Shoppers can now reserve new looks straight off the fashion runway with an assist from pre-order platform Luevo.
August 19, 2014
Shoppers can now reserve new looks straight off the fashion runway with an assist from pre-order platform Luevo.
The company today announced partnerships with fashion weeks across North America, including with Fashion Week San Diego, Portland Fashion Week, Fashion Week Brooklyn, D.C. Fashion Week, Fashion Week Tampa Bay, Kansas City Fashion Week, Virginia Fashion Week and Dallas x Fashion. Luevo is also the official tech partner of Art Hearts Fashion, the closing night event at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, New York, and is collaborating with other designers showing during New York Fashion Week.
Participating designers load runway shots or showroom images from their latest collections into their dedicated Fashion Week boutique on Luevo, and fans can pre-order the designs they want. Luevo said it's an idea that supports both sides of the equation: Fashion lovers have access to emerging designers and next-season looks while designers receive the support of cash flow to produce their collections.
"So many fashion lovers support local design, but until now it has often been a 'look but don't touch' proposition – if a retailer didn't pick up the line, the collection wasn't available," said Allison Andrews, founder of Fashion Week San Diego, in the announcement. "With our Luevo partnership, shoppers have access and more control, in that through their preorders they actually dictate what goes into production."
The site works like any other online shopping boutique with one exception, Luevo said – buyers pre-order or "reserve" the designs they’re interested in, and only when the design goes into production are they charged. Luevo said its customers will receive their pre-order first, before the items are available in retail.
Luevo will launch with the first Spring/Summer '15 collections live during New York Fashion Week and expects to see new designers every week throughout the season.
"We looked at crowdfunding websites and thought a similar idea would work in fashion, to support designers in a critical period of their collections and their careers," Ana Caracaleanu, one of Luevo's founders, said in the announcement. "The early days for a designer are tough; the talent is there, but the resources to get up and running may not be. We can solve that problem, with our pre-ordering platform. We are delighted to be able to support the local talent across American cities and are pleased to be able to make Spring/Summer '15 collections available to shoppers anywhere in the world."
