The Virtual World of Fashion

When it comes to technology, we don't often think about the fashion industry. At least the fashion industry seems quite distant from our image of people in the tech world. However, technology has significantly shaken the multi-billion dollar fashion industry. From how we shop to how we define beauty, everything is changing under the influence of modern technology. In this article, as well as in next week's article, we will discuss some fashion applications that have changed our traditional perceptions of the fashion world. We start with the application Polyvor, which is also known in Iran. Polyvor is one of the first startups in the fashion world, launched in 2006 in Northern California. The goal of this site was to create a virtual community for exchanging opinions on everything related to fashion. However, this site (which later launched its iOS and Android applications) quickly became one of the most popular fashion sites and entered into contracts with various clothing and shoe brands. On this site, you can see different styles that can be created with everyday clothes (not expensive branded clothing) and then spend hours browsing the virtual closet of this site, creating different styles for yourself on various pages. You can visit other users' pages and see their collages. Most of these clothes are also available for sale, and Polyvor directs you to the seller's page for that clothing. Many times when shopping for clothes, we wish someone was with us to ask for their opinion. Seeing ourselves in the mirror never replaces the opinion of another person—especially the opinion of a fashion and style expert. Now, the application PS Depot provides this expert opinion to consumers 24/7. This application, which is in relation to professional stylists from clothing companies, helps you choose the best clothes based on your situation, budget, season, and body shape. Mallzee is another application where you can easily spend hours! You start by going to one of the clothing drawers, for example, sportswear! This application shows you different models one by one. Like the dating app Tinder (which popularized swiping right for liking and swiping left for disliking), you swipe right for the ones you like and left for those you don’t, thus creating a pile of your favorite clothes. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will buy these clothes, but if their prices drop, Mallzee will send you an alert that now is the time to buy. Another site that has independently changed the way of shopping—especially shopping from famous brands—is Ideel. This site offers a fresh collection of clothes, bags, shoes, and accessories at prices much lower than other stores—and the websites of these brands—at noon every day. However, this offer is for a limited time; for example, you have three days to buy your favorite shoes at that price. This site has gained over two million active users in just two years. The next interesting site for those who follow Hollywood stars or the fashion world is The Hunt. Imagine your favorite actor or model has posted a new photo on their Instagram, and you want to know where they bought the outfit they are wearing. Just submit the photo to The Hunt, and it will tell you where you can buy that exact outfit! On this site, users help each other identify hidden or overlooked stores. Pose can also be defined as a fashion weather site. This site tells you every day what clothes are suitable for that day based on the temperature, humidity, possibility of rain, etc., or what clothes people living around you wear on such days! Next week, we will look at some virtual tailoring shops. But until then, if you hear a term in the fashion world that you don’t know the meaning of, go to FAD! The largest online specialized dictionary in the fashion world!