In 2006, TIME magazine named you—yes, you—as its person of the year. A couple of years down the line, and the web 2.0 world of wiki sites, blogs and other internet-based channels of consumer-generated content are finally now making their mark on fashion retail. We're not just talking social networking here, but a next-level step into SNS culture. Welcome to the world of Fashion 3.0 and the growth of social-shopping sites such as ThisNext.com [5], Kaboodle.com [6] (bought by magazine giant Hearst last year) and Iliketotallyloveit.com [7].

Take British social shopping site for women Osoyou.com [8], which launched during last September's London Fashion Week and is now launching a new Beauty Zone. With a whopping 70% of women in the UK buying beauty products online, adding brands such The Body Shop is a canny move by Osoyou, as consumers wade through waves of product choice and increasingly look to their peers, experts and so-called "mavens" for product referrals and recommendations. MD Dawn Bebe, has catchily labeled this referral economy, married with glossy magazine style content, as "me-tail".

Social shopping is proving to be super-sticky—just click onto ThisNext.com's real-time global map [9] to see a hypnotic array of speech bubbles popping up all over the globe, showing that a visitor in Staten Island just viewed some Tom Ford shades, while someone in Serbia is currently checking out a DKNY trench. Expect to see more sites such as newcomer LoyalTV.com [10], where users can post videos about the brands and products they love (and hate). In this new world of conspicuous e-consumption, don't just "broadcast yourself"—it's time to stylecast yourself, too.

—Fiona Harkin