Vancouver-based startup to revolutionize fashion blogging
By Sophie Isbister, Life & Style Editor
Curious about who designed that fierce necklace that your fashion-forward bestie is wearing? Wondering what’s trending up for fall? Try turning to a lookbook like Verlico.
Lookbooks are nothing new online. They usually take the form of a gallery of pictures depicting the personal style of either fashionable opinion leaders or designers. Originally used for marketing purposes, thanks to the democratization of fashion online, lookbooks now feature regular people and their everyday fashion, or street fashion.
Verlico Style (verlico.com) is a homegrown fashion social media site that combines a classic lookbook with the photo tagging technology we use on sites like Facebook. It’s easy to sign up for: just link it to your pre-existing social media account of choice (Facebook or Twitter), upload a photo of your style, and then tag your articles of clothing with their designer.
We spoke with Stephanie Trembath, Verlico’s community marketing strategist (and Other Press Life & Style editorial alum) about the exciting new waves that Verlico is making in the Canadian fashion scene. In an email interview, Trembath says that Verlico will revolutionize fashion blogging. “Tagging your fashion items/products in Verlico streamlines the process of searching, styling, and shopping for products online,” she tells us.
She adds, “The tags are ‘live,’ and when you add the embed code to your blog, when people hover or click the tags they will be able to see the brand, style details, and a link [to] where you can buy the product. Essentially, it will be every fashion blogger’s favourite item, second to a pair of killer heels and a photographer.”
Trembath says that Verlico, founded by Hamed Madani and Milad Gougani, is “the result of two tech-savvy engineers putting their passion to work.”
Madani and Gougani hope to turn the site into a space to connect all aspects of fashion production, from designers, to bloggers, and all the way to discerning consumers. Trembath says the team has big dreams for Verlico’s future.
Their vision, she says, is “a fashion house for designer labels and brands where you can promote products, a platform for bloggers to feature their style and collaborate with brands, and a space where users can explore new looks and learn everything about fashion”—a vision that truly encompasses the multiple levels of the fashion chain.
According to Trembath, florals are trending huge on Verlico right now: “Roden Gray has some pretty neat floral print shirts for men, and a new Vancouver designer, Dayson Winter, has an entire collection of fun and flirty floral rompers and tees for the ladies.”
She also says to look out for bold monochromatic looks for fall 2014, and be prepared with textured pieces and large, chunky jewelry. Go minimal with your style for fall and punch it up with statement items. She recommends Verlico-featured designer Sarah Mulder’s jewelry line Nomad to inspire your fall look.
“I see fashion as a form of expression and art,” says Trembath, adding that “cultural influence, social impact, and even history each play such a role in curating trends and how people see themselves.” Verlico is an exciting new way to combine all of those factors in determining what both trend-setters and trend-followers will deem fashionable in the future
