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10 Questions to a founder : Catch-a-Trend

Fashion and photography have always had a love affair. Bring along shopping, and you have an explosion of passion, flowing seamlessly between the three. From discovery to possession, it is entirely driven by visuals, fueled by high emotional engagement. Curiously enough, few have been able to capitalize on it and with a few exceptions, it is still an online territory to grab. Using their experience with high-end fashion photography, Catch-A-Trend is the latest to take its chance in the universe highly sensible to the untamed forces of the crowd. We sat down with founder and ceo Gudrun Wronski to learn more.

In a few words, what is Catch a trend?
Gudrun Wronski, Founder and ceo of Catch-A-Trend

CATCH-a-TREND.com is the first shoppable, socially connected website to showcase trendy street-style looks from around the world. Followers are given a “front-row ticket” to the world of street style fashion and can discover and shop some of the latest and trendiest looks as worn by fashion influencers in almost real-time. We draw content from social media sites, for example from some of the world’s leading photographers and fashion trend experts including Adam Katz Sinding, Sandra Semburg, Frenchy Style and Valentina Frugiuele to name a few, and add user-generated content as well, if it includes #catchatrend. If one wants to know what fashion insiders consider trendy and chic by wearing it themselves one needs to follow catch a trend. It is a central point of access to the flamboyant world of fashion and helps women to stay ahead of the curve as well as add trendsetting items to their wardrobe.

What made you decide to create it?

People love street style images. We experience this on a daily basis when we license these images to fashion magazines worldwide. Thanks to our wonderful roster of photographers (view the complete list on the CATCH-a-TREND website) we have a great collection of street style images and we decided to introduce these photographers and their images to a greater audience as a source of inspiration. The idea to make these images shoppable was a logical development. Because we need to keyword the collection in order to offer it for professional licensing we already know who is wearing what. And now we make this knowledge public and offer the fashion interested an easy option to purchase outfits or accessories they like.

Screenshot of Catch-A-Trend
Can you tell us how it is funded? How big is the team currently?

Currently we have a team of seven people working on the site: Editors, trend scouts, taggers, a marketing team, plus the software developers of our tech partner Hashtagio.  So far we have not used any outside funding.

What do you think is the number one appeal for people to use Catch a Trend?

Inspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration! People want to explore how the very fashionable women combine high-end designer clothes and accessories with basics and fast-fashion items. For example see how trendsetter Veronica Heilbrunner combines a silk runway dress from Roberto Cavalli with the newest pink Adidas sneakers (see screenshot Veronika Heilbrunner). They want to see ideas of what to wear with the new Stella McCartney platform shoes or how to place an Anya Hindmarch sticker on a handbag.

The big difference to other visual sources like Instagram and Pinterest is that CATCH-a-TREND enables a keyword and hashtag search. Instead of endlessly scrolling to find the right image, people can search for names and brands for example. Many oft the photos are shoppable and visitors can instantly buy the look via direct link to the pertinent item on our affiliate partner sites like Farfech, Net-a-Porter or Matchesfashion.

CATCH-a-TREND offers a combination of inspiration, targeted search, and shopping experience.

Images contain interactive tags to allow shopping of certain items
There are already a few fashion walls discovery platforms, what is the key difference of Catch a trend?

Interaction! On CATCH-a-TREND people find inspiration, and they can comment, re-post photos and shop. In addition they can feature their own creative looks via social media sites, adding the hashtag #catchatrend, and reach a large community. Everyday people who are brand champions themselves, are invited to share looks via Instagram and other social sites using the hashtag #catchatrend. Everyday we add edited posts from the social feeds to present followers the best new looks.

Who do you see as your typical user?

Women (and fashion interested men) of any age group.

What will be a sure sign of success?

Many posts on social media channels using #catchatrend.

Do you expect Catch a trend to replace Pinterest or Polyvore?

No, not at all. The big difference to these platforms is that our fashion editors curate the incoming material. Already the superb pool of images from our own photographers, the selected social feeds of fashion insiders, but also through the editing of each post we showcase on a CATCH-a-TREND an incredible variety of up to date individual looks and the newest trends as worn around the world.

Fashion aficionados can browse via thumbnail click to view details
What are some features that we can expect to see in the near future?
What would you like to add to Catch a Trend today that can’t be done because of technology restrictions?

With Hashtagio we work with a super developer team and we have yet to find any boundaries concerning the technical implementation of our ideas. Obviously this is an ongoing process and we are still at the beginning. We especially want to develop and improve the shopping experience.

 

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Photo by alda chou

Author: Paul Melcher

Paul Melcher is a highly influential and visionary leader in visual tech, with 20+ years of experience in licensing, tech innovation, and entrepreneurship. He is the Managing Director of MelcherSystem and has held executive roles at Corbis, Stipple, and more. Melcher received a Digital Media Licensing Association Award and is a board member of Plus Coalition, Clippn, and Anthology, and has been named among the “100 most influential individuals in American photography”

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