The Fabric8 website consists of a collection of online boutiques, presenting independent designers with the opportunity of setting up shop and selling their one-offs on the Web. Along the way, it presents a variety of showcases that demonstrate the rich palette of Web design techniques which Fabric8 has mastered as a design company. In a rich San Franciscan street style which employs everything from Flash and dynamic html to serious java scripting, Fabric8 is trying to create unique shopping experiences. Customisation is the key word, in more ways than one.

Each boutique, gallery or designer outlet in the Fabric8 site has its own look and feel, ranging from the, 70s-warped-into-90s, look of gender-blending fashion designer Paul Gallo’s hang-out to the hi-tech display of Jigowat’s intergalactic jewellery. The latter site is characterised by an intuitive understanding of the nature of these jewellery designs. Jigowat considers his ring designs to be kinds of artificial life-forms which undergo an evolutionary process. The rings are modular, and can be adapted to the client’s wishes. Fabric8 created a fitting display for this new species of jewellery by allowing the client to explore its characteristic features in an artificial VRML environment. Sui Generis, a clothing line by Nancy Eastep, was the first to set up shop with Fabric8 (then still called Check-it.com). With its clear layout of the collection, this online catalogue almost understates its potential. Its fitting-room, for instance, masks a complex system of order forms which makes sure that the client is provided with made-to-measure pieces.

One of their latest additions is the 'Shopping Bazaar', featuring holiday shopping for hi-tech hipsters. As a user, you can adjust the handy list of gift suggestions to have them presented by company, category or price. A little inserted window in the main screen (created in Flash) displays a continuous flow of gift previews, and provides the opportunity to go immediately to the product info when something comes along that catches your fancy.

Since many of the items on sale in Fabric8 are unique, handcrafted creations, the site demands a careful and complex arrangement for processing orders. Not only do the transaction forms need to provide a way of dealing with custom measurements, but they also have to allow for any other customisations the client may wish for. Through some pretty state-of-the-art java scripting, Fabric8 has been able to deal with most of these requirements. Thus, based on their extensive offerings, Fabric8 has been extremely successful at doing business online, with clients ranging from their next-door neighbours to young Japanese hipsters across the ocean.