California Apparel News

Kenn Henman, founder and chief executive officer of Haulerdeals, has launched a website (www.haulerdeals.com) that features many of YouTube’s top haulers—and gives consumers the ability to purchase the products they’re touting.

“Haulers” are fashionistas who post online videos sharing their latest fashion finds for viewers to envy or purchase, and their popularity has been exploding.

Many of them have quickly established a large following with thousands of viewers tuning in for the latest tips, deals and fashion how-to’s.

Initially inspired by an article he read about the popularity of haulers and how companies were embracing them to replace fashion bloggers, Henman saw an opportunity to combine haulers’ fame with fashion deals by creating a “social-media sales site” that, he says, is the first of its kind.

By integrating Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and Stipple image-tagging technology, traffic is directed to the site for viewing and purchases.

“We had over 600,000 views in the first three days and over 120,000 unique visitors,” Henman said. “We went from a three-server cloud to now approaching 15 servers because of all the traffic.”

Haulerdeals introduced nine haulers who are featured on the site in addition to guest haulers. The haulers share the deals they’ve found, and the discounted clothing, shoes, accessories and makeup are available for sale through the site. Most of the apparel is young contemporary, with retail pricing below $100. Some of the brands include Adolfo Sanchez, Bishop and Bohemia.  

The hauler trend has moved the decades-old ritual of hanging out at the mall and sharing fashion finds into the home, with haulers not only touting their buys but providing beauty tips and answering questions about fashion or why they chose a certain outfit.

“The girls will make a video about how to get ready for the company Christmas party, or a first date, or what to wear to prom,” Henman said. They each have “a unique personality” and come from a variety of cities, including Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Twenty-four-year-old Haulerdeals hauler Dulce Candy was an Army convoy driver stationed in Iraq who fell into hauling by looking online for a how-to video for hair straightening. She soon started posting videos herself and eventually landed in the top 1 percent of all YouTube videos, with more than 110 million views worldwide.

“When I first started filming videos it was just a hobby for me and I didn’t expect anything from this,” Candy said. “I’m thankful that it turned into my career because it’s something I love doing.”

Candy is now launching her own clothing collection through Haulerdeals and was selected as an official blogger for this year’s Fashion’s Night Out and landed on the cover of Popstar! magazine.

Henman sees the site as only the beginning for the Los Angeles–based company.

“Our plan is to launch brands for all the girls in the next 90 days,” Henman said. A television show is also in the works.