We’ve had our eye on Garmz, a crowdsourced e-commerce fashion site that helps up-and-coming designers turn their visions into realizations, for awhile.  Garmz also helps style savvy shoppers by offering unique indie fashion designs at reasonable prices.  Any site that helps independent designers and our mission to stand out from the rest of the fashion crowd is amazing in our book.

Steadily growing since 2010, Garmz has bigger things planned for 2011.  Busy, but not too busy to discuss Garmz and what it has to offer emerging fashion designers and fashion enthusiasts, co-founder Andreas Klinger sat down with us for an interview.

FMM: As one of the co-founders of Garmz, what inspired you to create a crowdsourced fashion ecommerce business?

AK: We have seen the Internet have a huge impact on other areas including music and media. We felt that it was time to use these tools to help emerging designers grow their business. The more we looked into the way the industry works, the more frustrated we got with how difficult it is for young designers to break into the consumer market. Given that fashion is a very social industry, we felt that connecting the designers directly with their consumer would be an excellent way for them to promote themselves and build a loyal following.

FMM: What makes Garmz different from other crowdsourced fashion ecommerce sites?

AK: We do not want to label ourselves to be in the space of “crowdsourced fashion”. Our ambitions are different: We want to enable talent to showcase their work, letting them engage with people who love what they do and help the best of them to get to the market. Currently we focus on fashion sketches, but in the near future we will offer more possibilities for designers. Garmz allows for the community to influence fashion design and interact with fashion designers in a way that hasn’t been done before — from start to finish.

FMM: Could you give us an example of a designer who has moved forward due his or her partnership with Garmz?  Where did he or she start and how has that changed?

AK: Lauren Reeser (aka American Duchess), who was responsible for our sell out jacket ‘October Foxhunt,’ has said:

“Garmz was an outlet that allowed me to see my drawing become a reality.  Developing your first samples for clothing is very time consuming, difficult, and expensive.  There are so many aspects that go into it, and maybe you are good at one, like patterning, but don’t have much skill in pattern grading or sewing.  It’s very prohibitive, so to be able to take the concept and create the jacket from it is incredible.  This changed my life because it’s given me real-world experience with garment development, without throwing me into the fire, so to speak.  I wanted to have a style of shoes made and I sourced the manufacturer myself, and we have been working on the prototype.  It’s a fascinating experience to be working one-on-one with someone all the way across the world.  This could be the beginning of my career in fashion, but I like to go about things my own way, on my own terms, so doing it for myself allows me to sort of “break the rules” of the fashion industry, just like Garmz does!”

FMM: What do you think keeps the Garmz community actively participating in the process?

AK: The Garmz community has the unique opportunity to influence fashion design. I think they continually participate because they are involved from the very early stages of the creative process, and when the final product is realized, they feel a certain connection and attachment to it.

FMM: What role does social media play at Garmz?

AK: Social media is used to market designers and their designs, and to help designers build up a following. Without Facebook and especially fashion blogs, our project would not be possible. We especially love fashion bloggers for the support they are giving to our little venture. Lots of love to Bloggers like Isabella of Repeat&Repertoire and Jasmin of Tea & Twigs — among many, many others of course!

FMM: What does Garmz have planned for 2011?

AK: 2011 is going to be a very exciting year for all of us at Garmz! We plan on beginning to produce full collections and running competitions with bigger partners. We will also begin to shift the focus from the individual designs to designer labels and offer more possibilities to fashion students and emerging talents.