The invitation for the fourth annual Fashion 2.0 Awards—organized by the Style Coalition to honor “innovative fashion brands”—read “black tie suggested,” although the crowd at last Wednesday’s event at the SVA Theater seemed to interpret that with a little leeway. Read More
Lot18, the e-commerce startup focused on wine and fancy foodie items, has raised a whopping $45 million during its first year of existence. With backing from big names like Accel, it recently acquired Paris based Vinobest, and says it plans to conquer the old world wine market, a business twice as large as its U.S. cousin. Read More
Restaurant discount vendor VillageVines, which just raised its Series A in December, has announced a change in direction. The New York-based start-up renamed itself Savored.com (great domain, bro), re-designed its website with a “new feel,” and is generally rebranding to separate itself from the daily deals offerings we all know and are sick of. ”It ties to the idea that we don’t want to be a deals site. We want to be much more,” co-founder Benjamin McKean told the Chicago Tribune. Read More
The world’s first Google netbook goes on sale on June 15. Well actually, it’s available on Gilt.com (in the “men” category) today. The Samsung Chromebook 3G isn’t discounted at $499, which is still a lot for a netbook that only runs an experimental operating system with a weird browser-based interface. But the machine does weigh only 3.3 lbs and the battery supposedly lasts more than eight hours. “With your order from Gilt, you’ll also receive a limited edition, custom-fit Chrome sleeve designed by Rickshaw.” It comes in “arctic white.” The model includes up to 100MB per month of Verizon 3G service for 2 years. The early sale ends at 9 a.m. on June 3.
Affordable Housing or Lack Thereof
