Ms. Nguyen (Photo: We Are NY Tech)

New York-based street style social network Thre.ad announced in an email sent out to users today that it will be shutting down. The company's owners would probably rather you think of it as a pivot, however: According to the announcement, they're folding Thre.ad into a new ecommerce site called That's Foxy, which will deliver "shop-able products that are inspired by what’s trending in the community."

The email announcement explains that the transition from Thre.ad to That's Foxy is due to the fact that many of Thre.ad's users browsing street style looks wanted the option to be able to easily shop for the items showcased in the photos. A quick perusal of That's Foxy shows street style-like photos with a specific accessory or article of clothing highlighted, which users can click to purchase.

Thre.ad launched in private beta in November 2011 and was in the process of raising a $760,000 round back in February; according to its Form D, the company had raised $560,000 of that round. No updated Form Ds have since been filed.

The company's CEO, Mimi Nguyen, is a fixture on the New York tech social scene. Last year, she helped organize the Raise Cache fashion show to help benefit Hack NY. Justin Bieber, who knows Ms. Nguyen through a nonprofit she cofounded called Pencils of Promise, was rumored to have agreed to invest in Thre.ad, though that was never confirmed. "If he ever wants to [invest], I wouldn’t be against that,” Ms. Nguyen told Mashable at the time.

Wonder if the Biebs will be willing to toss some cash at That's Foxy?

via Huffington Post

Thre.ad, a New York City-based social network that lets users share street style through "threads" of photos, is in the process of raising a $760,000 debt round, according to the startup's amended Form D filing on FormDs.com.

As Thre.ad co-founder and CEO Mimi Nguyen explained to Betabeat by email, the social network lets users spot and tag photos with brands and styles and share it with the rest of the Thre.ad community.  "If Twitter and Instagram had a baby, it would be thre.ad!" Ms. Nguyen told the Huffington Post when the company launched in private beta in November.  Sounds more like democratizing The Sartorialist to us, with the idea of turning anyone with a smartphone into a style spotter.

When Thre.ad first filed a Form D in November, the company said it raised $450,000 out of  a $500,000 debt round from three investors. But the amended Form D points to increased interest from backers, with $560,000 raised from five investors so far toward that $760,000 round. Ms. Nguyen declined to name those five investors, but she did promise "major releases" from the company next week.

Thre.ad, which appears to still be in private beta, has two other co-founders: CTO Jonathan Rainey (a veteran of both Electronic Arts and Bookish) and Fashion Director Kristin Ming. The startup was also one of the co-sponsors of Raise Cache, a fashion show and event that raised more than $100,000 for hackNY.

A rather glowing review on the blog HyperVocal says "Thre.ad was founded upon the idea that individuals should feel free to express themselves without being judged."

Mimi and her team launched themselves miles ahead of competition the moment they ruled out the possibility of negative judgments or reactions in their product, subsequently broadening their base of potential users who will feel comfortable sharing. Instead, Thre.ad uses 9 positive and quirky “Fashion Reactions.” Based on the idea that each photo tells a story and each person interprets the story differently, viewers are allowed to choose up to three reactions per photo on how they feel about what is being expressed: “Cool!” “Want it!” and “Bananas,” are just a few!

To be fair to, say, Fashism, another New York fashion-tech startup that lets users get a "love it"/"hate it" judgment on photographs of outfits they voluntarily upload, honest feedback has a place in fashion too. Speaking of, can someone swing by The Observer offices and tell us if pearl earrings work with motorcycle boots?