Flip Fit, the first-of-its-kind social shopping platform, has been launched with a $3.75 million in seed funding to transform the fashion market. The first ever social media application enables users to receive a fitting room in their living room of items they specifically requested to try after seeing those items on friends and influencers they follow.

Flip brings all of the best parts of the in-person shopping experience, trying on different sizes and styles, seeing what your friends think, and easy returns, into your home. Flip’s innovative social media platform is poised to transform the industry by creating a social media experience where users can find inspiration for clothes, receive fashion pieces customised to their style, and benefit from first-of-its-kind peer validation as friends help users decide what to buy. The goal is to ensure that people purchase only what they will actually use. The Seed round was led by TLV Partners with participation from Lool Ventures, the company said in a press release.

Flip’s social shopping platform blends the power of social media with the buying appeal of e-commerce. Customers receive pieces of clothing based on their preferences, likes and interactions. The fitting room is flipped into the living room, where they try on everything and share photos on the Flip social platform to get a thumbs up or down from friends on what looks best.

Through the Flip social application, users receive inspiration for what fashion items they want to try on by flipping through photos of what other users are trying on. One of the essential elements of the Flip platform is the ability to share your new looks with friends to help you make your buying decisions. While providing support through voting, users are able to also request similar items to try on in the comfort of their homes. These social interactions within the platform help the company determine style preferences. Users will be rewarded with credit they can spend on new clothes for bringing their friends onto the platform ($10 for each new voting user) and for each vote they give ($1 for each yes or no vote).

“Fashion shopping has always been a social experience. The decision for today’s shoppers to buy happens once they receive validation from friends and family, but e-commerce has made shopping very isolating. We are connecting the social behaviours of shopping, which were previously only possible offline, with a virtual experience. Flip is embracing the physiological aspect of decision-making with a technology that is unprecedented in this space. We are excited to build a social media community at the centre of fashion shopping,” Nooruldeen Agha, co-founder and co-CEO of Flip said.

Buoyed by the success of establishing itself as India’s first and largest Sustainable Fashion Award, the ‘Circular Design Challenge’ has now launched its second edition—continuing its focus on circular economy through design and fashion. The award puts a spotlight on and offers solutions to reduce environmental impact of fashion and textile industry.Inspiring innovation through a circular economy approach that eliminates waste, the Circular Design Challenge edition one was launched at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2018 in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and as part of Reliance Industries Limited’s R Elan ‘Fashion for Earth’ initiative.

The Circular Design challenge, open to all fashion/accessory designers and entrepreneurs in India, aims to recognise environmental champions of tomorrow. The registration for the challenge is now open till November 15, 2019.

“The tremendous successes and recognition to ‘I Was A Sari’ has inspired many young talents to participate in the second edition of Circular Design Challenge, who are inquiring with us and eagerly awaiting the launch. Their wait is over now as we launch the second edition of Circular Design Challenge. I am sure the challenge will become tougher this year as the number of participants across the textile value chain is expected to increase,” said Vipul Shah, COO-Petrochemical Business, RIL, while launching the CDC edition-2.

“We are eager to see the innovative use of materials and designs that will bring out sustainability and circularity, aesthetics and scalability aspects. We are confident that the CDC will set the stage for drastically reducing the negative impact of textile and fashion industry on the environment,” Shah added.

“UNEP is proud to partner with CDC award for the second year in succession. At the UN, we see circularity in fashion a major area of focus for achieving our Sustainable Development Goals. Encouraged by last year’s entries we look forward to having more innovative ideas and designs with focus on circularity and sustainability,” said Atul Bagai – Country Head, UNEP India.

Designer and Fashion Institute of Technology assistant professor of economics Yoko Katz has developed Relaxip, a blouse meant to ease the recovery process of post-mastectomy operation patients. Katz, a breast cancer survivor, underwent surgery 5 years ago. Her own experience led her to develop a garment that was fashionable but also functional for patients.The Relaxip blouse has functions to help patients face the challenges they encounter in their daily life routine. For example, a patient can wear the Relaxip without having to raise their arms. They can put it on at home or in an exam room of a doctor’s office just by opening a side zipper, putting their head through, and then zipping it up. The garment gives a sense of normalcy and independence that cancer patients crave. It also includes hidden pockets inside the shirt, next to the zippers, used for securing the surgical drains that are attached to the side of the body for about two weeks after surgery. The sporty, casual and comfortable blouse features colourful YKK Vislon zippers in a #3 size.

“I believe my product has a message that patients are not alone because this blouse is the reminder that somebody else went through the same pain before them,” said Katz. “If my painful experience made them smile in the hardest time, it validates my experience as meaningful. That is very fulfilling as a designer.”

“I am inspired by Katz’s desire to improve the lives of cancer patients through fashion,” said William Langley, vice president of sales at YKK Inc. “I’m glad that YKK’s products are helping Katz achieve her goal of bringing a bit of comfort into the lives of people dealing with difficult medical treatments.”

Yoko Katz, a breast cancer survivor of five years, was born and raised in Japan where she lived until graduating college with an economics degree. Her passion for travel and an interest in working in an international setting led her to pursue a PhD in economics at The Graduate Center, City University of New York in 2001. While researching for a dissertation topic she decided to focus on fashion, a lifelong interest of hers. She found no other economists had specialised in that field, so she took it as her specialty in economics. It was an isolated process as there was no other person who had worked in this field in the past. Based on her dissertation, Katz developed two courses: Fashion Economics and Economics for Fashion Creators at Fashion Institute of Technology, FIT, where she currently works as an assistant professor.

In late September 2019, Yoko discovered a recurrence of cancer and is determined to fight once again. Yoko’s company, Heal in Heels, is doing a fundraising campaign for Relaxip during the month of breast cancer awareness, October 2019. With the fundraising, Yoko’s goal is to reduce the price of the garment so to reach out to more people in need after mastectomy operation.

From backpack manufacturers to skyscraper builders, users of YKK’s two great brands – YKK fastening products and YKK AP architectural products – benefit from YKK’s network of 108 companies operating in 72 countries and regions.