Here is the beta site www.rciprocity.com/miyabi
Currently working on a new socially conscious luxury brand, Rciprocity. The heart of luxury - buy a bag, build a woman owned small business.
First: I like the website but the friction you create with the email sign up is crazy. Be careful with it and measure the conversion between people visiting the site/sign ups. If the friction is too high there may be a problem.
On which strategy to take, I think if you are asking yourself about aligning with women groups you are asking the right question. You should focus on getting a few loyal users that can teach you where your product creates value for them. With the feedback you can push forward into focusing in the strengths and trying to create a community around it.
Looks like a cool concept that would be perfect for a crowdfunding launch. I understand your question on either or, but I think you can ultimately do both at the same time. As part of the 9 stages of crowdfunding which occurs 3 to 6 months before you ever launch a campaign, you ultimately will be marketing through social media, reaching out to media contacts, and bringing together your traditional network in order to execute a successful launch of your business and products. Here is a blog post I recently did on LinkedIn that might help you understand the process better: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/9-stages-crowdfunding-success-manolis-sfinarolakis?trk=prof-post
If you decide to do one or the other, I think the best way would be first to go direct to market and prove your concept with individual customers. Once you have some testimonials of individuals who are excited about your business, you then have something to show the women organizations who would be more willing to take a risk on a new business if they see customers using it who are happy. Hope this helps!
