Amazon's Gigantic Fashion Studio Is Now In Williamsburg

We're all too familiar with the online mega retailers that keep our closets full, but it's easy to feel like these e-commerce entities are far removed from our daily lives. After all, it's not like we can walk into the local Net-A-Porter some weekend. On Friday, however, Amazon changed that feeling for us. Though it hasn't set up a brick-and-mortar shop (can you imagine?), the Seattle company has opened a photo studio in Williamsburg, dedicated to enhancing the fashion portion of its site.

The 40,000 square-foot facility features 28 bays for styling, shooting, and editing apparel. The goal? To make the product shots for Amazon Fashion items look less like stock photography and more like a look book. Cathy Beaudoin, president of Amazon Fashion, says, "Fashion is such an emotional purchase. You practically need to interrogate the product. We wanted to create a center for excellence.” And, we're inclined to think she knows what she's talking about — after all, she co-founded Piperlime.

So, why New York? Well, Beaudoin confirms what we already knew: “New York is a magnet for talent — models, photographers, digitech people, hair, and makeup stylists.” Rather than continue to fly out New York's finest to Seattle, Beaudoin brought Amazon to the source.

We're always excited to see New York's fashion industry expand and Amazon is a welcome addition. We have to wonder, though: Will such a huge corporate entity have a hard time fitting in with the independent businesses of Brooklyn? (WWD)