“Who are you wearing,” is the classic line that dominates the red carpet at nearly every high-brow celebrity awards show. But that line is no longer solely dedicated to the red carpet.
With the aid of Amazon and other major investors, a site that helps consumers get their hands on goods representative of those worn by big name celebrities, has secured an $8 million investment round. That site is called Who What Wear, and it’s a shoppable fashion site that’s growing in popularity.
The company was founded in 2006 and is the brainchild of Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power. Kerr formed the company on her own fashion sense, as she was a writer for ELLE, Teen Vogue and Nylon; Power worked at ELLE and ELLEgirl.
Now the site takes those shopping tips and makes them shoppable by connecting them with the same looks and fashion-forward ideas that celebrities embrace.
“It stemmed from the idea that we were spending all of our time on the computer, getting all of this up-to-the-minute gossip news about celebrities, but no one was talking about the clothes they were wearing,” Power told Business Insider in an interview. “Fashion magazines will tell you what people are wearing, but you can’t shop a magazine.”
As more fashion blogs got attention, the duo realized they could combine the shopping experience with their editorial backgrounds. And so Who What Wear was created, which now exists under the media property of Clique Inc.
“What makes us different is that our readers have a very different intent when they come to our sites,” Power told TechCrunch. “They might go elsewhere for entertainment or news, but they know that each piece of content on Who What Wear, or Byrdie or MyDomaine, has a call to action. They want to be inspired to try something or buy something.”
With this funding under their belts, the company is planning on growing its content side first, but it also has its sights on international expansion. This means hitting Europe first, then Australia. Who What Wear also plans to create an eCommerce product.
What’s most interesting about this investment is that it’s coming from Amazon, but perhaps that shouldn’t be overly surprising, given the fact that Amazon has dipped its hands into high-end fashion lately. Most recently, Amazon even opened a fashion photo studio to take photos of goods featured on its marketplace.
Amazon has been vocal about its intent to leverage its eCommerce strengths into fashion, with new initiatives especially prevalent in Europe, focusing on the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. Last year the company added more than 100 brands to its platform — a roster that spans Hugo Boss, Gucci watches, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s and others.
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