Project September app wants in on fashion week’s see-now-buy-now trend

Project September’s little green dots will soon tag the New York Fashion Week landscape. The app, cofounded by Gilt Groupe cofounder Alexis Maybank and launched in April, lets users buy directly from images posted on the app, while also functioning as a revenue channel for influencers. Items in an image that are buyable are designated with green dots.

The app, cofounded by Gilt Groupe cofounder Alexis Maybank and launched in April, lets users buy directly from images posted on the app, while also functioning as a revenue channel for influencers. Items in an image that are buyable are designated with green dots.

Project September is working with a handful of brands and designers to make various aspects of their presentations during fashion week — from the runway to backstage beauty and street style — shoppable via its app in a bid to become a major player in the see-now-buy-now conversation.

At least a dozen partnerships have been struck so far. They include one with Timo Weiland, whose collection will become available for sale through the app after the designer’s Sunday presentation, which follows a Friday press and influencer event for the designer of which Project September is a co-host. Snaps of backstage beauty and front row styles at the Made shows at Milk Studios, Marissa Webb and J. Crew presentations will also be shoppable through the app.

The app’s ability to make quick turns and react in step with the fashion week frenzy will be key, with only so much pre-planning possible to ready the platform.

“Obviously this is a brave new world for everyone,” Maybank said. “It’s exciting. It’s fashion week. It’s last-minute.”

There will be a lag of about 60 to 90 minutes from the time of a presentation to when those looks will be available on the app. In a few cases, looks will be available for sale as models walk the runway. The app has enlisted roughly 10 of its top creators to be on the ground generating content as fashion week plays out.

Project September joins brands’ own e-commerce sites as well as some wholesale accounts, in some cases, to participate in the see-now-buy-now trend. However, Maybank said Project September distinguishes itself from other purchase channels because of the way the platform was built and its image-driven roots.

“From the get-go, our app was built and optimized to allow users to go through images, find things that piqued their imagination and be able to learn more to discover and buy if they want,” she said. “So this is essentially what we set out to do in Project September. The app and the platform itself will allow any lover of fashion, beauty [or] design to be able to come in and do that immersively.”

Up next for the app, which counts WME-IMG as an investor, is a turn to shoppable videos, something Maybank said is set for rollout in the fall.