3 questions for . . . Alexandra Van Houtte, Tagwalk founder

After studying Mandarin at the University of Nottingham and design at the London College of Fashion, Alexandra Van Houtte returned to France for an internship with Lanvin and then worked as an assistant stylist at Numéro magazine. In April 2016 the young Franco-British woman, a social media addict, decided to start the Tagwalk site, her concept for a communication tool linked to the fashion world. At 26 years old, the entrepreneur brought an incredible shot of fresh energy to the fashion industry. What was her idea? To use key words to organise all the clothes and accessories from the fashion shows into groups. Stylists, journalists, buyers, designers – all the fashion professionals – immediately started using this new tool in their work. Now, a year later, we speak with the founder of the site that’s already earned the title “the Google of fashion.”

How did the Tagwalk project start? How does it work and what were the objectives?

If you’re an assistant stylist, you spend hours looking for images. Here’s an example: find all the red dresses on the catwalk for a specific season. I lost so much time going through every fashion show, one at a time, my eyes glued to the screen. It made me crazy! Today with a simple click Google gives a multitude of answers to a question and I thought there was an enormous lack in my sector. I didn’t have a tool to optimise my time at work and make my searches easier. So I imagined a kind of platform tailored to assistant stylists, a search engine to register all the outfits in the fashion shows, season after season. Since I didn’t have financing, brands started by waiving their image rights for me. Over four months I had to tag each photo (over 9,000), one at a time. In September 2016, in addition to womenswear, I added menswear and accessories. The idea is to be able to find a piece or trend with key words. So each look is indexed by themes such as shape, colour, or the model who wears it.

How has digital technology shaken up the fashion sphere?

I’m a millennial. That means I’m a young woman who wants things to go quickly and always with increasing precision. I’m a child of the internet educated by social media. I’m interested in what’s happening right now. So I’m one of the people who don’t want to wait six months to buy a piece seen on a designer’s catwalk. I think it’s a good thing that the industry is adapting to our lifestyle and offering innovative concepts like “see now-buy now”. We spend our days following instantaneous trends on our telephones, computers, and tablets. It’s good to appreciate clothing, it’s also good to wait for it . . . but not too long! The risk is that it simply loses its place on our wish list. Especially when we’re talking about designers’ iconic pieces, the season’s best sellers. It’s unthinkable to have to wait weeks before being able to get them.

Digital technology has also redefined the concept of inspiration. Today inspiration comes from every field. For example, an important Editor-in-Chief of a famous magazine wears a long black leather skirt. If, on the same day an influencer (like a reality TV star or a blogger) wears a track suit, it’s more likely that young women will copy the latter.

Does the French fashion industry pay attention to young designers?

I’m part of a generation that likes to take risks. And that’s a good thing! Because in France, until you’ve proven yourself, you’re not trusted. You’re supposed to produce results, and your project has to be a complete success. Even though I got a lot of support from foreign press, coverage in France only started picking up in January. But something good came out of that, because I came out even stronger.

However, I do think the fashion industry is increasingly attentive to the new creative generation. The ANDAM fashion competition, the LVMH award, and the Festival de Hyères are all events that open fashion doors to young designers. It’s also one of the extra benefits of Tagwalk. By using key words, for example typing “yellow colour”, the list of images that appear contain as many big names as smaller labels. Brands that don’t put on fashion shows but just present their collection, can, for a fee, become part of the Tagwalk repertoire. It’s a sort of social melting pot where everybody has their place and especially a chance.