FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About Carriage Trade:

Why was Carriage Trade created?

Carriage Trade is the brainchild of Fashion Research Institute CEO Shenlei Winkler ( Shenlei Flasheart in SL).  In her continued watch on the development and advance of virtual goods in SL, Winkler observed a new class of ‘quad horse’ type avatars, the Water Horse avatar, developed by avatar Tyrian Slade.  With highly naturalistic movements and modeling, this avatar closely emulated the equine experience for the wearer, and the equestrian experience for the rider of the avatar. Watching how quickly new users in particular took to this class of avatar lead to some additional insights, and it was fairly obvious that a project like Carriage Trade would be interesting on many levels.

With a wave of ‘horse madness’ already endemic in virtual goods, and an awareness of how robust the horse game niche is, Winkler initiated the Carriage Trade concept, defining the name and trend direction, and developing a branded virtual good line to complement the fully  immersive virtual experience.

Why the name Carriage Trade?

Carriage Trade is a play on words.  In the Era of the Horse, shopkeepers and other professionals sought the custom of the ‘carriage trade’, an elite, wealthy population of consumers.  Keeping a carriage was a very expensive proposition, especially in the populous cities where a private carriage was both a convenience and a status symbol, but hardly a necessity.  To have a private carriage immediately established the owner as being wealthy enough to fit into this class.  Merchants invented the term carriage trade to refer to those class of people who could afford their own private carriage, because they would arrive to shop (or ‘trade’ in the parlance of the day) at these merchants’ stores in their personal carriage.  Hence, the term carriage trade developed.

Carriage Trade, the estate plays on this old-fashioned phrase by developing its branded experience in a luxury, upscale English-style country-side, with High Street shopping, horses, and of course, carriages. In the case of the estate,  Carriage Trade focuses rather literally on horses and carriages.

Who can participate?

Most broadly, anyone with a Second Life account can participate in Carriage Trade as a visitor, who accept the Carriage Trade covenant and agree to abide by those rules.

More specifically, residents are those people who decide to ‘own a carriage’ and participate by renting an estate, apartment, stable, or stall and become “carriage trade” themselves.  There is more granular detail about our expectations of visitors to the Carriage Trade estate.

When was Carriage Trade formed?

The initial estate was launched on December 21, 2010, as a joint project with FRI CEO Shenlei Winkler working with Sandy Adam to develop the initial branding concept and region design.  Since then, the estate has been fully transferred to Winkler’s capable direction and is a Fashion Research Institute project.

Winkler has since redesigned the estate to reflect her original concept. Elements of the original branding developed by Adam have been retained, including the logo and virtual goods branding.  Storefronts and the shopping experience have been redesigned by Winkler as part of the project redevelopment.  The community structure has been re-engineered to create a more compelling experience for both visitors and residents alike.