081 Alexandra Van Houtte: The CEO who is galvanizing the fashion industry

Fashion Your Seatbelt

From the moment Alexandra Van Houtte first told me about her newly launched platform in 2016, describing it as Google for fashion, I knew she was onto something. Since then TagWalk, the website she founded and is the CEO of, has grown by leaps and bounds and has become a linchpin platform for anyone working in the fashion industry. It is the first runway image keyword search engine in existence. In a nutshell, the former stylist’s assistant created a site that, in just a few simple clicks, makes it possible for stylists to whittle down their sartorial selections for fashion shoots or mood boards from the thousands of catwalk images, lookbooks, and street style shots taken every season. It is also the perfect tool for fashion journalists and editors who are obliged to cull together images for those never-ending “top trend” texts, as the platform allows users to search for images by keyword, colour, season, brand, and more. Tagwalk also offers a variety of features that make it easy to save, share, and organize images. In addition to its popularity with fashion professionals, Tagwalk’s democratic nature has made it a widespread tool for your average fashionista. As it allows visitors to the site the chance to explore the latest trends, discover new designers, find inspiration for their own personal style and create seasonal wish lists of the key pieces she wants to invest in. My conversation with Alexandra really gets into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to get a start-up off the ground, how best to bring on investors and what skill sets a successful leader needs. As always Alexandra is honest and open with her answers, not pulling any punches when it comes to the hard questions about revenue streams, scaling her business and her hiring practices. I came away from our in-depth chat feeling inspired, energized and ready to take on the world. This interview took place in May 2021