Prepare Yourself—& Your Wallet—for the Net Set

Natalie Massenet loves to be first. The former fashion editor was the first person to sell luxury fashion online, the first to launch content out of commerce, and is determined to the be first to cannibalize her own business model. At least, that’s how Alexandra Hoffnung, the app’s creative director, and Sarah Watson, its vice president, put it when talking about the “the world’s first luxury shoppable mobile social network.”

The duo had worked at Net-a-porter for years, most recently in the mobile division, when Massenet tasked them with figuring out how to merge social media and sales. She knew her customers would be looking for a new way to shop, and she was determined to offer the answer before anyone else. Hoffnung and Watson were treated like a startup within the company; the two presented a business plan to Massenet to gain access to NAP’s infrastracture, which in turn allowed them to build the app of their dreams: the Net Set. (An homage to the jet set of Slim Aarons’s era, customers have been tagging their NAP purchases with the hashtag-turned-name since the advent of Instagram.)

So what is it? The worst thing to happen to your bank account in a long time; it’s like Pinterest-meets-Instagram, but you can shop it right there. Instead of following, you choose whom to “admire”; in place of liking, you “love.” There’s a Style Council, made up of impossibly chic women like Giovanna Battaglia, so that you can see what they like—and what they’re buying—and each brand will have their own page within the app. You can even join a club based on your style. Do you live for denim on denim? Join the tribe. The exclusive video above explains it best.

But the coolest part, the technology that made us go, “Oooh,” is that the app recognizes the colors, textures, and patterns of the pictures you upload, and suggests product to match. Let’s say, for example, you add an image of flowers at the farmers market this weekend. There’s a good chance the app will direct you toward this Marni coat, or this Dolce swimsuit. Maybe even this Marc by Marc phone case or these J.Crew pumps.

The whole thing launches tomorrow and while your initial reaction might be wait, another social network I’m expected to update and engage with, you’ll be singing a different tune tomorrow. You don’t even have to shop, you can just play, but consider your wallet warned.