Trends in apparel have historically evolved with the political events, artistic movements, and ideologies of the people in particular locations and times. Today, this is more true than ever, with trends revolving around millennial mentalities and busy lifestyles, the apparel we purchase is now defining who we are, what we do, and what we aspire to be. By observing and collecting information regarding purchasing habits across multiple platforms, I created a single application that joins fashion with lifestyle, and provides an online retail experience catered to an individual's daily activities.

The Problem

Living in Los Angeles, I spend a majority of my time at work and in my commute, which leaves little time to look for apparel to wear on weekends and downtime. Many companies have addressed this trend by creating marketplaces for busy, trendy individuals. These companies provide progressive styles, fast shipping, and free returns at an affordable and accessible marketplace on the web. Understanding the demand for this type of service lead to the basis of Russell Parke: shoppers make purchasing decisions according to the lifestyle they aspire to buy into. Meaning, by collecting apparel into activities that closely define popular life occasions (yoga workout, coffee date, night out) I can open the ability for users to visualize apparel items in popular given activities, and leverage a visual buying experience to market relevant locations near them.

Competition in the Luxury Apparel Market

In this space companies like Gilt Groupe have taken advantage of purchasing from luxury brands with overstock items, afraid to sell to low-tier retailers because of the potential risk of destroying their luxury brand image. Other companies like Trunk Club are innovating in the fashion retail space by providing an on-demand custom shopping experience at a higher price. Although both of Gilt and Trunk Club have been successful in this market, there is still room for improvement: Ideally my concept aims to create an affordable, custom buying experience that is not only fast and accessible, but also encourages purchases relevant to consumer lifestyles.

Our Initial Concept

Because clothing is searched to do certain activities (go out, sleep, exercise), Russell Parke guides users to find apparel using their sex, location, and desired activity type. Once users reach an activity, they browse visual lookbooks with photography taken in locations near them. After making a purchase, they receive their apparel item with a coupon from one of the businesses or locations featured in their lookbook. By using this coupon, customers can be guided to fully experience the lifestyle positioned to them at the point of purchase.

Designed for Purchasing Power and Social Validity

To enhance the user experience for individuals with specific interests, and help encourage exploration for those with less ‘lifestyle-awareness,’ I mapped user journeys that took direct routes to activity selection, and journeys with less intent and awareness regarding lifestyle. After speaking with focus groups about role models, it was apparent that their ideas of what certain lifestyles represented were taken from influential individuals within niche lifestyle sub-groups. From this understanding, the I pursued the Collections feature within the platform, with the hope to create a larger purchasing power and add social validity.

Native Interface for Mobile-First Users

Data regarding consumer habits shows that shopping on mobile has become increasingly popular, and that disregarding a native or responsive shopping interface could mean loosing half of the potential market. After talking with users to validate this use case, it was decided a native app would be beneficial for shoppers with less time, and those who enjoy browsing while on the move.

Concluding Thoughts

As I move forward with the concept, I look to build a fully testable prototype, and set up user interviews to better understand existing pain points with online fashion retail stores. I look to target users of existing apparel sites as well as opening conversations with users that are new to shopping for apparel online. The main importance moving forward is to focus on what inspires users to shop online, and iterating on design concepts to best fit the market.