*By Conor White*
As if digitally organizing the wardrobes of hundreds of thousands of people wasn't enough, Finery is answering the demands of its users by providing added features to its fashion app and website.
"This is so typical of an unbelievable, strong, millennial woman," said the Finery co-founder and CEO Whitney Casey. "She's like, 'Great, I want my wardrobe on my phone. Thanks for doing that. And, can you also give me a whole outfit and how to wear it?'"
The new Finery features, which launched Tuesday, are a response to customers' requests for personalized fashion recommendations, recommendations for outfits based on the weather, and visualizations to give customers style inspiration based on what they already have in their closets.
To do all of this, all Finery needs is one photo of a piece of clothing, Casey said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar.
"We take that image, and scan it for the most important colors, how many pixels of each color, if there's a print, we can even know down to if it's a silk, or if it's a linen, or it's velvet, that's how advanced computer vision is getting," she said. "Then we take that same knowledge, scan multiple images all through Instagram to try to find a dress that looks like this."
Since the company was founded in 2016, Finery's free service has only been for women, but Casey said it won't be difficult to start helping men, when the time comes.
"Once we nail women, and get all of that styling, and really learn the A.I. on what women are liking and what women are not liking with the product, men, I'm sorry to say it, but you're just going to be so easy to dress," she said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/finery-founder-talks-app-updates).
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
February 8 is Safer Internet Day, and Google has partnered with online education organization Khan Academy to release a courseload focused on internet safety. The partnership includes a $5 million donation towards content development from Google, with modules to be made available in various languages throughout 2022. Founder of Khan Academy, Sal Khan, joined Cheddar News to discuss the partnership. "We need to get to a world where everyone of all ages has a chance to learn and practice and feel good that they can navigate the internet in a safe way,” said Khan.
Big tech companies such as Amazon and Google are garnering criticism for failing at their proposed climate pledges, most of which rely on carbon offsets — a potential loophole where companies pay others to address their omissions. Gilles Dufrasne, policy officer at Carbon Market Watch, joined Cheddar News to explain the organization's negative evaluation. "The objective here is not to bash companies and say everybody is doing the wrong thing," he said. "The objective is to also provide lessons, and there are some companies that are doing the right thing."
U.S. markets opened lower as disappointing Meta earnings dragged down the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Today, investors will be watching for Amazon's Q4 earnings report set for release after the market close. Greg Swenson, Founding Partner, Brigg Macadam joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets opened mostly higher led by gains in the tech sector on strong Q4 earnings. It comes after a tumultuous January which saw stocks suffer one of their worst months since the early days of the pandemic. Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer, Wealth Consulting Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss early market activity.
CLMBR is hoping to become the next big thing in connected fitness. The brand offers a high intensity, low impact workout with on-demand, instructor-led classes. Avrum Elmakis, CLMBR's CEO and founder, joined Cheddar to discuss where the company is heading next.
