Designer Label Discount Business Start-Up - Gilt.com
A new Web site business start-up hopes to tap into the $63 billion luxury retail market by offering steep discounts on designer labels.
The site, Gilt, sells items from one designer at a time for about 24 to 36 hours or until items are sold out. Merchandise on the site is marked down by 50% to 70%. The site also offers size guides and 90 second videos containing runway footage and interviews with featured designers. Members receive a weekly newsletter outlining the time and day of a specific designer sale.
Gilt buys merchandise directly from fashion designers and stocks items in a warehouse in Brooklyn. The start-up currently has agreements with 15 luxury and fashion brands including Alvin Valley and Judith Ripka.
Products by Zac Posen, the first designer featured on the site, were sold out within eight hours of the sale, says Ms. Wolkowitz.