How we build the catalog

The steps between the brand store and this site, and the decisions taken along the way.

Collecting

We read the brand store front and every one of its sub pages, which gives a list of product identifiers. That list goes to the retailer product interface, which returns the current price, the stock state, the images and the manufacturer bullet points. Separately we read each product page for its rating and review count.

Cutting

Anything without a live price is dropped, because a catalog entry with no number is a dead end. Anything permanently out of stock is dropped. Colourways that share a title are collapsed into the one with the most reviews, since listing the same dress nine times is noise. A handful of men items were dropped for having nowhere to live.

Renaming

Manufacturer titles here run well past a hundred characters and end with a size and a colour. We strip the brand name, the gender prefix, the trailing size and the trailing colour, then cut what remains to a readable length. The full original title is printed on every product page so nothing is hidden.

Sorting

Ten sections, assigned by reading the garment type out of the title and the store pages a listing appeared on. Swimwear before plus size, plus size before everything else, so a plus size bikini lands with the swimwear it belongs with.

Writing

Each product page gets a short teaser, an opening paragraph and four notes, written from that product specification. We do not invent measurements, materials or claims that contradict the spec sheet. Where the spec is blunt about a fabric being thin or having no stretch, that goes into the writing rather than being softened.

Rebuilding

The site is regenerated from scratch each time the data changes. Nothing is edited in place, so a stale page cannot survive a rebuild.