Rogue Is The New Black

We’re currently in the process of redeveloping Rogue Connect for 2007. There’ll be quite a few tweaks and adjustments to the fashion and lifestyle socialising site, most of which will be aimed at making the site easier to use. We might be taking a leaf out of the book of 37 Signals, but we’re aiming to make the site more simple.

One area that we’re paying particular attention to is the fashion blog. Look for a major reworking of it when the new site goes up, and it’s renaming as the Fashion Diary.

style spy, our trend and fashion spotting initiative, hit 500 submissions today.

The 500th item submitted was the Matinee set from Agent Provocateur.

Through style spy we’re keeping track of the trends, fashion, and accessories which have impressed the site’s users and visitors.

These are the five items which made the most impression for the week beginning 10.12.2006;

1. Peacock Earrings from ASOS
2. Poetic Licence Bow Peep Toe Shoes
3. Paul Smith Striped Scarf
4. iPod shuffle sticker art
5. The Alba Fan Club range for Jeans West

The most popular item of all time is currently the Dena Pezzano Black Bustier with the Minidress the most popular trend.

style spy currently has 23 spys (the site is still only open to Rogue Connect members), with 478 items put forward, and 1965 votes cast.

Seventh Sin became the first magazine to officially launch via torrent tonight.

Quite a different distribution method for a magazine, so we’re intrigued to see how it goes.

Perhaps they haven’t come across style spy yet? But publishing group Condé Nast is to launch a women’s fashion website targeting 15 to 45-year-old women and featuring details on a wide range of high street and designer labels.

It sounds like an interesting concept, a “shopping website for style-conscious women” linking “numerous fashion websites” and “updated daily”.

But honestly, it’s practically 2007. A fashion website just for women?

Honestly, it’s just clever spin. Completely PR. But it’s a valid question, are you ready for the ongoing boom in menswear? Do you have a men’s line? Does it have its own name? It’s own style? It’s own marketing campaign?

I bring it up, because soon Tom Ford will.

After a few months of development and tweaking, we’ve opened one of our initiatives, style spy, to Rogue Connect members.

style spy is a collaborative trend spotting site, where users are encourage to submit clothing and accessories that they think to be highly fashionable or an upcoming trend. Using a secret method, style spy then ranks the items giving people the opportunity to see the hottest fashion trends of the moment, or the top fashion trends as historically voted by users of style spy.

style spy is expected to be open to the wider community before Christmas.

How will your 2007 line differ from your 2006 line?

Seth Godin points out the obvious, that you must ‘clean house’. That is, you must get rid of the old to bring in the new.

It’s an obvious point, especially in the fashion industry. Fashion changes and we must keep up. But because it’s obvious, it’s so frequently overlooked. You might be updating your offerings, but have you updated your advertising?

Is the story you’re selling through your marketing fresh in 2007?