I Love Jewelry Auctions
Instant gratification
MONOGRAMNECKLACE
RETAIL
:
$220
I LOVE JEWELRY AUCTIONS:
$65
The first-ever accessories company
available only through Facebook, I Love
Jewelry Auctions allows shoppers to bid on
“
designer-inspired” baubles. By doing busi-
ness via the social networking site, where it
boasts more than 150,000 fans, the company
cuts costs by eliminating the need for a store
or even a website—savings that are passed
on to the customer. Launched with $5,000 of
founder (and Cartier vet) Jordann Wein-
gartner’s own cash, the firmmails up to 300
packages a day from her Palm Beach house.
Less than a year in, she expected to close 2012
with revenues of $2 million.
Yoox
Exclusive designer access
EMILIO PUCCI CAPE
RETAIL:
$11,000
YOOX:
$6,590
Debuting in 2000 at the height of the
e-commerce implosion, Yoox deals in ultra-
exclusive designer overstock at a serious
discount. Founder Federico Marche i’s
background in high-fashion e-commerce
paved the way for partnerships with
brands from around the world—many
of them traditionally Internet-wary, like
Rick Owens and Isabel Marant—as well
as designers themselves (one recent sale
featured items directly from the closet of
Margherita Missoni). An expansion into
art and furniture from designers such as
Kartell and Established & Sons has
doubled Yoox’s profits.
Vente-Privee
Limited-time steals
MARCHESA CLUTCH
RETAIL:
$2,995
VENTE-PRIVEE:
$145
A er a successful decade in
Europe—where sales generated
more than $1 billion in 2011 alone—
this flash-sale pioneer bowed in the
U.S. two years ago. Since then it’s
gone from four 72-hour sales a week
to 16, many curated by
Elle
creative
director Joe Zee and all boasting
discounts of up to 90 percent off
retail. Meaning you might very
well score a $3,000 handbag for
less than it costs to fill up the
SUV.
—
ALYSSA GIACOBBE
Rent the Runway
The endless wardrobe
BIBHUMOHAPATRA DRESS
RETAIL:
$5,000
RENT THE RUNWAY:
$400
Since its launch in 2009, Rent the Runway has
gone from two co-founders and a handful of
dresses to more than 180 employees and a
40,000-
square-foot warehouse in New Jersey.
The company’s short-term leases of clothes,
shoes and accessories from 170 designer
brands represent a fraction of retail, like
the gold Badgley Mischka gown (2012’s
most rented dress) that retails for $850
but rents for $125, and the $5,000 Bibhu
Mohapatra frock that can be yours, at
least for a week, for $400.
The Outnet
At-home outlet shopping
STELLAMCCARTNEY PATENT HEELS
RETAIL:
$875
THE OUTNET:
$271
Shoppers who are too busy to schlep
to the mall can scour The Outnet’s
website for past-season sale items
from its wildly successful high-
fashion sister site, Net-a-Porter,
without ever leaving the
couch (plus there’s free
exchanges and zero creepy
communal fi ing rooms).
Since its 2009 debut,
The Outnet has sold
close to 300,000 dresses
from exclusive brands
like Marni, Chloé
and Alexander
McQueen; during
peak shopping
hours (that is, the
workday), it racks
up approximately 30
orders every second.
Stylish Belt
Tightening
Just because your stock portfolio
is a bit threadbare, your closet
needn’t suffer. Some outfi ers have
beaten the recession—and helped
keep women looking current—
by offering boom-time goods at
double-dip prices.
