Jacco Fashion* Shop x Blog

IT did not take long for Twinkle Lam to realize that she had a problem on her hands.

For the past 10 months the 23-year-old Ms. Lam has moderated an online discussion group about Gothic and Lolita fashion, a style of dressing imported from Japan featuring Victorian-era calf-length skirts, bloomers, aprons, lace bows and ruffled petticoats that has attracted a following among high-school and college-age girls in the United States.

For the most part, discussion on the Web log (www.livejournal.com/community/egl), a forum of about 2,500 ardent adherents to Gothic and Lolita fashion that Ms. Lam manages from her home in Dallas, revolves around questions like where to buy chunky high-heeled Mary Jane pumps or how to fashion Bo Peep collars. But over the winter, the usually polite exchanges gave way to angry, often profane declamations.

At issue was Gwen Stefani’s Alice in Wonderland costume in her ”What You Waiting For” video. Alice, with her prim white collar, poofy sleeves and bell-shaped skirts, is an informal muse for many G.L.’s, as they call themselves, and the sense was that Ms. Stefani had bastardized the look by exposing blue ruffled panties and laced-up high heels, making the look more dominatrix than demure.

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It’s no secret that we’re living in a fashion 2.0 world.

But as more and more shoppers head online, it’s interesting to look at how it’s changing the face of both fashion and shopping in general.

While many top design houses are forging relationships with online sites like Yoox and Net-a-Porter, a Nielsen Media Research survey found that eBay is the top Internet destination both in general and for fashion. Why? Likely because you can score some major deals. Simply head over to eBay, and more often than not, you find the homepage filled with flashes of designer handbags, shoes, and clothing items that are up on the auction block. While consumers should be aware that there is risk in buying on a site like eBay, due to some sellers that stock knock-offs, this is definitely a great shopping website.

So what about consumers that don’t have an eBay account? You’ve still got plenty of options. Yoox.com is a virtual boutique that saw over 3 million visitors per month in 2007; that number is staggering. What’s more, they’ve recently added to their offerring by partnering up with a new high-end designer menswear store, who is also available, only online; thecorner.com keeps its virtual shelves filled with Marc Jacobs and Viktor & Rolf.

And even with all the fashion sites popping up, the most popular, Net-a-Porter, continues to see growth and amazing success; due in part to their ever increasing partnerships that they forge. Take the re-launch of popular label Halston. When Net-a-Porter partnered with them to sell two of its autumn/winter 2008 designs just 24 hours after their fashion show, one dress sold out in 45 minutes. The same thing happened with the “Moon Dress” by Roland Mouret. That’s got to be a record somewhere.

While it is reported that many designers shy away from the Internet and all things tech-savvy, it is apparent that they must either fill their staff with fearless web junkies, or they need to grab their laptops and get familiar - quick. This is also great news for those of you that are entering the world of fashion internships; show off your online prowess whenever possible. In the words of Penny Martin, editor-in-chief of fashion website ShowStudio.com, “It has taken years for the Internet to be anything other than a dirty word to fashion houses, but they are having to concede that online is important to them.”

You might still be wondering what’s driving this ever-increasing segment of the market though; I know I was. More than ever, it’s time. While a few fashion houses originally dipped their toes in the eTailing waters, thinking their primary demographic would be the younger generation, they quickly learned that more often than not, it’s the time-starved population that’s clicking through their sties. Lucky for them, the time-starved are also typically the wealthy.

So there you have it. Fashion 2.0 is booming and if you’re not eTailing, you’d better get started. The fashion world is expanding in every direction; Dior is showcasing jewelry, Jimmy Choo is launching a line of sunglasses, and top designers are shrinking their lines to fit infants and toddlers. This is a prime opportunity to reach the world instead of just your neighborhood. Don’t waste another minute!

While the United States and Europe have both seen healthy growth when it comes to Internet apparel sales, the Australian’s aren’t quite sold on the idea of purchasing their apparel via an online shopping cart.

In fact, while generalized online shopping is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Austrailian economy, going from $0 to $14 billion in just over a decade, most of these sales occur in the travel, book, and hotel categories. Seems odd doesn’t it that Austrailan shoppers will book a plane ticket for five or six hundred dollars online, but they don’t want to spend a few hundred on a pair of shoes?

Well, according to Mark McInnes, boss of the upscale department store David Jones, it’s not credit card fraud or a lack of knowledge when it comes to the process of buying online that keeps them from clicking their way to apparel purchases.

Simply put he says, “people like to go shopping and you’ve got to try things on to see the way they look.” It’s because of this that creating an online shopping sector of their department store isn’t even on his radar; that doesn’t mean you can’t go online and browse though.

And even while Target Australia is hauling in big name designers like Stella McCartney and Zac Posen, they’re not selling online either. One could argue that it was to their detriment though when they unveiled the line by Stella McCartney, which sold out within 10 minutes in some locations. But where were those same products later that day? Being sold online, courtesy of eBay.

So, what do you think? Does the Australian economy stand to gain from putting some focus on expanding the marketing of their online apparel sales and branching out in to the world of online fashion shopping?

I think so. And I am willing to bet that, as time becomes an increasing commodity that consumers don’t want to part with, Mr. McInnes will think so too.