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Lookbook.nu: The hyped street style from people around the world
If you think some glossy fashion magazines are your fashion bible or supermodels are your true idols, you better take a look at Lookbook
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f you think some glossy fashion magazines are your fashion bible or supermodels are your true idols, you better take a look at Lookbook.nu where stylish people around the world make you say, “Awesome!”.
Lookbook is just like The Sartorialist – the leader of street fashion blogs started in 2005, which features photographs of stylish people on the street – and those “What are you wearing today?” online forums.
It shows the public how fashion works well on the street just like that on runways and in fashion magazines. Most people think it’s impossible to wear these types of attire around Jakarta.
Lookbook.nu was launched in April 2008 by Yuri Lee and Jason Su from San Francisco.
As Lookbook says on its site, its mission is “grounded in the belief that real fashion comes from the streets, we aim to fundamentally alter the way fashion is produced and consumed by the masses”. That’s why Lookbook was made to organize fashion-talented people and take it globally.
Its bottom line is simply a social networking site, where you can make friends with other people on it. It allows you to share ideas and brainstorm with friends, recommend good places to visit and many more.
Unlike other networking sites, Lookbook gives users a chance to have their photos exposed on the site's front page.
Members of Lookbook can vote by clicking the “hype” button on their favorite photos to be published on Lookbook's front page. It means the photo is “hot” and a “must-see”. As members gain “karma” points, you’ll also get the reputation as a style guru. With the tagline, “Collective fashion consciousness”, Lookbook emerges as the worldwide fashion inspiration.
Furthermore, Lookbook enables users — active ones — to improve their style by others’ feedback. Plus, if you’re an independent designer or may have a fashion and clothing business, you may promote your brand and show off your designs.
Another good thing is many model agencies that work well with big brands such as Topman, American Apparel and H&M, are talent scouting through Lookbook.
These Lookbook super-stylish registered members are now more than 60,000 on the site, contributing to more than 900 new "looks" per day. It also attracts a diverse worldwide readership of nearly 1.8 million unique visitors per month.
Lookbook has received attention from numerous major publications and fashion magazines including Elle Belgium & China, Glamour France, The Los Angeles Times, Lucky Magazine, GQ Russia, Cosmopolitan Italy, The London Evening Standard, The Chicago Tribune and guardian.co.uk.
Presenting their flawlessly chic looks are online for the world to notice, and the pictures uploaded are great. Fashion photographers have been said to soon notice. They may probably be the new fashion icons pushing celebrities and supermodels out of the way.
Surprisingly enough, many Lookbook members are teenagers. They’re about 13 to 23 years old. Yes, there are also members who are older than 23, but it seems that teenagers are predominant.
I can say that some of these teenagers’ looks are reflecting their ages though – they seem to be more mature than their ages. But overall, these Lookbook-ers are really creative in twisting, mix-matching clothes and taking beautiful photographs.
Lookbook can also be considered a fashion diary. Even if you don’t care about the voting system, it is fun to maintain your own looks diary. You don’t need to register with Lookbook if you’re only keen on browsing or be inspired. But if you love styling yourself, join it and be prepared to be the next role model.
