The online shopping experience on most fashion websites has been relatively unchanging in the past several years, but one University advertising graduate is attempting to break the mold of consumer usability with his website, Sparehanger.com.
In its current state, Sparehanger aggregates items from various big-brand websites and allows users to view them all while narrowing their options to find exactly what they’re looking for. The experience is similar to Pinterest, an interactive pinboard; however, CEO Peter Hubbs said Sparehanger will branch well beyond this function in the near future.
The site officially launched this week, Hubbs said, and within the next few weeks, the site will include two features that propel Sparehanger above other fashion shopping sites.
The site’s objective is simple: to create a place where users can discover outfit ideas while simultaneously shopping for new threads. But beyond that, Hubbs said, the site will be a fully interactive user experience, complete with multiple tools for those who are less knowledgeable about fashion.
The “Online Outfits” feature will allow users to share pictures of themselves in outfits they create and tag each item so other users can see their prices and where to get them.
Lead web developer Bee Vo said users will then be able to share the photo on various social media outlets, adding a social aspect to the site that will make Sparehanger more distinctive.
The second upcoming feature is called “Suggested Outfits,” which will build an ensemble each day based on the weather, the user’s calendar and past searches on the site. Users can compile wishlists of items, which also will help determine the suggested outfit, Vo said.
“[This will] make picking out clothes easier but also try a new paradigm that hasn’t been done before,” he said. “That’s what Sparehanger is really about.”
The Sparehanger team sprinkled the campus with white chalk drawings that depicted the site’s logo and URL to promote the launch. Hubbs and Vo also visited two classes on campus to collect feedback from students on how the site could be improved. These focus groups were helpful and will continue in the future, Hubbs said.
Vo said the site already has drawn about 208 users since its launch this week and attracted nearly 10,000 page views.
Along with all the major brands, the site provides items and information from boutiques in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas, including their physical addresses.
“A lot of boutiques come and go just because they can’t get their name out there, and we can give them that opportunity,” Hubbs said.
Sparehanger will help these smaller boutiques establish a more substantial web presence, whereas many of them conduct most of their marketing through Facebook and Instagram posts, he said. This way, these stores can upload an outfit once, and it will be visible on Sparehanger as well as social media.
This sense of community involvement is part of Hubbs’ overall mindset of giving back to the community and affecting people’s lives that he has carried all his life, he said.
Hubbs said when he was 7 years old, his brother died in an accident after being struck by lightning while trying to bring a younger female friend to a safe place during a storm. He said he always felt a certain amount of survivor’s guilt because he was the one who was supposed to escort the girl, but he was scared, so his older brother took the reins.
“He didn’t get the opportunity to continue being the positive influence he was, and so it’s my job to find a way to impact the world,” Hubbs said. “I’m doing it because of who he was.”
Hubbs said he plans to use what money he makes with Sparehanger to fund the Christopher Hubbs Foundation in memory of his brother. Additionally, he said, he hopes to create a charitable organization called the “Spare Two Project,” designed to encourage people to volunteer two hours a month.
For now, Sparehanger.com is the outlet through which Hubbs said he can achieve his goals. Creating and owning a business is one of the most rewarding ways to accomplish those goals, he said.
“Every little success feels so much more monumental when you know you were part of every piece of it,” Hubbs said.
You can reach Michael Tarver on Twitter @michael_T16.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Zoe Geauthreaux

Sparehanger lead web developer Bee Vo looks over code for the website.