At a time when traditional department stores are scrambling to save a selling model that is mainly outdated via mergers and acquisitions, another retail approach is burgeoning thanks to technology.

Enter the Vêtir app, launched in early 2024 by former Elle editor and Editorialist founder, Kate Davidson Hudson. It aims to streamline shopping choices by crafting highly curated closets of its users via human stylists and custom AI. Now, the styling platform is expanding its touchpoint to a retail space by partnering with WME Fashion and Hudson Yards while carving out a role for the growing app during NYFW. Davidson Hudson spoke to FashionNetwork.com about the multi-faceted new project.
 
The store will physically hold stock from designers such as Altuzarra, Jason Wu, LaQuan Smith, Simkhai, Aknvas, Jennifer Fisher, Olivier Reza, PatBo, Ronny Kobo, and Amir Taghi. Several designers, such as Jason Wu and Simkhai, who chose Hudson Yards as a show venue, will partner with Vêtir and incorporate its shoppable video technology into their livestreams. The timing for the store and tie-ups with NYFW comes as Vêtir expands its reach.

“Prior to this, the app was invite-only, but we are un-gating the app to allow a larger client base,” Davidson Hudson said in a Zoom with FashionNetwork.com.
 
She also stressed the importance of AI personalizing the retail experience.

“Department stores are an antiquated model and inefficient. The AI technology gets smarter the more you shop, customizing it to your tastes and shopping habits, and it is a more efficient model. It largely de-risks everyone involved as customers have already been exposed to the products on several touch points before getting to the store,” Davidson Hudson continued, adding, “Digital is noisy and dense; you need the in-person experience too. Vêtir is the co-pilot with a stylist and customized proprietary AI technology. Fashion looks backward and forward, so the AI looks at individual profiles and geo-targets regarding weather and clothing pulls and references from the forward-looking trend reports and live stylists’ cues. For instance, a chat recommends getting on a waitlist for a Chloe wedge, which informs the AI and delivers a smarter search.”
 

Vêtir’s premise is that a documented, organized, and styled wardrobe makes for more efficient purchases. The app launched with invitation-only Very Important Clients (VIC) and engages top retail-centric stylists with at least a million dollars of sales on their books to work with clients. The Hudson Yards store allows for a physical space for clients and stylists to interact with one another and manage wardrobes using tools such as the physical clothing in the store, the app that culls from a wider swath of brands, and the AI technology that arranges clothing suggestions for purchase. It also populates new outfit combinations from purchases and a client’s existing wardrobe based on the occasion.

Located in a former Brooks Brother store in what is now referred to as the ‘LVMH corridor’ at the Shops at Hudson Yards, the Vêtir store opening and activations help cement the area as a must-see fashion destination. This moniker seemed unlikely immediately following the pandemic, which saw store closings and tragedy related to its Vessel structure. Unrelated to Vêtir and WME, other major brands are reportedly eyeing the district for show spaces this September. The Shed has been a popular show space for at least six years for designers such as Thom Browne, Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera, and Dion Lee. Efforts dating back to 2013 to make the west side development a hub for NYFW stalled, especially when there was designer backlash in 2019 as Hudson Yards co-developer Related Companies Chairperson Steven Ross hosted an infamous pricey Hamptons fundraiser for Donald J. Trump.
 
For the Vêtir store opening, model Ashley Graham will curate a closet in the front half of the store that is further promoted on social media apps with a shoppable component, with plans to rotate this feature out every four to six weeks.

While WME Fashion (aka William Morris Entertainment, whose fashion division houses creative agencies Art + Commerce, IMG Fashion Events and Properties, IMG Models and The Wall Group) has pulled out of its role as a sponsor of a centralized NYFW show week space, the entities are still interested in supporting New York’s burgeoning talents. Thus, pairing up with Vêtir makes sense, according to Kim Fasting-Berg, EVP of Marketing at WME Fashion.
 
“We’re excited to work alongside Vêtir for the first time this season, partnering them with leading independent New York designers. New York Fashion Week is a pivotal marketing moment; ensuring a designer’s collection reaches consumers in retail stores and online across the globe is key. WME Fashion is committed to uplifting designer talent and is proud to continue curating and ‘concepting’ unique collaborations that help bring a designer’s vision to the forefront,” said Fasting-Berg.