THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505200051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THE GATEWAY
TO THE COMPUTER WORLD
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
WE ALL HAVE it, some to a greater degree than others. Style.
Now MCI has decided the Internet needs some. With the launch last month of (AT)fashion, a World Wide Web site that features video clips of fashion shows and text interviews with designers, the suits at MCI are trying to persuade more women to pull onto the information superhighway.
``Right now, our research shows that the average (Internet) user is a white male, 35 years old or younger,'' said Mark Pettit, director of communications for MCI. ``We feel that we have to be a part of the changing of the guard. That's what we think things like (AT)fashion are helping us to do. It's almost like an electronic magazine.''
But accessing (AT)fashion through MCI's main page first leads one past (AT)bat, MCI's Web site on major-league baseball. Hmmmm.
That aside, on to (AT)fashion, where designer Victor Alfaro's fall fashions were posted the day after they were shown at his live runway show in New York. One can choose from among five video clips, ranging in length from 5.1 seconds (for In the Pink) to 3.1 seconds (for Pearl White).
In another segment, Jeanne Beker, host of ``Fashion TV'' on VH-1, presents fall forecasts and trends. Among the predictions: The Big Coat is the big thing, in red and pink. Fun stuff like sequined pants. And the best - messy, unstructured hair ``like you just woke up.''
Designer Cynthia Rowley raves about chocolate, caviar and champagne. Rowley, Beker explains, is stepping beyond her ``cutesy-poo'' past in her fall collection, which features calfskin snowboarding boots and metallic mesh shoes, hot colors and gray hair. Rowley's runway models carried solid milk-chocolate evening bags. Very practical.
Pettit acknowledged that caviar and champagne are above the reach of many, but he said (AT)fashion will give advice ``for people with champagne taste and a beer budget.''
(A link from another fashion page on the Web lists (AT)fashion with the comment ``Cool or Goofy? You decide.'')
In coming months, (AT)fashion will feature trends in men's and women's accessories, ``attitudes and outlooks in ready-to-wear'' and the hottest male models.
``Until recently,'' Pettit said, ``the Internet has been a place for professors and researchers.''
Browsing through (AT)fashion requires clicking the mouse many times, because each click divulges only a little information. Finally accessing jewelry designer Mark Edge's predictions yielded the news that necklaces will be all lengths, to work with all kinds of looks, and that larger accessories will be big, so to speak, but delicate shapes will also stick around.
The content of (AT)fashion will change about every month, to keep people coming back, Pettit said. MCI estimates that 2,000 people a day are visiting (AT)fashion.
Closely connected to the fashion site are other MCI ventures, such as online shopping at Amtrak, L'Eggs, computer providers, florists, booksellers, art galleries and an insurance company. The site yields product information, prices and online ordering without fear, Pettit says, that your credit card number will be hacked.
``MCI's not just a long-distance company anymore,'' Pettit said. ``We are moving into totally new areas. We carry 40 percent of the Internet traffic right now. In the mainstream long-distance business, our share is like 20 percent.''
The company profits from (AT)fashion and its other home pages because it also sells access to the Internet, Pettit said. Posting attractive sites prompts MCI customers to spend time online. In addition, MCI profits from sales through its online marketplace. MEMO: (AT)fashion can be reached at http://www2.pcy.mci.net/fashion/index.html
or through MCI's main page at www.internetMCI.com(AT)fashion can be
reached at http://www2.pcy.mci.net/fashion/index.html or through MCI's
main page at www.internetMCI.com
Other fashion sites on the Web include Fashion Net, posted by the
Fashion Industry Network, at http://www.triple.com/fashion-net/ (soon to
become http://www.fashion.net/); Lynda Stretton's Fashion Page at
http://www.charm.net/(tilde)jakec/ and Fabulous, Yet Friendly Fashion
Tips at http://www.sils.umich.edu/(tilde)
sooty/fashion.html
by CNB