It’s that time again… you open your wardrobe, stare at a pile of clothes but you soon come to realize you have nothing to wear. Or maybe you do, and you just need some creative advice on how to match that lovely dress you bought two months ago, with the price tag still on it.

A personal stylist would be really handy in this case, but what if you could actually have a personal styling community for free?

The mobile app Jaqard, a social network for fashion enthusiasts, might be exactly what you are looking for. It was launched October 2013 for iOS and it will soon be also available for Android.

To exchange fashion tips, the user posts a picture and asks a question:

“How could I pair these new shoes?”

He will receive feedback from other users, who can give a personal advice

“They would look great with that white dress you posted three days ago.”

but also choose the perfect match from a combination of clothes from an integrated catalog, linked to the fashion brands and online shops.

In a user-friendly and very visual platform (all the advice must be accompanied by a picture) the developers were able to co-create value for all the parties involved:

– Users in need of tips can post their questions online and receive personalized feedback: the recommendations are crowdsourced, meaning that the whole community can help them out in case of a fashion crisis. The suggestions can also be voted, giving thus a way to check on the quality of submissions

– The brands and online shops get user-generated visibility and promotion, thus benefiting from online word-of-mouth. At the end of 2014, the platform will also offer limited-time visibility spots for unknown and emerging brands that find it hard to compete in the world of global fashion.

– The fashion connoisseurs contributors not only interact with other people on a topic they love, but they can get a glimpse of glory in the online community: the most influential style guides receive badges and incentives and are featured in the homepage of the app. Every now and then, trendy prizes are also offered to the most appreciated members.

– Each item in the catalog of suggestions is linked to the page of the online store where the user can easily buy it. In case of purchase, the app obtains commission on sales.

The app seems to have potential. The business model seems to be promising and the consumers have all the benefits need: efficiency, social interaction and fun. Only time will tell if this online runway will be a success.

For now, if you don’t know what to wear for your next date, it might worth to try, ask and let someone solve your fashion dilemmas.

Sources:

• About Jaqard. Accessed 11 May 2014.
• Malone, T.W., R. Laubacher, and Chrysanthos Dellarocas. The Collective Intelligence Genome. MIT Sloan Management Review 51.3 (2010): 21-31.
• Saarijärvi, H., Kannan, P. K., & Kuusela, H. (2013). Value co-creation: theoretical approaches and practical implications. European Business Review, 25(1), 6-19.