Uncovet Offers New Opportunities for Indie Fashion Designers and Bloggers

Design and technology is Uncovet’s sweet spot, and we use both to solve people’s common shopping dilemmas – spending excessive amounts of time and money to surface unique products that fit their style. –  Heather Lipner, Co-founder and President, Uncovet

First there was The Coveted, then came The Coveteur, and now fashion treasure hunters have Uncovet, the latest of flash sale sites with a decidedly indie designer twist.  Members-only websites selling designer goods for a limited time is nothing new, and though the concept itself has definitely disrupted (and evolved) traditional eCommerce models, there is the issue of market saturation, and popular sites have come under some fire for their pricing. However, more like Fab.com, which CEO Jason Goldberg told TechCrunch was never considered a flash-sale site, Uncovet is more concerned with helping consumers find a mix of up-and-coming designers, vintage finds from select high-profile brands in fashion, accessories, and home products.

Think of it a bit like flash sale meets limited sale, indie discovery engines like Edition01 or Of a Kind. Unlike Gilt, Rue La La, Haute Look, Ideeli, etc, which often sells big name brand leftovers from last season, Uncovet focuses on current trends and seasonal needs, presenting daily collections of products under a specific theme via email. The more a member uses the site, the more customized Uncovet will be. On most big-brand flash-sale sites, the same products are available to everyone, but Uncovet’s style graph delivers a particular selection of products based on preference. C0-Founder and President Heather Lipner, has put her background in start-up consulting, dot coms, and work as creative director for the redesigned MySpace to use identifying members’ style graph in order to serve up products that match personal style preferences. The site refers to it as where super geeky science meets amazing style.

Consumers aren’t just interested in one particular style, they may dress preppy one day, wear a conservative dress the next day, and something trendy that night. Delivering solid curation with intelligence gets people exactly what they want, faster. – Heather Lipner

As anyone who has seen the same ombre hair shots, yellow coat or black eyelet bikini hundreds of times on their Pinterest feed, Uncovet’s technology is a welcome respite to deliver something yet unseen. The daily email that focuses on a particular theme (nautical, skulls, music festivals) that cull a variety of products that drive sales quickly and cuts down on the social shopper’s 2 am browser fatigue!

Launching officially today, PR Couture readers get $15 off at Uncovet when you sign up and enter PRCOUTURE at checkout.

Opportunities for Fashion Designers

Uncovet mines Pinterest, Svpply, Fancy and top fashion blogs to discover designers and current trends. They work with indie designers on small quantities of product and take a percentage of the sale. Currently, Uncovet is most interested in fashion accessories and easy to wear pieces like t-shirts.

• The sale environment allows designers to test new designs among an existing community in order to get instant consumer feedback
• In support of each sale, Uncovet includes email, social promotion and blogger outreach on behalf of the brands it works with
• By encouraging members to promote products on sites like Pinterest for added discounts, the likelihood of social share is high
• Uncovet does a mini write up on featured brands as the first piece of information included in their daily email

Benefits for Fashion Bloggers

Bloggers and members have an incentive to share Uncovet products through their own social networks through influence-based commerce. Through Uncovet’s Inner Circle Benefits, members can receive increased lifetime rewards for percentages off for securing new member sign-ups. In addition:

• Uncovet offers deals and bonuses when members share Uncovet across Pinterest, Svpply, Twitter, Facebook and get friends to sign up
• The company’s lifestyle graph analysis helps customers know where and who to share with to improve their chances of getting better deals
• Uncovet collaborates with a growing community of bloggers and designers to pick products

Interested parties can contact Heather directly at Heather[at]uncovet.com or sign up for the site and get $15 off at checkout with code PRCOUTURE

Image: Cute Cat Tee by Pretty Snake