<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5693a9fae6183efa428b5618-1280-851/cq5dam.web.1280.1280 (2).jpeg" alt="Buick Avista 2016 Detroit Auto Show" data-mce-source="Buick" /><p class="source"><span>Buick</span></p><p class="caption">Not your father's Buick.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The first big surprise of the 2016 Detroit Auto Show landed on Sunday. </p><p>Buick pulled the cover off its Avista concept car.</p><p>This really is something different for a brand that less than a decade ago was considered a purveyor of boring not-luxury vehicles that General Motors was keeping around mainly because of its fantastic reputation in China.</p><p>Fast forward to 2016 and Buick has staged an impressive comeback. And the Avista is symbolic of just how much more confidence GM has in itself, post-bailouts and post-bankruptcy.</p><p>If you think of sloshy sedans and rebadged GMC SUVs when you think of Buick, the Avista concept should change your mind. Sure, it's a concept car and unlikely to be built in the stylish form that Buick showed in Detroit. But the whole point of concepts is to establish fresh dreams in consumers' imaginations. </p><p><span>"There is elegant simplicity in the Avista's surfaces, which speak to the purity of the car's performance, and a timeless beauty that's a hallmark of Buick design," said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director Global Buick Design, said in a statement. </span></p><p><span>"It was designed to capture the spirit of the perfect drive," he added.</span></p><p><span>It does look like it would fun to take on an early evening cruise along a coastal road. Technically, the Avista is a 2+2, meaning that there's room in the front for driver and passenger and room in the back for two very small additional adults, or two children. Or, really, nothing. Maybe a pair of cashmere sweaters and a digital camera. Effectively, this is a chariot built for couples.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5693aaade6183eee168b8218-1280-853/cq5dam.web.1280.1280 (1).jpeg" alt="Buick Avista 2016 Detroit Auto Show" data-mce-source="Buick" /><p class="source"><span>Buick</span></p><p class="caption">High-tech sculpture.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Power would come from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. We <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/i-just-drove-one-of-the-most-thrilling-buicks-ever-created--and-yes-you-read-that-right-2015-4">enjoyed this engine greatly in the Buick Regal GS</a> - it's sporty and responsive. </span></p><p><span>In keeping with prevailing auto industry trends, the Avista's interior is high-tech and sculptural, swoopy and flowing.</span></p><p><span>Buick hasn't really considered a car like this since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Reatta">Reatta</a> of the late 1980s, a sleek two-seater whose total production amounted to only just over 21,000, but that's still an eye-catcher today if you spot on the street.</span></p><p><span>All in all, a bold statement from Buick, which has been faring well in the current booming US auto market by selling crossover SUVs. You can't help but get the sense the GM's oldest brand is back and ready to show that we might not have seen anything yet.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5693aa5fe6183ebe4a8b7fae-1280-486/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg" alt="Buick Avista 2016 Detroit Auto Show" data-mce-source="Buick" /><p class="source"><span>Buick</span></p><p class="caption">Looks good from a lot of angles.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/volvo-xc90-best-car-of-the-year-2015-12">The best car of the year - the Volvo XC90 </a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I5cWZseTqid0oDzWA5ccHhkOjjj8S6da" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'I5cWZseTqid0oDzWA5ccHhkOjjj8S6da',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Buick just completely changed impressions of its brand with this gorgeous concept car

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f4f1e3ecba40c802aba4-2000/pandemic flu -- birds on the shore.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   birds on the shore.JPG" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="The small migrating shore birds that stop in New Jersey on their journey North every spring include Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Sanderlings." /></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Migrating shorebirds stop each spring in New Jersey to feast on horseshoe-crab eggs. The birds have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/pandemic">lots of flu strains in their guts</a>.</li><li>Researchers swab the birds' butts (the technical term is "cloacas") and pick up their droppings in search of clues about potential future pandemics.</li><li>A pandemic flu that hops from birds to humans could quickly circulate around the world, killing hundreds of millions of people before scientists develop a vaccine.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY - On a May morning, birders and scientists descended on Reed's Beach with gunpowder and a cannon. They hid in the grass and mud, waiting for the right moment to shoot. </p><p>Hours passed as the sun drifted into the middle of the sky, then finally the rifle powder ignited, and the thud sent more than 100 stunned shore birds into a frenzy. They stretched their wings to soar into the air, then quickly tumbled to the ground, trapped in wide nets that had been shot from the cannon.</p><p>In an instant, dozens of people emerged from hiding spots in the beach dunes, rushing through the sand to pick the birds up. A few flu researchers went straight for the creatures' back ends.</p><p>Ths wasn't part of a war reenactment or violent uprising. It was a meticulously crafted plan to help scientists fight a dangerous yet almost invisible enemy: a potential flu pandemic that could originate from the guts of migrating birds.</p><p>Traveling birds are the primordial hosts of influenza viruses, which means they can harbor deadly flu strains that could get transmitted to chickens, pigs, and people. Every pandemic flu the world has ever seen has come from birds like these.</p><p>On the beach, the goal is to take a close look at these birds' butts and poop in the hopes of gathering information that could help scientists prevent the next deadly flu pandemic. This particular stretch of beach is especially good for bird research, since of thousands of tiny, well-traveled shorebirds - each small enough to fit into the palm of your hand - flock there during migration to gorge themselves on the protein rich-eggs of <a href="https://www.fws.gov/northeast/pdf/horseshoe.fs.pdf">horseshoe crabs</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f4f2e3ecba19ac73d8a4-2000/pandemic flu -- horseshoe crabs.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   horseshoe crabs.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Migratory birds stop in Delaware Bay each spring to feast on horseshoe crab eggs before they fly further north. Horseshoe crab populations aren't what they used to be, but there are still crowds of them along the shore." /></div></div></div></p><p>It's a ritual scientists have participated in every May for over three decades, when migratory birds stop along the Jersey Shore as they journey north from South America. For about three to four days, as the birds feast, researchers swab their throats and butts (technically they're called "cloacas") and collect hundreds of poop samples.</p><p>Their aim is to uncover clues about what the next dangerous bird flu might look like - while there's still time to prepare.</p><h2>We are woefully unprepared for the next pandemic</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d13f127e3ecba030960cfa6-1867/birds more cannon fire.jpg" border="0" alt="birds more cannon fire.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" /></div></div></div></p><p>The field work on Reed's Beach helped researchers discover that birds are <a href="https://www.stjude.org/research/initiatives/influenza-research-surveillance/center-excellence-influenza-research-surveillance/ceirs-project-summaries.html#slide-19aceef50ad5d0c052d043d0554057e376907f3adff72f30a0e642d0fa31940e-19">the primary, natural hosts for pandemic flu</a>.</p><p>The last big pandemic flu - the H1N1 virus nicknamed the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Ffeatures%2F1918-flu-pandemic%2Findex.html">Spanish flu</a> - killed 50 million people in 1918. American soldiers brought the Spanish flu to the battlefields of WWI before the illness eventually spread as far as New Zealand, but it originally <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/study-revives-bird-origin-for-1918-flu-pandemic-1.14723">came from birds</a>.</p><p>Most scientists agree that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.  Experts think that if a pandemic flu similar to the 1918 one were to arise today, it could infect <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html">one in every three</a> people alive. Without a good vaccine to combat it, the virus could kill more than one out of every 10 humans on the planet - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-virus-simulation-johns-hopkins-shows-vulnerability-2018-7">upwards of 900 million people</a>.</p><p>More recent pandemics include <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1957-1958-pandemic.html">the 1957-58</a> "Asian flu;" the 1968 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hong-Kong-flu-of-1968">Hong Kong</a> pandemic, which <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hong-Kong-flu-of-1968">killed at least 1 million people;</a> and the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, from which <a href="http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2012/06/cdc-estimate-global-h1n1-pandemic-deaths-284000">an estimated 284,000</a> died. Researchers have compelling evidence that each of those strains also came <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Asian-flu-of-1957">from bird guts</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f536e3ecba712861b679-2000/pandemic flu -- bird catch.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   bird catch.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Once the cannon goes off, birds are trapped inside a net, and then tagged and measured before they're released again." /></div></div></div></p><p>The interconnected nature of our modern lives due to air travel and other daily migrations of people and food means the chance that a deadly virus could hit hard is only increasing.</p><p>"The world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war," Bill Gates said <a href="http://epidemics.events.nejm.org/#/main">last year</a>, on the 100-year anniversary of the Spanish flu. "If history has taught us anything, it's that there will be another deadly global pandemic."</p><p>One <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-virus-simulation-johns-hopkins-shows-vulnerability-2018-7">pandemic simulation</a> developed at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimated that if a "moderately contagious" and "moderately lethal" virus were unleashed today, it would kill as many as 150 million people in 20 months. That's almost half of the population of the US. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f4f1e3ecba072c6654b3-2000/pandemic flu -- birds migrating dont enter this beach.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   birds migrating don't enter this beach.JPG" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Shore birds migrating from South America use New Jersey beaches as a rest stop on their way towards Arctic breeding grounds in May and early June. The beach is closed to people to let the birds feast in peace." /></div></div></div></p><p>For birds, on the other hand, flu viruses are relatively benign, manifesting as gastrointestinal issues that are of little consequence to their health. The reason some flus become human-transmittable - then <span style="font-weight: 400;">proliferate around the globe, with devastating consequences - </span>while others don't remains a mystery.</p><p>"At the moment, we don't understand which ones are threats, and which ones aren't," Richard Webby, an infectious-disease expert at St Jude Children's Research Hospital who helps develop the annual flu vaccine, told Business Insider. </p><p>By studying the flu virus in birds, scientists hope to discover new strains that haven't hit humans yet and work on ways to fight those illnesses, perhaps by developing vaccines or creating <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/treatment/whatyoushould.htm">antiviral drugs</a> (like Tamiflu) that can make a case of the flu less severe.</p><h2>'About 20% of them are pooping out influenza'</h2><p>The more bird species interact with each other (in places where they congregate like markets, barns, or beaches), the more likely it is that their different flu genes will mix. More flu-virus interaction creates more opportunity for a virus to morph into a new strain capable of hopping into humans. </p><p>That's why Reed's Beach is one-of-a-kind: Up to 25 types of sea birds come together there each spring. There's the red knot, which travels <a href="https://abcbirds.org/bird/red-knot/">more than 9,000 miles</a> from the southern tip of Argentina to the Canadian Arctic, as well as ruddy turnstones on their way up from Brazil, plus sanderlings, semipalmated sandpipers, and several species of gulls. </p><p>It's a mixing ground for a hemisphere's worth of bird poop. (Similar research is done in poultry <a href="https://www.stjude.org/research/initiatives/influenza-research-surveillance/center-excellence-influenza-research-surveillance/ceirs-project-summaries.html#slide-19aceef50ad5d0c052d043d0554057e376907f3adff72f30a0e642d0fa31940e-3">markets in Bangladesh</a>, chicken and duck farms on <a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-018-1519-8">the Nile river delta</a> in <a href="https://www.stjude.org/research/initiatives/influenza-research-surveillance/center-excellence-influenza-research-surveillance/ceirs-project-summaries.html#slide-19aceef50ad5d0c052d043d0554057e376907f3adff72f30a0e642d0fa31940e-8%C2%A0">Egypt</a>, and on wild ducks in Alberta, Canada.)</p><p>"Those beautiful, healthy birds - about 20% of them are pooping out influenza," Robert Webster, a flu expert who pinpointed the Jersey shore bird hotspot in 1985, told Business Insider. "Where do so many infected birds come from? Where did they get their viruses from? We don't really know."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d14fa2a45756e18962ccd84-1873/pandemic flu --- hiding in the grass.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   hiding in the grass.JPG" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Trapping shore birds involves a cannon and nets." /></div></div></div></p><p>Flu viruses can morph in two ways. The first is via a routine process called genetic drift, in which a virus multiplies and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/change.htm">undergoes small genetic changes over time</a> as it replicates. The second happens when two viruses mix together, which can create new (and dangerous) bugs capable of infecting chickens, pigs, or people.</p><p>At least 16 different "A" influenza subtypes - the kind responsible for pandemics in humans - are found in aquatic birds (and two additional influenza A subtypes were recently discovered in bats). Researchers looking at flu strains on Reed's Beach have found close relatives of the 1918 Spanish Flu (in the H1N1 group), as well as other strains that look like the Hong Kong pandemic bug.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f99be3ecba7272726c06-2000/pandemic flu --- bird catch 2.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   bird catch 2.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Shore birds migrating from South America use New Jersey beaches as a picnic area on their way towards Arctic breeding grounds in May and early June." /></div></div></div></p><p>"You're never going to know somebody had some bird flu unless they get really sick," Pamela McKenzie, a flu researcher from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who participates in the annual bird-research frenzy on the beach, told Business Insider as she gathered poop samples.  </p><p>The birds also harbor some strains that we haven't seen in humans in over 50 years, Webster said. That means if they were to hop into people now, our immune systems would be shocked. </p><p>"We know that the H2 viruses are still there in the wild birds and they're a potential threat to humans," he said. "We are concerned that there is no immunity in the human population, or only in the elderly, and so that is why we worry about them."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f9a6e3ecba42062436b2-1777/pandemic flu --- picking up bird poo 2.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   picking up bird poo 2.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="There are tons of different flu viruses circulating among the birds." /></div></div></div></p><p>If a bird flu were to break out, public-health officials have a few anti-flu weapons to deploy. Stockpiled antiviral drugs called <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra050740">neuraminidase inhibitors</a> can help, as long as they're dispensed within a couple days after a person gets sick. Otherwise, scientists would need to develop a new vaccine, but that could take months and ultimately prove ineffective if the virus morphed again before the vaccine was finished.</p><p>"Even with the very best technology that we have, it takes six months to make a new vaccine," Webster said. "And in the meantime, the virus is spread all over the world and if it's a deadly virus, it's going to kill many, many, many people."</p><p>This is another reason scientists are scrambling to develop a universal flu vaccine that would offer long-term protection against all kinds of flu, unlike the annual shot.</p><h2><strong>Trapping birds using cannons, nets, and tall grass</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d12732de3ecba09667b9b14-1081/pandemic flu -- catching a bird.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   catching a bird.JPG" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Susan Taylor says she comes to the New Jersey shore &amp;quotevery year&quot; from Victoria, Australia, to watch birds migrating from South America." /></div></div></div></strong></p><p>Trapping the birds on Reed's Beach is a multi-hour operation that can be easily foiled if the birds get startled. </p><p>Before the big cannon-shooting moment, researchers used walkie-talkies to radio to one another in different spots around the bay. Slowly, they worked together to corner the birds into a small inlet. Then after the projectile net sent the birds gently toppling to the ground, the flu researchers unpacked their vials and swabs.</p><p>In addition to the live swabs, researchers also gathered about 600 poop samples from the beach using long-stemmed Q-tips. </p><p>None of these scientists seemed too concerned about coming into contact with a potential killer flu on the beach - they don't even wear gloves while picking up poop samples (though they do when swabbing the birds' cloacas). Instead, they simply maintain good hygiene on the sand and off, knowing they're more likely to get the flu from touching a door handle or sitting next to a sick person.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f4f1e3ecba1814307da3-2000/pandemic flu -- bird swab for butts and throats.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   bird swab for butts and throats.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="This tiny swab is specially designed to take saliva or poop samples from birds." /></div></div></div></p><p>Once all the samples were packed in coolers and ready to go to the lab, the research crew left the birds alone on the beach. By the end of May, most of the birds had flown north; their dedicated beach area re-opened to the public in June. </p><p>In labs, researchers are now conducting DNA analyses to find out which influenza strains were circulating on the beach this year, how that compares to years past, and whether there was any new flu. That work will take about six months.</p><p>So far, after years of field research, scientists have gained some clues about which genes make an influenza strain more likely to be harmful and better able to jump from birds to poultry, pigs, and people. The new genetic information from this year will become part of that catalogue of three decades' worth of flu-gene segments, enlarging the database that helps researchers better track - and potentially fight - pandemic flu.</p><p>"You're looking for key components of the genetic sequence that make a gene more dangerous," McKenzie said.</p><p>But the scientists said their research is far from done.</p><p>"We would like to know if we can predict which are the viruses in the wild birds that are a real threat to either pigs, poultry or humans," Webster said. "We don't know the answers, but as we look at the genome of the viruses that are in the wild birds and in humans and so on, the goal is that in the future, we can make predictions of which viruses are really dangerous." </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d10f4f10a284949472bb134-2000/pandemic flu -- walking through the bird poo.jpg" border="0" alt="pandemic flu   walking through the bird poo.JPG" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Hilary Brueck/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Pamela McKenzie, who works on the infectious disease team at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, picks up bird poop samples along the beach in Delaware Bay." /></div></div></div></p><p>That research cycle will start again next May, when both birds and bird-catchers return to the Jersey shore. </p><p>"Ultimately we dream about having a universal vaccine," Webster said. "In a perfect situation, we would have four or five anti-viral drugs and a universal vaccine. Then I could die happy." </p>

Bill Gates says a devastating 'quirk of nature' could kill 30 million people in a year. Researchers are fighting that threat by studying bird butts.

100 biographies to read in your lifetime

<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When Sophia Amoruso </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasty-gal-founder-in-the-new-york-times-2013-3">started an eBay store in 2006</a> and named it Nasty Gal<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, she had no idea it was going to grow into a successful fashion retailer.</span></p><p class="p1">But one <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasty-gal-become-a-multimillion-dollar-business-2014-5">successful memoir</a>, the viral hashtag #GIRLBOSS, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasty-gal-become-a-multimillion-dollar-business-2014-5">$100 million in sales later</a>, <a href="http://www.nastygal.com/">Nasty Gal</a> is a thriving clothing business that has millennial name recognition most brands would kill for.</p><p class="p1">Now, Nasty Gal is <a href="http://www.racked.com/2015/4/7/8341089/nasty-gal-funding">opening brick-and-mortar locations</a> to rival fast-fashion stores like Forever 21, H&amp;M, and Zara. But as the brand looks towards brick-and-mortar shops as its future, competition among other online retailers has never been greater.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1">Keep reading to see the seven stores that have a major online presence and are primed to catch up with - and possibly overtake - Nasty Gal.</p><h2 class="p1"><a href="https://www.missguided.co.uk/"><strong>Missguided</strong></a></h2><p class="p3"><span class="s1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5568cb936da8110f3d86fc6e-818-613/missguided-main-us-page.png" border="0" alt="missguided main us page"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.missguidedus.com/">Missguided US</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Location:</strong> Manchester, United Kingdom</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 2008 by Nitin Passi</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11523292/Nicole-Scherzinger-helps-fashion-retailer-Missguided-grow-sales-70pc.html">Sales are over $130 million</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-missguided-hulu-commercial-2015-5">30% of visitors return daily</a></span></p><p class="p3"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">British e-commerce outfit Missguided covers all its bases when it comes to staying fresh in customers' minds. The shop updates its selections daily, maintains <a href="https://instagram.com/missguided/">active social media feeds</a>, and </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-missguided-hulu-commercial-2015-5">plays a commercial during Hulu programming</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> that tends to get stuck in potential customers' heads.</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span class="s2">Missguided also works the celebrity endorsement angle. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2570403/EXCLUSIVE-The-wait-Nicole-Scherzinger-unveils-models-course-debut-range-Missguided.html">Pop star Nicole Scherzinger</a></span>, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls, has designed a few collections with the brand <span class="s2"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2503319/Nicole-Scherzingers-new-favourite-brand-Missguided-launches-slick-minimal-collection.html">since 2013</a>.</span></span></p><p class="p5"><span class="s1"><span>Founder Passi</span><a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3025802/Founder-Missguided-taking-big-retail-names-Fashion-boss-growing-fast-little-help-Nicole-Scherzinger.html"><span class="s2"> told This Is Money</span></a><span> that he has plans to increase sales to over £150 million pounds by next March. </span>They have now set their sights on America, and we will most likely be seeing much more of the British "rapid fashion" brand.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://www.lulus.com/"><strong>Lulu*s</strong></a></h2><p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f09fbecad04c345a257cf-1018-763/lulus.png" border="0" alt="lulus"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.lulus.com/">Lulus.com</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p class="p2"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Location: </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Chico, California</span></p><p class="p2"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Founded: </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">1996 by mother-daughter team Debra Cannon and Colleen Winter</span></p><p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Stats:</strong> 500,000 worldwide orders with 1 million registered customers, <a href="https://www.newsreview.com/chico/lulu-of-a-success/content?oid=9083887">as of 2013</a></span></p><p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When Cannon and Winter first started out, the so-called "Lulu*s Fashion Lounge" was a brick-and-mortar boutique selling vintage clothes in Chico, California. </span></p><p class="p1">Today, the brand has shortened its name to Lulu*s and sells its girly festival attire exclusively online. With a massive online presence, Lulu*s sells a range of products from dresses to accessories and beauty, all in limited quantities and of-the-moment trendy styles.  <a href="https://www.newsreview.com/chico/lulu-of-a-success/content?oid=9083887"><br /></a></p><p class="p1">In 2014, the Lulu*s team attracted external investor attention - one of the only stores to do so on this list - and <a href="http://higgrowth.com/news/release/760">partnered with H.I.G. Growth Partners</a>. </p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://gypsywarrior.com/"><strong>Gypsy Warrior</strong></a></h2><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f0a55ecad04c745a257cf-1021-766/gypsy-warrior-1.png" border="0" alt="gypsy warrior"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://gypsywarrior.com/whats-new.html">Gypsy Warrior</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="p1"><strong>Location: </strong>Ridgewood, New Jersey</p><p class="p1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 2010 by Nicla DiCosmo and Michel Bezoza</p><p class="p1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="https://instagram.com/gypsywarrior/">753,000 people follow Gypsy Warrior</a> on Instagram</p><p class="p1">Co-founders DiCosmo and Bezoza grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. After starting Gypsy Warrior and gaining traction online, the pair opened their first <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> store in 2011 in Ridgewood, New Jersey.</p><p class="p1">Online, Gypsy Warrior ships their new-age-meets-rock-and-roll fashions worldwide and has <a href="https://instagram.com/gypsywarrior/">a major social media presence</a>. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In addition to fashion, Gypsy Warrior has expanded into </span><a href="http://gypsywarrior.com/interior.html">interior design</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> as well with pillows, mugs, candles, dream catchers, and more.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://www.tobi.com/"><strong>Tobi</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span></a></h2><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f0a9a6bb3f78f2999cdcf-1100-825/tobi-boutique.png" border="0" alt="tobi boutique"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.tobi.com/">Tobi </a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="p1"><strong>Location:</strong> San Francisco, California</p><p class="p1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 2007 by CEO Kenneth Chan</p><p class="p1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shoptobi">Tobi has 1.4 million followers on Facebook</a></p><p class="p1">Another online fast-fashion retailer based in California, this brand claims to have customers in over 100 countries and currently employs over 300 people. So far, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kenneth-chan/28/45a/9a">Tobi has been internally funded</a>, Chan has said.<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kenneth-chan/28/45a/9a"><br /></a></p><p class="p1">Tobi is savvy at attracting new customers with a promotion for <a href="http://www.tobi.com/">50% off a first order</a> on clothes that typically range from $50 to $80. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The team also puts a major emphasis on customer service and encourages its customers who might be unsure of sizing to contact the team with their measurements and the product they're interested in.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://us.dorothyperkins.com/"><strong>Dorothy Perkins</strong></a></h2><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f0b0c69bedd0b120e26f7-1056-792/dorothy-perkins-online-shop.png" border="0" alt="Dorothy Perkins online shop"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://us.dorothyperkins.com/">Dorothy Perkins</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="p1"><strong>Location:</strong> London, United Kingdom</p><p class="p1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 1909 as Ladies Hosiery and Underwear Limited</p><p class="p1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="https://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/about-us/our-brands/dorothy-perkins">1.2 million customers visit the website every week to shop their 6,000 products</a></p><p class="p1">The most storied brand on this list, Dorothy Perkins - or "DP" as its customers call it - is also one of the only brands with a chain of retail stores. It was founded all the way back in 1909 <a href="http://us.dorothyperkins.com/en/dpus/category/help-contact-788587/home?viewAllFlag=false&amp;TS=1316535735131#fragment-9">when blouses were sold for five shillings apiece</a>.</p><p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Now, the British brand has 600 brick-and-mortar stores in the UK and sells a <a href="http://us.dorothyperkins.com/en/dpus/category/help-contact-788587/home?viewAllFlag=false&amp;TS=1316535735131#fragment-9">range of sizes from US sizes 2 to 18</a> in tall, petite, and maternity. </span></p><p class="p2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Though they're well known in the UK, Dorothy Perkins has fast-fashion prices and expanded their online presence to include the US where other affordable retailers like Nasty Gal and Forever21 are thriving. Even though the store is over 100 years old, thanks to a huge online presence they could become massive here in the States.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://www.showpo.com/"><strong>Showpo</strong></a></h2><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f0b386da811d21d322ae3-889-667/showpo.png" border="0" alt="showpo"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.iloveshowpo.com/">iloveshowpo.com</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="p1"><strong>Location:</strong> Sydney, Australia</p><p class="p1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 2010 by Jane Lu <a href="http://www.iloveshowpo.com/jane-lu-women-fashion-online.html/">out of a garage</a></p><p class="p1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="https://instagram.com/iloveshowpo/">622,000 followers</a> on Instagram</p><p class="p1">Showpo was first known as "Show Pony" when Jane Lu founded the company. At the time, she was tired of corporate life after having worked for accounting firms. She decided to start selling playful and colorful clothing.<a href="http://www.iloveshowpo.com/jane-lu-women-fashion-online.html/"><br /></a></p><p class="p1">The brand opened a store two months after launching, and then another soon after at Sydney CBD Westfield mall in Australia. With online skyrocketing, however, the team shut down the brick-and-mortar stores to focus the attention of their <a href="http://www.iloveshowpo.com/our-story/">11 staff members</a> on iloveshowpo.com.</p><p class="p1">In addition to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Showpo are gaining a following on <a href="http://www.iloveshowpo.com/our-story/">YouTube</a> with popular how-to videos.</p><h2 class="p1"><a href="http://www.pixiemarket.com/"><strong>Pixie Market</strong></a></h2><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557f0b626da811dd1e322ae2-893-670/pixie-market.png" border="0" alt="pixie market"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.pixiemarket.com/">Pixie Market</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="p1"><strong>Location:</strong> New York, New York</p><p class="p1"><strong>Founded:</strong> 2006 by <span>Gaelle Drevet and Magda Pietrobelli</span></p><p class="p1"><strong>Stats:</strong> <a href="https://instagram.com/pixiemarket/">58,500 followers</a> on Instagram<a href="https://instagram.com/pixiemarket/"></a></p><p class="p1">What started as a <a href="http://nymag.com/listings/stores/pixie-market/">vintage store on the Lower East Side</a> has evolved into a fast fashion online boutique. <a href="http://ny.racked.com/2013/2/19/7686787/pixie-markets-owners-on-keeping-les-fashion-affordable#4521430%20">Drevet and Pietrobelli quit their jobs after a trip to India in 2006</a> where they realized they wanted to start selling accessible fashion together.</p><p class="p1">They try to keep the prices for their trendy, bohemian clothing under $100 and are almost exclusively online now after transforming their Pixie Market Lower East Side location in Manhattan into Frankie, the <a href="http://ny.racked.com/2014/11/14/7568619/frankie-pixie-market#4384362">"older sister" store of Pixie Market</a>.</p><p class="p1">Their prices range from $50 to upwards of $400, though most pieces tend to stay on the more affordable side.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/under-armour-growing-popularity-athletic-brand-nike-2015-5">It's official: Under Armour is on fire</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="htdGo1dToLTD6Zl4uo0JA2ymOhCQlL-a" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'htdGo1dToLTD6Zl4uo0JA2ymOhCQlL-a',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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