Funding opens online changing room door for iStylista
iStylista, an online personal stylist service that provides clients with the ‘ultimate time saving solution to clothes shopping’, has received funding of £25,000 from Finance South East to help commercialise the company’s new Online Changing Room concept.
Since launching just over one year ago, iStylista, a company supported by the Surrey Enterprise Hub, has had thousands of women throughout the world signing up to the company’s online personal stylist service. Members download their highly personalised style guides which are packed full of style advice specific to their individual shape, colour, age, size and budget.
Stylist Chantelle Znideric and her business partner, Hayden Allen-Vercoe, established iStylista after recognising that many professional women love style and shopping but also have a severe shortage of time.
“iStylista Online Changing Room is a new and innovative personal shopping concierge service where members have their very own professional ‘human’ stylist,” explain Hayden. “Each month our stylists will handpick items of clothing suited specifically to individual members.”
“With a dramatic increase in women filling executive positions as well as heading back to work after having children, most professional ladies have a severe shortage of time when it comes to their style and shopping” explains Chantelle. “There is also growing recognition that enhanced ‘personal branding’ helps you to climb the career ladder. This means that demand for an online personal shopping concierge service has never been so high.”
Members can log onto iStylista.com at their convenience and view items of clothing that their stylist has selected for them to review and buy. Members can expect up to ten items a month picked out specifically for their shape, colour, age, budget and size by their own stylist. All items will be viewable by logging on to their very own iStylista Online Changing Room web page.
Commenting, Surrey Enterprise Portfolio Director, Malcolm Loucks, said: “Since our initial contact with them in May, this has been a rapid yet smooth journey for iStylista, particularly given that they have now been awarded this fund for commercialisation.
“The management team clearly has very strong knowledge of its own areas of expertise and is highly amendable to advice on other areas of business that typically face any innovative new company. iStylista have made good use of several of the Surrey Hub Clinics and we expect and look forward to many more achievements from them in the months ahead.”
Contact: Malcolm Loucks
Email:
Publish Date: 01st December 2008
