The Coveted Dot Com Controversy
Last week a new website surfaced under the name “The Coveted”, a site dedicated to showing off the closets of the insiders and editors within the fashion world. Immediately after Refinery 29 published a story about the site, the news spread like wildfire and the rumors began. So what’s all the fuss about?
Let’s start with the name of the website “The Coveted”. It already exists and has since 2007, as the blog of Jenine Jacob – creator of IFB and the Evolving Influence conference. Because the new website is of a fashionable nature, it’d be pretty surprising if creators Erin Kleinberg, Stephanie Mark and Jake Rosenberg were completely unaware of Jenine Jacob and her blog name. I mean c’mon even Jenine’s twitter name is @thecoveted so their website had to register as @thecoveteddotcom. Doesn’t that sound a bit fishy to you? Additionally, this domain has already been registered for some time, “Someone owned thecoveted.com for a long time, and did nothing with it,” says Jacob. “When the domain changed hands, I figured it might be a shop or another shopping portal, but certainly not a fashion blog.”
So why did they do it? Immediate coverage for their site? Who knows? But, it seems the creators aren’t talking and just going on with their day business as usual.
More links on the name controversy:
- What to do when your brand is coveted [Signature 9]
- Blog Wars [Racked NY]
Now let’s talk about the “original” content of The Coveted. Unless you live in a cave you’re aware of two places on the internet: The Selby, and StyleLikeU.
The Selby was created by photographer Todd Selby in 2008, where he posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes, and before he knew it requests were coming in from all the world for homes to be featured on the site. After 3 years Todd Selby continues to give the world a peek inside the beautiful homes and creative spaces of individuals from all walks of life, musicians, designers, writers, (etc etc), as well as a book release last year.
In 2008, mother-daughter team Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum created the website StyleLikeU, a place for people to go to take a look inside the closets of people from all different industries. They feel that “No matter what one’s age, socioeconomic status, body type, or ethnicity, style is soulful, immaterial, and universally accessible.” But the site doesn’t only share photos, each feature comes complete with a video interview that really explores the person’s style and stories behind each piece of clothing, pair of shoes or jewelry. Hundreds of interviews later, StyleLikeU is more than a site, it’s an experience, and they have an upcoming book release in April. .
So after looking at all angles of this situation, can someone tell me why people think The Coveted dot com is such an amazing website and why they’re getting great press? Personally, if you take a moment to sit back and see what they’re really doing, not one thing about the site is original, creative, or honest. But I guess when you slap on big industry names and fancy designer labels, you’re able to swoon the fashion world pretty easily.
**1/27 12:03pm Update from Jenine Jacob’s Blog: “Response From TC: Don’t talk about us or we’ll sue”
I’d love to hear your input, thoughts, opinions & comments.
Bisou Bisou,
Betsey Jennifer
