Manish Chandra is the co-founder and CEO of Kaboodle, a fantastic social shopping community (now owned by Hearst) that allows users to discover, recommend and share their favorite products. In the past two years, Kaboodle has drawn in more than 550,000 registered users and over 7 million monthly visitors. Manish will be speaking on the "How to Reach Youth on Social Networks" panel at next month's Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East in Boston.

Ypulse:What inspired you to start Kaboodle?

Manish Chandra: My wife and I were in the process of remodeling our home and we found that discovering new products, finding new brands and sharing any information online were all very difficult. There wasn’t any one place in which we could share and communicate about our shopping finds and keep track of all our favorite things. Kaboodle was born out of a personal need that turns out to be quite universal.

YP: What do you think teens or the younger generation demand from the online shopping experience?

MC: The shopping experience needs to be both fun and personal. Teens and the younger generation are very savvy online and have a strong sense of self-expression. These groups tend to gravitate towards interactive experiences. Using creative online shopping features, such the ability to create a Styleboard, and then share it with others, fosters interaction among these groups and is very important as it further integrates shopping into their broader online lives.

YP: What feature on Kaboodle is especially popular with young adults/why?

MC: The two features that really appeal to young adults are our Styleboards and Help Me Choose polls. Styleboards allow shoppers to combine a set of items from anywhere online and create a personalized display of their online finds. Styleboards allow users to creatively show off items in a variety of visually interesting ways much like a magazine spread. Our Help Me Choose polls allow users to take 2-3 items and ask their friends and the Kaboodle community which is the best or most appropriate item for them. Both these features enhance the social interaction among our community and provide tools so users can add their own personal touch.

YP: What new features or initiatives do you have planned for Kaboodle in 09?

MC: Kaboodle will be offering a broader platform for online contests that allows us to partner with brands and retailers more frequently and also gives our community more fun ways to interact with each other. We will also be offering support for integrating photos and products so people can tag photos with the products that are being used in the photo.

YP: Anything else you think Ypulse readers should know?

MC: While Kaboodle is all about making shopping social and fun, one of the simple but powerful things that we offer are the Kaboodle buttons. The buttons allows users to quickly add products from any retailer's website and organize their shopping effortlessly. No more book marks, saved pictures in folders or other painful ways of saving the products you want to look at or share. Kaboodle buttons make it real easy with a simple click to save anything from any retailer on the web.

Mary Kate Olsen wears tattered boyfriend jeans ($300, Alexander Wang), "vintage" flannels ($250, Elizabeth & James i.e. the line designed by sister Ashley) and clunky black boots ($1500, Balenciaga). Her shopping habits alone keeps Barneys in business. And yet, she still looks like she rolled out of bed and into her on-the-floor thrift store finds. And that's precisely what makes her a hipster, at least in a pure fashion sense of the word.

During the early '90s, it was called grunge, and now it's masquerading under a Gawker buzzword. Just because hipster sounds more glamorous does not mean it is. Scenesters are wearing the same holey denim, washed-out plaid, and unwashed hair that used to permeate the streets of Seattle back when Nirvana was blasting out of boomboxes, instead of wearing threadbare threads from the local Goodwill, this time around their clothing actually costs a pretty penny.

While khaki-and-collar outfitters like Gap and Abercrombie are struggling to bring in business, hipster stores like Urban Outfitters and American Apparel are enjoying a boom. UO saw a 30% increase in sales; top sellers include band Ts, plaid and Frye boots - coincidence?

According to a recent article on hipster fashion in Forbes:

Beatniks, punks and even followers of grunge music in the early '90s can be considered hipsters. But unlike similar groups of the past, the current generation of hipsters is a bit more generic in its self-labeling. Why? Because this scene is less focused on one idea, one purpose or one type of music.

Instead, today's hipster is defined by consumption.

If there isn't one single defining characteristic besides the way hipsters dress and how they shop, it makes me wonder - is there a counterculture that hasn't become commodified or that isn't defined by what it buys?

Sort of related:

New book argues the true youth culture (in the UK) could be found in the 1930s, not the 60s.

Shortly after Teen Vogue kicked off a "street style" contest on their website last month, the opportunity was posted on a "Lolita" fashion forum and the contest quickly became inundated with girls dressed in stereotypical Lolita style. Puffy caroline skirts, sweet mary jane flats, and bow-adorned headbands were popping up on page after page and I was stunned. I like to think that I'm fairly informed about fashion trends, but this entire style subculture came as a huge surprise to me.

The Lolita look has been a notable counterculture in Japan with subtypes ranging from gothic Lolita (a mostly black wardrobe, dark wardrobe, red lips) to sweet Lolita (pastel dresses, ruffles and bows galore, childlike makeup) for over 10 years. In Japan, this culture is more influenced by Lolita-looking anime characters than the actual Lolita novel.

Just this week, the New York Times, reg. required, reported about this latest generation of girls who are drawing inspiration from the classic Lolita image. A multimedia aspect of the story features five different "New York Lolitas" who are all quick to point out that the similarity between them and Vladimir Nabokov's precocious character is a girlish sense of style. Sexual assumptions aside, modern day Lolitas dress that way for the same reason that I reach for my favorite jeans every single day: it makes them (and me) feel good.

While the term Lolita is usually associated with Vladimir Nabokov’s ground-breaking novel “Lolita,” about a 12-year-old temptress, these Lolitas insist there is no connection between them and their namesake. "We share the same name," said Amber Rutland, 18, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Ms. Rutland, a student of City-as-School, an alternative high school, is an active member of the city’s Lolita community, whose numbers are elusive. She added: "Our Lolita is an elegant young girl inspired by Victorian or Rococo times. They aspire to create a sense of nobility."

Although I have yet to spot a single girl walking the streets in a caroline skirt, lacey tights, or fruit-print flouncy dress - not during my summer in New York nor my few years at the University of Missouri - the potential for more exposure is very likely. Elle and the Guardian both described collections from last month's fashion week as very "Lolita," and new It girl Katy Perry rocks '50s-silhouette dresses, heart-shaped glasses, and mary jane heels every chance she gets - and she has gotten a lot of chances, from MTV's red carpets to runway show front rows to magazine covers. She, however, does cite Vladimir Nabokov's classic book as inspiration (but then, she also sings about kissing girls because of their cherry chapstick, so keep that in mind). What do you think of the Lolita-style? Is there more of a cultural or societal subtext about women and girls than the Lolita-fashionistas care to admit or are even aware of themselves?

The Wall Street Journal's Juggle blog raised an interesting question today: What does it take to interest kids in politics? With the first debate set to take place tonight, the WSJ wonders how many teens will tune in. After the drama over whether tonight's debate would actually happen, I find it hard to imagine to that kids will be willing to trade their Friday night plans for a evening in front of the TV. Still, I'm sure that teens interested in this election will watch the highlights, lowlights or other gaffes on YouTube.

To expand on The WSJ's question, everyone from campaigners to candidates would like to know not only whether or not teens are tuning in, but whether youth 18 and up will actually turn out to vote in large numbers. Many websites think celebrity endorsements are the solution to catching the attention of teens and young voters. Rock The Vote has Santogold and Soulja Boy, Declare Yourself has America Ferrera and the cast of "Greek," and Ur Votes Count has Selena Gomez. Teen magazines have also added campaign coverage to their website - Seventeen's "Electionista" and Teen Vogue's "Political Partier" - and write in an accessible, entertaining format that would appeal to teen girls.

The latest election website that's hoping to attract teens is Shop The Vote! The name alone sure caught my attention, but the concept itself didn't quite live up to my expectations. According to the press release, Shop The Vote! is "the first digital out-of-home public service campaign designed to reach these critical citizens before November 4 in the environments that matter to them most: in stores, online and on their mobile phones." The idea is definitely unique, but the downside is that the two stores they're trying to reach teens through are F.Y.E. and Journeys — neither of which I've set foot in for years. To cover all of their bases, Shop The Vote! has a variety of famous names (Olivia Wilde, the cast of "American Teen") attached, too. While it's great that all of these youth voting sites exist, we all know that the real impact will be viral, i.e. reaching teens where they hang out already, on MySpace and Facebook, or connect more directly through cell phones and PDAs.

So….Will all of these youth-targeted promotions work? I guess we'll know November 4th.

Last week we briefly touched on the latest Pew Study that shows that the current generation of gamers is a far cry from the anti-social stereotype many of us envision. eMarketer aggregated data from the Pew study, combined and a recent survey from comScore in a summary focused on girls and gaming further proving that old-school gaming stereotypes are no longer relevant. Check out these stats:

- The total female online gaming site audience has increased 27 percent over the past year to nearly 43 million visitors.

- Growth was even faster among female gamers ages 12 to 24, rising 55 percent, and 55 to 64, rising 43 percent.

- 94 percent of teen girls play video games regularly

- Fashion and dress-up sites and virtual worlds such as Neopets and Gaia Online helped the category grow in popularity among younger girls.

- More older women visited gaming sites because of partnerships between women's content portals and casual game sites.

- The game genres girls are most interested in include puzzles, racing, and rhythm. Interestingly, they are least interested in virtual worlds (huge surprise!) and survival horror (no surprise!).

- 40 percent of gamers are women

While these studies zero in on computer and online gaming, girls have been embracing game consoles in a big way, too. Half of the Nintendo DS users are female, largely due to the selection of entertainment, pop culture, and fashion-focused games, and it's becoming more and more acceptable for girls to show interest in games.

Nintendo plans to continue courting women, and their latest partnership with Bags To Riches, a luxury handbag "rental" company is looking to a neglected consumer as far as gaming goes - the middle-class mother. When women log on to the site to select designer purses from names like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton, to carry for the next month, they can also choose a Nintendo game to try out for the next 30 days.

I love fashion, and while my feelings about video games are rather neutral, that could be because I've never received a game console on loan with any online shopping purchase. Who knows - if I received a shiny new Nintendo with my next shoe investment, maybe I would jump on the girl gaming bandwagon. Even if that did happen, I'm not quite sure a game console could ever be considered the next "must-have accessory." From Media Post:

Samuel Mangiere, chairman and co-founder of the online handbag rental site, calls the Nintendo DS this year's must-have fashion accessory that goes well with handbags. "Carrying the Nintendo DS in your purse makes a statement because I truly believe there's a link between the DS and any belt, sunglasses or pair of shoes," he says. "It tells people: 'I'm up-to-date. I like electronics. I probably have a BlackBerry or an Apple iPhone in my purse, too.'"

I grew up in a tiny town without a nearby mall or clothing store in sight. Before the miracle of online shopping took off, I was more or less limited to traveling two hours to the nearest city or ordering clothes through a catalog (wait–do people still do that?). Around seventh grade, I realized that, thanks to my trusty computer, I could buy the same clothes found in my favorite magazines without trekking around the state and promptly ordered much of my back-to-school wardrobe online.

Then I got a nice big package in the mail and quickly discovered that ordering jeans, shoes, and jackets without testing them out in the dressing room wasn't as easy as it seemed. Since that very fateful first shipment in the late '90s, the UPS man and I have quite the relationship: ordering, delivering, returning, delivering, etc.

While Sears has not proven itself to be a technology trailblazer in the past, the department store is about to make a splash in the world of online shopping with a three-dimensional fit model that will allow shoppers to plug in their sizes, upload their pictures, and try on clothes virtually. "My Virtual Model" could potentially make shopping online seamless and decrease the miles logged by UPS.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The new search process will let shoppers scan an image of a style they like, whether it's from Cosmopolitan magazine or any other source that has been digitized, and search for that item from Sears' and other retailers' digitized merchandise. Shoppers may e-mail their virtual model's outfits to friends and get instant responses on whether the looks work.

In the future, the virtual shopping process will let shoppers "rate" each others' looks, and enable the best shoppers to act as advisers, said Louise Guay, president and a founder of My Virtual Model, the Montreal-based company that holds the patents to the technology.

I have never shopped at Sears, nor have I perused their website, but the ability to try things on and create outfits online is very appealing to me. If the site brings tweens and teens in just for the entertainment factor and their products impress, this interactive application will be a really simple way to build a loyal fan base outside of their existing one. If this is successful, other brands will soon be forced to rethink the way they sell clothing online.

I recently read something about the back-to-school season, and an expert commented that b-t-s used to be considered the teen's Christmas as far as shopping goes. I remember girls would go shopping at the beginning of August like clockwork, stocking up on everything they might need for the upcoming year. No matter that the temperatures were still in the 90s; they would buy jeans, boots, coats, scarves - essentially a whole new winter wardrobe. The economy doesn't allow such enormous shopping hauls these days, but at the same time, the constantly-updated store merchandise seems to encourage short, frequent trips instead of one big spree. This is what tweens and teens will be eying and buying this season.

Legwear
My fourth grade cousin - who isn't particularly fashion-forward, but then again, what 10 year-old really is? - wears leggings with the same regularity that college students wear jeans. The trend still has legs, though, because the cozy anti-pants are just too comfortable and practical to stop. They can be tossed on under favorite fall dresses to transition into winter, and a few layered leggings can be a nice alternative to sweatpants when it's too cold to think of anything else.

Lindsay Lohan just launched a collection solely devoted to tights and leggings, and it has been surprisingly successful. Since the summer debut, certain styles have already sold out, and the weather hasn't been cold enough to call for legwear.

Uniform Chic
"Gossip Girl" can be considered a trend in itself, since half of the viewers are only tuning in just to catch the costumes, but inventive uniform-inspired fashion that the Upper East Siders sport to school is a hit for private and public school students. All of the staples of a ritzy school's uniform, regardless of dress code, are musts: plaid, argyle, piped blazers, cable knits, tailored oxfords, pleated minis.

Because there is so much layering and mix-matching on GG, it really is accessible to the average schoolgirl. The costume designer, Eric Daman, recently told WWD "I use stuff from Forever 21 and H&M all the time. I always want to make kids feel like they can look at what the characters are wearing and they can afford to go out and buy something for themselves." While I don't believe that Blair is outfitted in too much H&M, her looks are easy to recreate with basics from stores like Gap, Old Navy, and uniform supply stores.

Vintage Denim
Designers are really pushing highwaisted denim, a huge throwback to the '70s, but celebrities are still wearing their skinny jeans and teens are still buying them. Skinny jeans used to be just as jarring on the eye as highwaisted denim is at the moment, but we eventually became accustomed to the tapered-ankle silhouette. If the tummy-tuckers stick around long enough, they might soon be just as ubiquitous.

Wide-leg jeans are slowly making their way back on the scene, but with a frugal back-to-school season, parents are more likely to buy a tried-and-true fit - like a straight leg or slight bootcut - instead of investing in a new trend.

Ladylike Skirts
While highrise denim isn't exactly in demand, higher-waisted skirts and waist-nipping dresses are. I was in New York this summer, and I would have been hard pressed to find the low-waisted line that was so popular just a few summers ago. Returning to Missouri, I assumed that the trend wouldn't be making it to the Midwest for a few more seasons; surprisingly, it's just as prevalent here as it was on the East Coast.

It's no wonder the trend caught on so quickly; highwaisted skirts call for tucked-in tops, creating the most sophisticated silhouette I've seen in years. It's a complete 180 from the tunic-and-leggings duo that was everywhere last season, but maybe that's why everyone is embracing it with opened arms.

Frills
From ruffled collars to bow-emblazoned headbands to tier-ruffle dresses to bow-toe ballerina flats, bows and ruffles add a little girlish sophistication to any outfit. Frills bring a big impact, no matter what the size of the embellishment is; itty-bitty bow trims are every bit as in-demand as oversized bodice-bows.

The fashion industry's favorite shoe designers seem to be moving away from ballet flats, but the sweet trend just makes too much sense to pass up. They look just as adorable on an 8 year-old as they do on an 18 year-old, and can be worn with nearly everything in a closet. They look just as nice for a fancy night out as towering heels - all of the style and none of the suffering.

Want more? Check out this cool New York Times slideshow that profiles designer offspring about their back-to-school musts (adorable 7 year-old boy: "skinny jeans" - seriously!).

No matter how smart she is, no matter how many interests and hobbies she has, nearly every adolescent girl goes through a stage where she wonders what her life would be like if she was a model… and secretly wonders if she'll have an unexpected growth spurt and wake up tomorrow morning as a leggy six-foot catwalker. And it does happen, albeit rarely. A tiny number of "genetically correct" [by today's modeling standards] people graduate from high school, and instead of heading to college like most, jaunt to Milan, Paris, London, and New York to lead an unimaginable existence as a jetsetting supermodel. Stormstyle.com wants to appeal to the millions of girls who will only dream about such a life.

Storm Models, the agency behind famous faces like Kate Moss and Lily Cole, is launching a digital channel designed to give girls between the ages of 15-19 a behind-the-scenes peek at the fashion industry. In addition to bi-monthly "branded" editorials, the site will have daily reader-generated content (although I think it takes awhile to establish a regular audience that's comfortable enough to begin posting their own content). According to the press release, there will also be "content created by the youth team at LIVE! a magazine written, illustrated, produced and distributed by the young people of south London. All the contributors are mentored and supported by a team of journalists from a wide-range of publications."

Just clicking around the site, you might think that Stormstyle.com is a new fashion magazine - the format is creative and very entertaining. The content appears a little Teen Vogue, but with more of a model slant than celebrity focus. Style from fashion editors, product recommendations from makeup artists, and candid blogs from young models give the reader brief, but revealing glances into an industry that's fascinating but still rather foreign.

The debut of Stormstyle.com comes fresh off the heels of Vogue's Model.Live launch, which is a similar concept from IMG. Pretty young models frolic around in front of a camera, revealing bits and pieces of their behind-the-scenes world. Think "America's Next Top Model" without the TV - and Tyra. Like Storm's venture, branding plays a big part with Express.com as the primary sponsor. Bebo as the "publisher." We were told in an email from Model.Live's publicist that they have had "1.25 million interactions with the series since launch."

While the two have very different formats, they will essentially appeal to the same audience. Unfortunately for IMG, Storm's website is more hands-on, engaging and very imaginative. Pretty impressive for a modeling agency.

I don't know that it's because there just aren't that many new shows premiering this fall, or that since The CW is the only non-cable network with viewers under 50, but there certainly is a lot of buzz happening around the remake/return of "90210." As I was re-reading Casey's round-up of fall TV from Thursday, it became clear to me that tweens and teens who still watch TV on the set are primarily watching cable (Disney, Nick, ABC Family, MTV/VH1). According to this piece over at Portfolio, The CW is happy to have captured what may be the youngest demo still watching network TV, twentysomethings. Anyhow here's a quick roundup of CW-related links in anticipation of "90210's" comeback:

When Teenage Angst Had Its Own ZIP Code (it's hard to "overstate the impact" the show had on folks who came of age in the 90s) (New York Times, reg. required)

More on not letting anyone see the show before its premiere (New York Times)

In addition to offending the PTC, '90210' billboards are offending Hasidic Jews. And Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has launched a letter writing campaign to get the ads off Bus Radio where elementary school kids may be listening. (Brooklyn Paper)

'90210' teams with Myxer for mobile content. Plus The CW will make full episodes available on mobile devices. (Media Post, reg. required) (AdWeek)

'Gossip Girl' comes back strong (boding well for '90210') (Media Life Magazine)

And teen fashionistas buzzing more about Gossip Girl fashion than storylines. (Seattle Times)

I remember the collective uneasy laughter at The Ypulse Mashup in July when Jared Kim, the young entrepreneur behind WeGame.com, shared his advice for other young entrepreneurs — "drop out of school." Kim had dropped out of Berkeley after finding success with one of his multiple start-ups. That path isn't for everyone, but for some teens the traditional path to college then career isn't really a fit either. A couple of weeks ago, The Oregonian interviewed me for a story they wrote about a local teen entrepreneur, whose fashion company Pretty Ugly Online is finding success in a non-traditional way. It's kind of a 2.0 Cinderella story.. According to the article:

Elton Sherman was a nobody. Teachers say he was a terrible student. He made D's and skipped classes. Students called him homophobic slurs because he wore purple pants and slim cardigans. They said he looked like Mr. Rogers…Sherman had tried to start a T-shirt company before. He even approached investors. They turned him down…

What did he do? He bought a super nice camera and began photographing teens from school at parties and events and then posted these photos on his blog. We all know teens love posting and viewing photos of themselves and their friends online — Elton did, too, which is why this was genius. He built a brand (and cache) around himself with these party pics. His blog (and Elton himself) became so popular that when he did relaunch his T-shirt idea, the shirts sold out immediately. The key to his success?

What he markets is a reflection of people who are already cool. He rarely appears on his blog. Sometimes his shadow, a gray hint of someone else caught in the corners of a flash-illuminated photo, creeps in. But Sherman is rarely the picture. The people he knows, where he hangs out, what clothes he likes: That's what teenagers are buying.

Elton isn't planning on attending college either…but he did just take his first flight to the MAGIC show in Vegas.

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Meet a 16-year-old online advertising whiz kid (Stephan Spencer)