IQONS: MySpace meets Project Runway

Intentional or not, MySpace has become a platform for emerging musicians to get their music out to the masses. Now, the fashion industry wants in. Enter IQONS, a new social networking site for aspiring designers that is dressing up the social  networking model in new clothes.

Launching this month, the site aims to “provide a platform for everyone in the global fashion industry and create the world’s first truly interconnected ‘fashion ecology’. Member profiles include lists of their favorite designers and brands, showcases of their work, links to other sites and a “guestbook” to get comments and build an "entourage."

Judging by the members currently on view in the Avant-Première version, the site will be attracting a range of members–from up-and-coming designers and models to agencies and established artists. Their "15 Minutes of Fame" page has featured people like Butokai, a hand model, Susie Bubble, the UK-based fashion blogger and Purple, a Paris-based fashion magazine.

Just as Project Runway gave fashion design a much-needed dose of meritocracy, IQONS will hopefully "set fashion free" for many aspiring style mavens. Make it work, people.