Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion

Filed under: branding, corporate social responsibility, culture, design, ecology, environment, fashion, globalization, living, Lucire, New York, society, technology, tendances, trend—Jack Yan/10.10

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Summer Rayne Oakes and Benita Singh’s Cartier award-winning venture, Source4Style, which helps designers source sustainable fabric through a well designed, transparent website, launches its second version today. Lucire has the low-down in the main part of the site, and this story forms part of some of our next 2012 print and other non-web editions.
   We believe this will revolutionize the way the business of fashion is conducted. Think about it: consumers demand sustainability and the trend has no signs of stopping. Yet, according to Singh, suppliers are spending up to 43 per cent of their marketing budgets just on trade shows. ‘It’s a huge up-front time and financial commitment with no guarantee of a return,’ she says. On the other end of the scale, Cornell University research shows that designers are spending up to 85 per cent of their time visiting those same shows, going through online directories, or wading through sample folders.
   Source4Style uses the internet to bridge the divide, and has obvious positive implications for smaller suppliers, who are on a level playing field with the big names. Some of these suppliers are in third-world countries, so it’s not hard to see the financial benefit that Source4Style can have for them and their communities.
   It’s in line with the ideas in Simon Anholt’s Brand New Justice, where Anholt posited that good brands helped third-world communities find greater profits and margins. Source4Style doesn’t quite give these companies brands per se, but through the site, it allows them to be the equal of businesses that are operating in the first world, and levels the playing field.
   It is the solidity behind this venture that sees us devote two web pages and the cover to it. We encourage readers to take a look, as this may well be the moment when fashion changes for good—in more than one sense of the word.—Jack Yan, Publisher

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1. [...] [Cross-posted] Summer Rayne Oakes and Benita Singh’s Cartier award-winning venture, Source4Style, which helps designers source sustainable fabric through a well designed, transparent website, launches its second version today. Lucire has the low-down in the main part of the site, and this story forms part of some of our next 2012 print and other non-web editions.    We believe this will revolutionize the way the business of fashion is conducted. Think about it: consumers demand sustainability and the trend has no signs of stopping. Yet, according to Singh, suppliers are spending up to 43 per cent of their marketing budgets just on trade shows. ‘It’s a huge up-front time and financial commitment with no guarantee of a return,’ she says. On the other end of the scale, Cornell University research shows that designers are spending up to 85 per cent of their time visiting those same shows, going through online directories, or wading through sample folders.    Source4Style uses the internet to bridge the divide, and has obvious positive implications for smaller suppliers, who are on a level playing field with the big names. Some of these suppliers are in third-world countries, so it’s not hard to see the financial benefit that Source4Style can have for them and their communities.    It’s in line with the ideas in Simon Anholt’s Brand New Justice, where Anholt posited that good brands helped third-world communities find greater profits and margins. Source4Style doesn’t quite give these companies brands per se, but through the site, it allows them to be the equal of businesses that are operating in the first world, and levels the playing field.    It is the solidity behind this venture that sees us devote two web pages and the cover to it. We encourage readers to take a look, as this may well be the moment when fashion changes for good—in more than one sense of the word. Filed under: branding, business, design, France, India, internet, leadership, marketing, publishing, social responsibility, technology, USA—Jack Yan @ 10.19 Comments (0) [...]

   Pingback by Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion « Jack Yan: the Persuader Blog — December 19, 2011 @ 10.20

2. Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion http://t.co/yW3tWYuT

   Trackback by Lucire — December 19, 2011 @ 10.36

3. RT @Lucire: Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion http://t.co/TTIXszJe

   Trackback by Jack Yan 甄爵恩 — December 19, 2011 @ 11.07

4. RT @Lucire: Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion http://t.co/MCkksspl

   Trackback by Summer Rayne Oakes — December 19, 2011 @ 14.24

5. RT @Lucire: Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion http://t.co/MCkksspl

   Trackback by Josh Spear™ — December 19, 2011 @ 14.30

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