Social and mobile gaming studio Crowdstar has thrived on the creation of fashion-focused mobile games targeted toward young women. Their newest app Covet Fashion is starting to break that trend. The app isn’t only a game, but a catalog. It features the likes of Rebecca Minkoff and Cynthia Rowley, among other fashion designers. The company will also court celebrities to have them create their own styles and provide fashion advice within the application. Fashion stylist Rachel Zoe has signed on as Covet’s first “Style Ambassador.”

In the game, players have a virtual mannequin that can don fashions from various designers. They’re given the task to dress up for a specific occasion, such as an ‘Epic Road Trip’, and compete to win actual clothes and get fashion advice.

The app bridges the gap between simply being a game and actually becoming an interactive catalog. It includes direct links to purchase real clothing.

“[Covet] lowers the friction toward purchase because users are able to interact much further with the item,” said Crowdstar CEO Jeffrey Tseng.

Crowdstar is attempting to broaden their audience from teen girls who used their previous apps Top Girl and Social Girl to women who might not normally play games or use social apps. Covet Fashion is acting as a game and as a shopping experience.

Crowdstar hopes that fashion choices seen and used in the game will also find a market in the real world, leading to real life purchases. Planned social sharing features such as a direct link to Pinterest could make this a truly integrated social game and marketing tool.

Source: TechCrunch