location and retail/wholesale. The listings include images of swatches with close-ups and detailed descriptions and links to the suppliers’ contact information.
For more information, e-mail info@goFabricConnect.com.
StyleHive Brings Collaborative Shopping to the Web
Drawing on the popularity of Web communities such as Kaboodle and MySpace, San Francisco–based StyleHive (www.stylehive.com) has taken the social-networking concept and applied it to everything fashion.
StyleHive launched last year and has quickly grown to a membership of 40,000-plus. In February, it completed a redesign with new forums and other features. Like MySpace, StyleHive is a social Web site but has an open environment so users don’t have to wait for invitations or requests to become “friends.”
They collaborate and share finds, ideas and trends relating to shopping, fashion and design.
Most of the content is visual, with lineups of colorful product shots, categorized by what’s most popular, but can be sorted by type of product and by the members who posted them. A click of the image provides more information and directions to the shopping place of origin. Current hot items include a Michelle Mason oversize cardigan for $385 and a printed blouse by Velvet by Graham & Spencer for $105.
The site is free for consumers and is aimed at finding the best of the Web and beyond as determined by peers. Users can bookmark their best shopping finds and build personalized wish lists similar to gift registries so they can share them with friends and like-minded shoppers. They can also build “hives,” or databases, for their favorite designers, celebrities and stores. Users can also track other members whose style they admire. There are also blogs, forums and other ways to discuss and share.
“People come here not knowing much and ask the site to ’show me something,’ and it will,” said StyleHive Chief Executive Officer Michael Carrier. “Social shopping is something new. It’s also entertaining and offers a look at the future.”
Carrier said a lot of the members are accomplished stylists or work in the industry, so the quality of referrals is high, he said. The site gains its revenues from advertising.
