Third Wave Fashion

Tech Crush Thursday: Christian MacLean

This Thursday, we are crushing on BeauCoo’s Co-founder and CEO, Christian MacLean. Christian watched his wife Victoria (also a Co-founder) spend hours online talking about fashion and brands with other women trying to determine if the items shown on the models would fit her body. That’s when he came up with the idea for BeauCoo, a social style network that aims to connect women with other women who share a similar body type in order to make online and offline shopping social, fun and realistic.

Based out of Calgary, Canada, the company originally launched on the iPhone and recently (as in this week) expanded to a full website. What’s really great about MacLean and the entire BeauCoo team is the focus on making shopping a positive experience. They want women to share and discover stores and styles that will “make them look and feel great.”

MacLean is now working on a BeauCoo Android app which they hope to launch in the next few weeks, as well as an API that will allow online vendors to use BeauCoo and its social network to improve content discovery on their sites.

For the time being, MacLean and the BeauCoo team are focused only on women shoppers (using Facebook Connect to keep men out). But they are considering allowing female members to invite their significant others to the service. As for a men’s version? Stay tuned.

Follow them on Twitter to keep up with this fascinating startup.

Watch-Out Wednesday: The Cools

“The Cools“—no, that’s not the name of the latest underground rock band, but rather a new social online marketplace for fashion, art, and design. A user can buy, sell, and browse products based on her/his style, taste, and personality.

When users sign up, they are asked a variety of entertaining questions to give a sense of their style; from there, products and inspiration are displayed on the user’s profile. Users can also add quotes and descriptions about themselves on their profiles, similar to Facebook.

If you find something you think is “cool,” you are encouraged to share with your community and connect with other buyers and sellers who share your same taste. Products also have a “buy” button for when you think it’s so cool you wish to own it. You can follow your friends, as well as tastemakers like the Clarins sisters. Another element that makes The Cools so enticing is their sleek, crisp, and minimalist design and brand identity.

Keep up with The Cools on Facebook, Twitter, and their blog.