LONDON, United Kingdom – Semaine is an immersive online store and editorial magazine that aims to monetize the cachet of industry icons. As the name suggests, each week a different tastemaker takes a turn to tell their ‘story’, curating products that fall in line with their own personal aesthetic. Inspired by how our world of influence is now shaped by Instagram, Semaine wants to encourage its users to shop the life of the world’s most intriguing personalities.
Of course, the concept of shoppable content is not new. The idea was first spotted and coined by Natalie Massenet who, as you probably know, founded the preeminent luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter. Later, Massenet spearheaded the launch of the e-commerce retailer’s bi-monthly magazine Porter; setting the bar for fashion and lifestyle editorial content online. Adapting the Net-a-Porter model is the sweet spot that the founders of Semaine, Georgina Harding and Michelle Lu, hope to fill.
In an interview with London luxury boutique Browns, Lu explains that “[a]t the time when Semaine was conceived, this is nearly five years ago now, we felt that online platforms were quite homogenous, either gearing towards content or e-commerce, men or women, deeply educational or light… my business partner and I wanted to create a place where each week would be a surprise and a truly different online experience.”
What’s in store for Semaine now? Lu and Harding are currently looking to bring the concept into the physical realm, perhaps with the opening of a pop-up store in the near future. In the meantime, we will keep reading (and shopping) what Semaine’s tastemakers are eating, wearing and watching – every day of the week.
