telematic's soup

Send the Trend, a recently launched e-commerce site that brings personalization to the world of fashion accessories, is launching a new way for shoppers to curate their favorite items and make money at the same time, MyStyle.

For background, Send the Trend offers its customers personalized, affordable accessories such as fashion jewelry, sunglasses, scarves and more. The site takes you through a very short survey of what kind of accessories you may want, and it then provides stylist-curated customized recommendations for five different accessories for you. You can then buy any of the items for $30, with free shipping included for U.S. customers. The startup, which just raised funding from Battery Ventures and Founder Collective, was founded by Divya Gugnani, Mariah Chase and Project Runway winner Christian Siriano.

The key to Send The Trend is the element of curation and personalization. And today, the startup is empowering its users to be curators with the launch of MyStyle. The feature, which is the brainchild of the startup’s tech lead, Abishek Sachdeva; allows you to create an online Send the Trend store filled with your favorite accessories from the site. You can upload your picture, choose the words that describe your style and Send the Trend will pre-select products based on your preferences. You can also manually add items you like to your My Style page.

You can then socialize your MyStyle page and share it via Facebook, Twitter and email. Every time a friend buys a product, you get an automatic $10 credit at Send the Trend that you can use toward buying accessories. The top stylists can win more prizes, including $500 in cash.

Currently, there’s a waitlist to create a MyStyle page, but TechCrunch readers who sign up here will be able to jump ahead in the line. And until July 30, TechCrunch readers will receive 25 percent off purchases on Send The Trend using the code ‘TECHCRUNCH25′ at checkout.

MyStyle is a model that I think more and more e-commerce companies will adopt, as retailers look to both engage shoppers and socialize their products. And from the consumer standpoint, a personalized storefront gives users an easy way to make money or access discounts to a retailer.

Send the Trend, a recently launched e-commerce site that brings personalization to the world of fashion accessories, has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Battery Ventures with a number of angels participating in the round, including Founder Collective. Send the Trend is also launching an updated site, featuring a new UI and more social experience, including voting, social sharing, one screen checkout and more.

Send the Trend offers its customers personalized, affordable accessories such as fashion jewelry, sunglasses, scarves and more. The site takes you through a very short survey of what kind of accessories you may want, and it then provides stylist-curated customized recommendations for five different accessories for you. You can then buy any of the items for $30, with free shipping included for U.S. customers.

Following the customer’s first purchase, she will receive new, personalized product recommendations on the first of every month based on the indicated style preferences. The site basically helps women solve the problem of having to visit a number of different stores, or websites to figure out what accessories suit their style. By curating accessories that are affordable and trendy, Send The Trend makes shopper’s lives easier.

The company was founded by Divya Gugnani, Mariah Chase and Christian Siriano, who you may remember as the youngest winner of the reality TV fashion design hit Project Runway. Siriano actually works directly with well known brands to create unique exclusive accessories for the site that cannot be found anywhere else. Gugnani is a well known media personality who previously founded Behind The Burner, a site that showcases culinary experts.

Gugnani says the funding will be used to expanding into new categories of accessories, to build out the platform’s technology and for hiring.

I see a decision engine linked to an innovative ecommerce strategy. But at least one person in the office simply described it as “fabulous.” Either way, Send The Trend, a site that sells women’s accessories, launched moments ago and is worth taking a look at. In a nutshell, the site takes you through a very short survey of what kind of accessories you may want, and it then recommends five different accessories for you (bracelets, rings, scarves, etc.). You can then buy any of the items for $30.

“We simplify the discovery process of finding the season’s best accessories & serve you five customized options based on your style survey,” says the company. The survey takes all of 45 seconds. You are asked things like your favorite brands/retail stores (are you JCrew or H&M?), favorite celebrity look (Reese Witherspoon or Sarah Jessica Parker?), office v. casual, etc. And then you’re presented with the goods.

I selected a nice set of Lily Pink Earrings, which I think work perfectly with my jeans/tshirt office uniform. Want to avoid all that? You can, just use the search feature to find what you want. Everything is $30.

And joking aside, it’s a heck of a deal. Apparently. Send The Trend’s Fashion designer Christian Siriano works directly with well known brands to create unique exclusive accessories for the site that (for the most part) cannot be found anywhere else. Here’s a gallery of some of the items they are selling now and next month.

Each month after you join you’ll receive an email with additional accessories based on your survey, and you can either select one or skip the process and not be charged that month.

If you want a discount, enter TechCrunch in the promo code area and you’ll get $5 off your first purchase. If you want to make some money, invite your friends. You get a $5 credit for every friend you invite who buys something. And for every ten people you invite who simply register (no purchase needed), you get a free accessory. Finally, whoever invites the most friends gets to attend the Christian Siriano Spring 2011 Fashion Show in New York and actually meet Christian (I understand this is the equivalent of getting to meet Steve Jobs for a geek).

The company was founded by Divya Gugnani, Mariah Chase and Christian Siriano. Gugnani is a well known media personality who previously founded Behind The Burner, a site that showcases culinary experts. Behind the Burner raised $500,000 in angel funding in September 2008, and the company raised another $300,000 this month for Send the Trend (Send the Trend is a subsidiary of Behind the Burner).