ASAP54

If there’s one new release that we’re excited about at the moment, it would have to be ASAP54. We don’t know when it’s coming out, and we’re not even entirely sure how it will work, but the idea behind it is so brilliant, we can’t believe that we’ve had to go this long without it.

How many times have you spotted something you love in Pinterest, a random street style shot, or a blog halfway around the world, and been unable to get your hands on it? Either it’s impossible to discover the brand that it came from, it sold out months ago or they just don’t deliver to your country. ASAP54 aims to bring those things closer to you: rather than describing an item with words, you can upload a photograph instead and they’ll do all the legwork for you.

http://sthlmstreetstyle.tumblr.com/

If they can’t find the exact item (unlikely, if you spend your time perusing vintage photographs or uncredited street style) they’ll come up with similar items that they think will appeal. It’s the digital equivalent of a personal shopping, and all you need to do is hand them a photo.

They’ve also hinted at the development of a “visual search engine” which will help you discover more of those special pieces – but you’ll know where to find them straightaway. You’ll even be able to follow friends and style icons as they use ASAP54, seeing what they’re finding and wearing – so if a new trend catches on among the heavyweight bloggers, you’ll be first to know.

Street style from elleuk.com

Although so much of ASAP54 is still under wraps, it definitely sounds like the solution to a problem that we’ve all come across: that moment of excitement on Pinterest or Tumblr, followed by fruitless searches online. Wouldn't it be amazing to simply email one of these images over, and get back a list of similar items you can buy right now?

Pinterest

We’re already wondering what Pinterest makes of it, and whether they’ll want to team up with ASAP54 or develop their own version. It would be amazing if you could directly shop through Pinterest, given the number of people who have wishlists and style inspiration boards on there already, and the constant feed of new images. And the possibilities could be endless for Instagram, if they allowed brands to upload photos of their products in a way that people could shop instantly.

The power of others to influence our purchases has been examined over and over again, and it’s long been clear that people prefer photos of products over words, so we can’t wait to see how the marketplace is going to change. ASAP54 sounds like a big leap in the right direction.