going saling

Sample-Sale Alert: Gilt Fuse Launches Today

With a healthy $40 million cash infusion under their belt, flash sample-sale site Gilt Groupe is expanding. Today the company launched another sample-sale website called Gilt Fuse. Gilt Fuse is the poor man’s Gilt Groupe, offering clothes that are cheaper and lower-end. Gilt’s chief executive, Susan Lyne, explains in the Observer that Fuse is for chicks who still can’t afford labels like Alessandro Dell’Acqua at 70 percent off: “A $200 or $150 dress is still a big purchase for them. They say, ‘I love looking at the stuff but it doesn’t really fit my lifestyle. I don’t have a place to wear those clothes.’” Instead of Thom Browne and Christian Louboutin, you’ll find labels like Generra, Kova & T, and Modern Amusement, which are all on sale today on Fuse. Fuse works the same way as Groupe, with sales that last 36 hours (Fuse, however, only carries womenswear).

It’s hard to tell how amazing a site like this will be after just one day, but Fuse might make for more enjoyable, leisurely shopping than Groupe, which can easily leave one feeling stabby. When the Loub sale hits on Groupe, for instance, you have to log on immediately to have a shot at getting something you want. We suspect Fuse, for the most part, won’t generate the same sense of urgency; labels like Kova & T don’t typically produce items with the same level of “It”-ness as high-end labels. Our only complaint with Fuse so far is that many of the items for sale are pretty plain, and styled to the max so they look special. Any tank can look stylish on a model when paired with the proper bottoms (or lack thereof, these days). But at the end of the day it’s just a tank.

Gilt Fuse [Official site]
Want Marc Jacobs? Louboutin Pumps? Click Here … No, Here! [NYO]

Sample-Sale Alert: Gilt Fuse Launches Today