The Olsen twins are at is again. The pint sized design duo is launching a new digital fashion venture with BeachMint. The company headed by Josh Berman one of the founders of MySpace. The new online fashion destination will be called “StyleMint”
As told to WWD – StyleMint will meld e-commerce and social media platforms to offer consumers a personalized shopping experience, based on a monthly opt-out model, similar to book-, music- and wine-of-the-month clubs. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will help design and merchandise the offerings — starting with a collection of women’s fashion T-shirts retailing for $29.99 — as well as create regular videos for the site.
“Online commerce is the perfect medium for us to create a new brand that is as much about the clothing as it is about the customer experience,” said Ashley Olsen, who was in Seattle with her twin sister for a product knowledge seminar and an in-store appearance at Nordstrom scheduled for today. “BeachMint is the ideal partner, as they share our vision for the brand and have the resources and talent to execute it.”
This is the second foray into the fashion world for BeachMInt. Their first venture which launched in October with actress and stylista Kate Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter has done very well.
For the Olsen’s who also founded The Row, Elizabeth and James, Olsenboye and Textile Elizabeth and James, BeachMint was the perfect choice to help foster an authentic relationship between the consumer and the brand. Mary Kate relayed that “With Stylemint.com, Ashley and I have created an online experience reflecting our love of style and allowing us to engage with our customers directly, which is an inspiring new way for us to think and create as designers.”
Set to launch in July StleMint will have shoppers register, then take part in short style quizzes which will help taylor their monthly suggestions for purchases. As with Pandora and other membership sites predictive algorithms which help to fine tune the suggestions each month. Other integrated features with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter will help members garner opinions from their friends and peers on potential upcoming purchases.
The initial pieces will include Modal T’s in crew neck, V Neck and Henley styles in classic neutrals of white, black, gray, navy and striped.
Other celebrities have also jumped on the online shopping bandwagon, but the Olsen’s have proven themselves to be a deft design duo who have built their brands on a mix of keen style, great fabrics, impressive construction and good design.
