I was one of the keynote speakers at the Web 2.0 conference in New York in October, 2011. Here’s a transcript of my talk on how the Internet is changing the fashion industry and the transition of offline behaviors to online.
 

 
Retail is a huge industry. According to the US Census Bureau, just in the US, retail spending (excluding food and automotive) amounted to $3.1 trillion in 2010, of which almost 80% was done by women.
 
Morever, online shopping is one of the fastest growing sectors, with the average growth of 19% a year for the last few years even despite the recession.
 
Fashion has been a bit slow to get disrupted by the Internet, in contrast to music or news industries. However, that is quickly changing.
 
Many consumers feel more confident about online shopping, with recent data from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that an overwhelming majority (over 90%) prefers online to offline sources.
 
Perhaps the most interesting observation about fashion and the Internet is that we are not seeing entirely new consumer behaviors. Rather, it is the transition of offline behaviors to online that uses the revolutionary powers of the Internet, and the innovative companies that are enabling that transition.
 
Most of you have probably heard of Gilt Groupe – a high-end online retailer that sells designer brands at a steep discount. It’s hugely popular because it taps into everyone’s desire to buy designer goods for a bargain.
 
Gilt also makes you feel special, as if you are attending an exclusive sample sale – an offline behavior that was until recently only available to a very select group.
 
Another e-commerce company with an interesting business model is Rent The Runway. As their name suggests, you can rent – rather than buy – the latest fashions.
 
Rent the Runway is also capitalizing on a very popular offline behavior of borrowing a dress from a girlfriend – so you don’t have to spend several hundred dollars on an item you’ll only wear once to a special occasion. A less realistic – but far more glamourous example of this behavior – is a celebrity being lent a designer dress to wear on the red carpet.
 
Tumblr – a blogging platform – is one of the hottest Internet companies around, with over 13 billion monthly page views. It allows users to save and share inspirational images and other content, just like tearing out pages of a magazine In an offline world.
 
Tumblr also often serves as a fashion diary, with many models, designers, and brands using it as a platform to post looks and latest fashion trends. What did Hilary Rhoda – this is her actual tumblr – or your fashionable friend wear today? No need for glossy magazines or lengthy phone calls – we can easily find out with one click of a button.
 
Pinterest is another company that allows users to both save – or pin, thus the name Pinterest – and share beautiful images, recipes, and any other sources of inspiration. Again, no need to tear out pages or clip recipes from a magazine – it’s all online.
 
Pinterest also appeals to a huge community of scrapbooking enthusiasts. You can create boards – or scrapbooks – for your wedding, baby shower, a trip, or simply to share with friends.
 
A somewhat different take on inspirational moodboards – a perennial favorite with the fashion set – is executed by Polyvore. Rather than just collect images, users combine them in collages – usually done offline with polaroids, push pins, tape, and cork boards.
 
Polyvore also allows aspiring fashionistas to mix and match items to create outfits. Users can browse an extensive database and pick styles and trends they like.
 
Clothia is a company I am a bit partial to It’s a fashion technology platform that allows users to create virtual closets and outfits and share them with friends to give and receive style advice.
 
Clothia also allows users to virtually try on clothes via a webcam – a very typical offline behavior of trying clothes on, or holding a garment on a hanger and looking in the mirror, now available online.
 
And what I consider one of the most interesting applications of offline to online behavior is YouTube videos. Shoppers love to tell friends about their amazing fashion finds. Now imagine sharing them with a community of tens of millions of friends – like Dulce Candy, pictured here, is doing. Her videos of “style hauls” got over a hundred million views.
 
Another hugely popular YouTube star is a makeup guru Michelle Phan. She went from doing friends’ makeup to videotaping her makeup lessons to international stardom. Michelle’s videos got more than 400 million views and she now has more than 1.6 million followers on YouTube – that’s a small country.
 
There are many ways in which the Internet is helping consumers enjoy the same behaviors online as they have historically exhibited offline. So, what trends can we expect to see in the next five years?
 
First of all, online shopping will grow significantly to become close to 20-25% of overall retail spending.
 
We will see deeper connections between offline and online – merchants and companies will be integrating in-store, mobile, and online experiences. For example, you’ll be able to come to a store, virtually try on an item, and buy it on your phone, to be shipped to your house overnight.
 
The Internet will pave the way for truly immersive, social, and interactive fashion experiences – whether that is shopping via Kinect or mobile, social sharing, group buying, or enabling consumers to open up their own storefront with a click of a button.
 

Finally, there will be a new wave of amazing technology companies that will tap into existing offline behaviors to transform the way that we shop today. We are truly at the forefront of a fashion technology revolution and I am excited to be a part of it.

 
Here are the updated slides for my “What is the Internet?” talk.
 
“What is the Internet” (.pdf)

 
UPDATE: Position Filled
 
Do you love Garance Doré, Asos.com, Rick Owens and Azzedine Alaïa? Do you read everything about fashion and wish you could contribute and become known in the space? Do you want to help grow the next “IT” fashion destination?
 
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I was one of the invited speakers at Fashion140 conference May 4, 2011 at the Lincoln Center, sponsored by Fashion Week at Lincoln Center. Not only it was an amazing day where I got to meet everyone from Stephanie Winston Wolkoff to Joe Zee, it was also a great learning experience! Here’s a video of our panel discussion:
 

 
UPDATE: This position has been filled.

 
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This is a clip from the movie “Clueless” – it is literally 20 seconds long (I added some extra footage from later in the movie) but girls remember it and remind me of it whenever I tell them about Clothia…

 
This past Friday I had the pleasure of reprising my class “What is the Internet?” at Columbia University for Application Development Initiative (ADICU) and HackNY. ADICU is a great organization of super talented students who like to develop cool applications. I was extremely impressed with the crowd who showed up for the lecture – I wish I were that smart back in college! Great questions, strong desire to learn, and lots of interest in technology.

 
The event was organized by Professor Chris Wiggins of HackNY – another great organization that encourages student developers and educates them about exciting opportunities in startups and technology.

 
Here are my lecture notes: “Internet Overview” (.key) “Internet Overview” (.pdf)

 
For the last couple of months, I have been teaching a class at General Assembly, “What is the Internet?”, together with Charlie Robbins of Nodejitsu. It is an 8-lecture series about Internet architecture, principles, history and security. It has been a really fun experience to rehash my knowledge of the space and convert it to concepts that are easily understood by those without a Computer Science degree.

 
Here are my lecture notes (Charlie taught the odd-numbered lectures):

 
Lecture 2: “Basic Principles” (.key) “Basic Principles” (.pdf)

 
Lecture 4: “World Wide Web” (.key) “World Wide Web” (.pdf)

 
Lecture 6: “Internet Security” (.key) “Internet Security” (.pdf)

 
I presented Clothia at NY Tech Meetup on March 1, 2011. It was amazing to hear all the positive feedback and a big round of applause as I was showing our virtual fitting room, “Clueless” style… Thank you everybody!

 


 And here is some twitter love:

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UPDATE: My post is also on Business Insider.

 
Outsourcing is a tricky subject. Heralded ten years ago as a business practice that would change the corporate world by making it flat, outsourcing is still an extremely risky endeavor. As an entrepreneur who has employed a team of developers in St. Petersburg, Russia for my fashion technology startup, Clothia, for the last seven months, I’ve learned some general rules to make outsourcing work. Here are a few suggestions:

 
1. You need to have a project manager who speaks the developers’ native language and understands their culture.
 
Most foreign developers understand English well enough to read technical documentation (especially if they work on the “bleeding edge” of tech, like the developers I get to work with) but unless they’ve lived in an English-speaking country, their language abilities are not going to be sufficient for meaningful, real-time communication. Cultural and educational differences between countries also play a role. My Russian developers prefer goal-oriented assignments with a degree of creative freedom, in contrast to developers from other countries who – in my experience – have preferred more micro-management. Also, having personal interactions builds a closer relationship that benefits both the company and the developers. At Clothia, we have daily Skype chats and regular in-person visits.
 
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