This week we chat with the creative director and co-founder of Uncovet, Heather Lipner to discuss more about the personalized shopping service, how technology can help track fashion trends, and the changing face of e-commerce.
By releasing a daily dose of curated content, the members-only sales site (along with its newsletter counterpart) provides users with a collection of discounted items that are hand-picked by the LA entrepreneur. Uncovet’s staff of interior and fashion design experts scrap the best pieces from up and coming artists and well-known designers to give members a curated collection of coveted items each day.
“We created Uncovet to deliver on-trend products, personalized for you.”
FASHIONOTES: How did you get started in fashion?
Heather: Oh it started when I was very young – I believe it was YM and Seventeen that woo’ed me in. I was also lucky enough to have a mother who taught me how to sew and cultivated my personal projects, from designing dresses and jewelry to making curtains and headboards, upholstery projects, etc.
FN: What inspired you to initiate this project, and why did you chose an online platform?
Heather: I’ve been in the tech and design world for my entire career, solving problems and improving the way we do things. Since fashion and interior design are my interests, I was drawn to making the way we shop more enjoyable and efficient.
FN: Can you tell us a bit about what’s happening at Uncovet?
Heather: Sure! We’re a personalized shopping service, presenting on-trend home and fashion goods across all genres. We also are building a style graph to map users to newest trends they’ll like, helping customers refine and develop their personal style. I love seeing the excitement and passion behind our brand, so we often reward our fans that share us through social media with better deals and online shopping credits.
FN: Now more than ever fashion has been emerging itself into the digital realm. What are your thoughts about the industry’s transition into a tech-friendly platform?
Heather: Uncovet already has an advantage in the fashion world as we’re tech focused. We are analyzing data to understand trends, when previously companies relied on people that literally go to stores and trade shows to find trends. We sit behind computers analyzing data to find what’s hot right now. Moreover, our style graph maps users to the products they’ll like, which really changes the way people discover and buy.
FN: What do you do to stay on top of the latest technology to enhance your brand?
Heather: It’s just about paying attention to tech news, but it’s also important to be on the look out for new apps and platforms that we can integrate. Technology makes my job easier – it’s about innovating to be more effective.
FN: How do you think that blogging and social media are affecting the fashion industry?
Heather: Things have drastically changed in the fashion and design world within the last couple of years. With the ability to see what’s on the runway within minutes of the show, trends catch on immediately via blogs and social media. Product is everywhere – from the endless sea of blogs to sites like Pinterest, svpply, etc. – keeping up is near impossible. That’s why we created Uncovet – to deliver on-trend products, personalized for you – making it easy to keep up with trends and products you’ll like.
FN: What are your future aspirations for Uncovet?
Heather: We’re focused on growing our community by integrating more social features. It’s important that our audience feels like they are part of something special, to connect not only with our features, but the designers and other people who enjoy the same stuff. Our goal is to reward our audience with exclusives, great recommendations, credit and better discounts.
FN: What do you love most about your job?
Heather: Uncovet has a point of view on style – we feature products across multiple genres, always presenting a fresh look. What I love most is the pure excitement and engagement around what we do.
FN: Do you have any particular dressing philosophies or strategies?
Heather: It’s all about the fit for fashion and the placement for design. Once you know that, it’s pure freedom.
