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New rehab stepping in to help addicts after another program is forced to close

Ovation and Condé Nast Entertainment have announced today that the primo duo are working together on awe-inspiring fashion television series celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Fashion Fund.

Primiering this December with six, one-hour shows, the series documents the once in a lifetime adventure of 10 American-based emerging fashion designers vying for the chance to be named the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. Serious note taking might even be necessary as the production open layers and travels through depths of the fashion world where only few have seen. “The Fashion Fund will captivate audiences, documenting the rise of the next generation of designers as they gain immeasurable insight from the industry’s foremost talent,” said Dawn Ostroff, President, Condé Nast Entertainment.

The series takes viewers inside legendary studio visits, a Vogue fashion photo shoot and culminates with a presentation at NYC Fashion Week and the announcement of the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. "The Fashion Fund" series is an unprecedented look at a level of support, encouragement and insight that few designers will ever receive. This is the fashion industry's chance to demonstrate exactly how savvy one must be to create success for themselves in this powerful industry. It takes unthinkable effort, undeniable skill and impeccable business acumen to turn a dream into a successful business. Hopefully the series also demonstrates to importance of the technological innovations currently expanding and pushing the industry forward.

The top award carries an incredible $300,000 grant and a one-year mentorship in areas such as business planning, sourcing, production, exporting, etc. from a team of top industry professionals. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund selection committee is comprised of iconic names from Anna Wintour and Diane von Furstenberg to top-level executives such as Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus, Andrew Rosen of Theory, Jenna Lyons of J.Crew, and more.

Sync those DVRs, start planning who's couch you're watching from and see you all on Ovation in December.

  xx!

Ruchika Kumar's love affair with the idea of curated local fashion was born while living in NYC, but it wasn't until a move to San Francisco that propelled the idea into a business that's refashioning the local shopping experience. 

Boutiika is amongst a new group of influential trend setters, passionately transforming the fashion industry utilizing technology to power innovation. Over the last year, Boutiika has become a boutique discovery platform helping to uncover local gems and grow in store traffic in San Francisco, Austin, Portland and Seattle. 

Now taking it a step further, Boutiika is offering services that devoted shoppers never thought were possible. DASH, Boutiika's same-day delivery service, allows you to purchase items online and have them delivered to you the very same day. Dangerous, we know. Currently being perfected in San Francisco, Ruchika confirms we can expect to see DASH in other cities in the near future. "It's nice to start in a city that you're very close to and where you understand the economics very well to perfect the model and then take it to other places." 

First and foremost, Boutiika's objective is to help drive discovery and foot traffic to the physical store. With 90% of transactions still happening in-store and only 10% through e-commerce, Boutiika is using the internet to reinvent ways to capture the majority. Ruchika can't imagine a world where people aren't interested in shopping. "People love to physically go shopping and they appreciate tools that that help plan the journey, make shopping efficient." 

With Boutiika, this sort of shopping experience is possible. There's a world of fashion out there beyond the online space waiting to get discovered. You can thumb through map views to uncover new shops and most impressively, flip through carousels of real-time inventory allowing you to find the exact boutique that carries the leather skinnies you've been dying for. 

Boutiika is creating value for boutiques by providing a space for them to show off their name and their inventory in front of potential customers that don't yet necessarily know them. Boutiika helps to encourage interaction between boutiques and consumers by hosting boutique crawls, trunk shows and industry events that drive further foot traffic and revenue, and in turn stimulates excitement around the Boutiika brand. "We like to have a presence because we're about bridging the online and in store experience.  It's collaborative, it's community driven. The power is in coming together and that's when everyone gets the most value."

With plans full steam ahead to expand into new markets, you can expect to see Boutiika in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. "We are constantly updating our product and testing innovative ways to engage both retailers and customers in this dynamic and new marketplace." Boutiika just released their new UI/UX tailored by analytics and customer behavior where the product is discovered first and the boutique second. With an average of over 50 products per boutique, it appears that the boutiques are quite excited about Boutiika's support. Ruchika gave us a teaser letting us know favoriting and following will soon be available on the platform too. 

So what advice does Ruchika have for aspiring entrepreneurs trying to break into the fashion industry? "Be prepared for the long haul. Be prepared for the time it takes to really nurture your idea and get it off the ground." 

So, take Boutiika and DASH on a test run and see what's hanging on the racks in your city and let us know what you think! 

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Stay tuned for more news on fashion + tech!

xx!