Intro offer for NICE folks

22. Dec 2011 Source4Style 2.0 takes materials sourcing to the next level with its new version that just aired, and has gone ahead and created a special code for NICE followers.

The Web’s first B2B Design Marketplace launches with new features to make sustainable design possible. At the same time, followers of NICE Fashion can get $100 off an annual Premium Level Membership by inputting 10NICE100 at checkout. Once they join we'll also give them $10 in free swatches! Offer is good until February 15, 2011.

Since the launch of its pilot in October 2010, Source4Style has brought together independent designers and apparel brands with the world’s leading suppliers of sustainable fabrics to connect and do business through an e-commerce platform.

“Despite the rise of online solutions to fashion commerce, the $400 BN market for materials sourcing remains offline and fragmented,” says Summer Rayne Oakes, co-founder of Source4Style. “Suppliers can spend up to 43% of their marketing budgets just on tradeshows,” adds Benita Singh, co-founder. “It’s a huge up-front time and financial commitment with no guarantee of a return.” Source4Style has a new edge in a market currently occupied by sites like Alibaba and MFG through its robust fashion trends content, custom wholesale ordering technology and sleek, design-centric user interface.

As a supplier-generated site, pricing and inventories are all updated twice a day, along with the most comprehensive material specs online. In addition to providing designers with extensive data at the click of a button - from lead times to availability - Source4Style offers all designers the option to purchase swatches and samples at a nominal cost of $4 per swatch, including shipping.

Premium members of Source4Style have access to unlimited global sourcing at direct-from-supplier pricing with no fees or commissions, mark-ups or fees. Premium members can also use the platform’s in-site messaging tools, inquire about material customization through RFQ tools, and download materials testing and certification documentation. They can book orders directly online, avoiding wire transfer fees and other inconveniences of doing business across continents.

“Our goal is to provide the most cutting-edge tools to facilitate commerce between two groups that are currently disconnected in the global market - the leading sustainable suppliers and the designers looking for them,” says Singh. “Suppliers all over the world – whether they be a cooperative of artisans or an emerging factory can apply to showcase on Source4Style’s platform and be opened up to a rapidly-growing designer and apparel brand base.”

Coupled with a materials marketplace that grows bi-weekly are Curations by some of top cultural connoisseurs, seasonal trend reports, design webinars and a syndicated sponsored video channel called The Cutting Edge, which is described as “Talk Soup Meets the BBC News.”

Sustainability is an integral feature of Source4Style’s offerings. Though not a certification body, Source4Style does carefully vet suppliers based on a number of criteria and opens up the “transparency of the supply chain,” according to Oakes.

“Sustainability is an inevitability, “ she says. “The industry is under increasing pressure to ensure social and environmental compliance along the supply chain. Organizations like the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and OIA’s Eco Index send a clear signal that change is imminent. It’s too great a liability for any brand not to know where their stuff is coming from.”

Source4Style 2.0 will host over 1,300 materials from over 23 countries and counts Payless ShoeSource, Project Runway’s Christian Siriano and Ecco Domani Award winners like Study among its designer and apparel brand members. The company also won the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards for North America this October at the Women’s Forum in Deauville, France.