Avatars from the Poupee Girl Website.
Poupee Girl, a fashion social networking site operated by Tokyo-based web firm CyberAgent, has won a devoted and quickly growing base of users since launching in March 2008.
After registering on the site for free, users can create avatars named poupee (“doll” in French) by mixing and matching hairstyles, facial features and body shapes that resemble themselves. Users can then dress their avatars with thousands of available garments and accessories, and take a snapshot to post on their personal page on the site.
Users create avatars and dress them virtually.
Poupee Girl has a virtual currency, known as “ribbons,” can be purchased by credit card, or earned by posting new snapshots or commenting on other users’ snapshots. Ribbons can be used to buy virtual fashion item for their avatars. Users can also auction off virtual items they no longer want to other users. Many of the virtual items are based on actual garments, so users can coordinate a look on the site and go out and by the actual outfit.
Users post to the message board every few seconds.
However, Poupee Girl is much more than a virtual fitting room. It is also a social networking site with a rapidly growing base of users. In the “Poupee Cafe,” users can post one-line micro blogs on how they are feeling at the moment, which appear with their latest snapshot. New comments are posted every few seconds, attesting to the popularity of the site. Users can post photos of fashion items bought in the real world from their mobile phone cameras and receive comments and advice from other users.
Users can also post photos of items they actually buy.
The site has collaborated with brands to bring popular Louis Vuitton and Hello Kitty items into the virtual space, helping traffic to double every month since the site’s launch.
Learn more:
Poupee Girl site
News on Louis Vuitton
News on Hello Kitty