[LINK] "Grindr, the Gay Dating App, Hooks Up With Fashion"

[rfmcdonald]

Matthew Schneierjan's article in The New York Times amused me.

When the monthlong marathon of men’s fashion shows kicks off this week, so will the scrimmage to cover it: the race by newspapers, magazines, television networks, social media platforms and blogs to get a piece of the action for themselves and their viewers.

Joining the melee for the first time will be Grindr, the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) social-networking app primarily for gay men. On Sunday, the app will live-stream the fall 2016 men’s wear show of J. W. Anderson as it hits the runway at London Collections: Men, the city’s biannual men’s fashion week.

Grindr’s purview has admittedly been narrow. The app introduces users to others in the surrounding area who are looking to make a connection — as often as not, a sexual one. Its buffet of thumbnail-size photos is, by design, bare-bones (and, not infrequently, bare-chested).

Joel Simkhai, the founder of Grindr, takes it easy at home in Los Angeles. The app was born of an idea made possible by technology and a $2,000 grubstake.

“Grindr is a very, very visual experience,” the app’s founder and chief executive, Joel Simkhai, said in an interview in 2014.

So, of course, is fashion — even if Grindr is more traditionally thought of as being for those dispensing with clothing than acquiring it.