Coming Soon: OSOYOU.com

 

Q&A with Dawn Bebe

 

 

Q For those that don’t know tell us a bit about the OSOYOU.com concept…

 
Dawn: OSOYOU.COM is the UK’s first ever shopping and social networking site aimed at women, launching out of the London this autumn. Its brand values are stylish, fun and connected. Its core functionality is the ability to create your own personalised drag and drop High Street, as well as the ability to share shopping recommendations with your friends.

 

We will be carrying from launch some of the biggest names in online fashion and beauty, allowing you to be able to indulge in a serious bit of ‘me-tail therapy’ from the luxury of your own desk!
 
 
Q Was this a progressive idea or something that came to you in an inspirational flash?

Dawn: Shopping and social networking sites already exist in the States and are driving significant levels of purchase. When you look at US sites like Kaboodle, Stylehive and Wists it seemed obvious there’s a gap in the UK market. When Shaa Wasmund approached me about getting involved in OSOYOU.com I jumped at the chance.
 

Q And what about the OSOYOU.com team, can you tell us a bit about those that are on board so far….

{mosimage}Dawn: It’s an incredible team; my own background is 18 years in women’s media, including development of UK Grazia, but with me are: Sarah Woodhead, who’s our creative director. She’s been head of content at Orange/Wanadoo and ran the content at icircle, Freeserve’s women’s portal.

On our board we have Dan Wagner, the CEO of Venda, Europe’s leading e-commerce solutions company and Shaa Wasmund who founded MyKindplace.com.

We also have Marc Worth, founder of fashion trends site, WGSN (Worth Global Style Network) and Andre Brown, who heads up a tech build company called Bright Station. It’s formidable media/fashion/e-commerce/tech combo!

 
 
Q You left a top job as managing director of Emap Elan to pursue this new venture you must be very confident about its prospects?

Dawn: In the same way I was utterly convinced about launching a UK edition of Grazia, I am utterly convinced OSOYOU.COM will lead the next logical step for the women’s media market.

 

Q Do you think the rapid growth of the internet and instant information will eventually take its toll on magazine sales?

Dawn: To a degree it already has – women spend an average of 90 minutes online per day. They spend that an average of 35 mins of time per week reading magazines! That said there will always be a place for magazines that can either offer portable newsiness or luxury.

Q When will OSOYOU go live?

 
Dawn: We are scheduled for a fashionista’s sneak preview at London Fashion Week.

 

 

Q Any additional future plans you can tell us about?

 

Dawn: OSOYOU.COM will be an incredibly interesting and exciting launch – as we will evolve very rapidly from our first BETA iteration. Not only do we have a raft of some of the hottest brands in fashion lined up to appear on the site, we also have some great functionality which we will be adding on over the Xmas period. It really is a case of watch this space if you want to be involved in the hottest women’s fashion website to launch this year.

 

www.OSOYOU.com and www.OSOBLOG.tv

 

Thanks to Dawn Bebe and Leon Bailey

 

Interview by JoJo Iles