Local fashion platform launches in Cape Town

The idea is based around one of the biggest and fastest growing social sharing networks in the world, Pinterest, a virtual pin board where users collect photos and link to products that they love to share, but while on Pinterest this can be anything, at FabHunter, the focus is entirely on fashion.

Cape Town based entrepreneur, Werner Geyser, started the site four weeks ago and since then, with very little marketing, there have been more than 13 000 individual image views. He says, "We have already amassed over 3800 Twitter followers and 10 000 Facebook fans. We are in the process of setting up partnerships with some of the most influential fashion bloggers in South Africa and have aligned ourselves with leading online fashion stores to help spur the growth of e-commerce in the country.

"Over the past 6 months we have seen a great increase in online fashion stores entering the South African market and we believe this site can facilitate the process of online fashion discovery within South Africa. There is a lack of fashion discovery of local designers. In addition, while international fashion and online stores inspire us, we can rarely buy the items from international stores and, if you can, postage can be expensive. We are looking to increase online fashion shopping for South African stores, at the same time helping local consumers discover top-quality fashion that can be acquired locally."

Using the site

After creating an account via Facebook or Twitter or joining manually, drag and drop the 'Hunt it' button into your browser (Firefox, Safari or Chrome). Whenever you come across fashion accessories and items that define your unique style, simply click the 'Hunt it' button on your toolbar - and the image is automatically shared to your FabHunter profile.

New pictures, uploaded via this system, are displayed on the Home page for other fashionistas to view. Users can 'love' items, comment on images, link with and follow others who post images they like and search for specific items. It is a great way to discover new trends and share styles, while mixing with and inspiring others who have the same love for fashion.

To view, go to www.fabhunter.com.