Stig Harder is the founder of Fashion Net

Fashion Net

Fashion Net is a fashion-specific search engine and guide aimed at style conscious consumers. It was founded by Stig Harder in 1994 in Paris, France...

, Lumiere Magazine, The Vegalitarian Society, and Holofono. Born in Flekkefjord

Flekkefjord

is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.The town of Flekkefjord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The rural municipalities of Bakke, Gyland, Hidra, and Nes were merged with Flekkefjord on 1 January 1965.Flekkefjord is the westernmost town of the...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, he graduated from Art Center College of Design

Art Center College of Design

Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...

, Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, in 1991.

Internet

An entrepreneur who in the early 1990s saw Internet's potential as a global mass medium, Harder, 25 years-old at the time, launched Fashion Net

Fashion Net

Fashion Net is a fashion-specific search engine and guide aimed at style conscious consumers. It was founded by Stig Harder in 1994 in Paris, France...

 from Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in January 1995.

Six months later, he launched Lumiere Magazine, the world's first exclusively online fashion magazine. After meeting with Chanel

Chanel

Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

's CEO and the President of the Chambre Syndicale, the governing body of French fashion, Lumiere became the first website ever to gain access to the ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...

 fashion shows in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Both Fashion Net and Lumiere soon gained worldwide recognition in the media, the first mention in Harper's Bazaar

Harper's Bazaar

Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...

 in July 1995 and then CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

, Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

, ELLE

Elle

Elle may refer to:*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle , a fashion publication*Ellé, a river in France*Elle , a female given name*Elle , a Sri Lankan game similar to baseball*Ælle of Sussex, a Saxon king...

, The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, and countless more publications and television stations across the world.

Harder thus pioneered the field and helped inspire the entire fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

 industry to go online. His Internet properties have also attracted fashion's top advertisers, including Christian Dior

Christian Dior

Christian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...

, Shiseido

Shiseido

is a major Japanese hair care and cosmetics producer. It is the oldest cosmetics company in the world and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world.-History:...

, Adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

, Swarovski

Swarovski

Swarovski is the brand name for a range of precisely-cut crystal and related luxury products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria...

, Diesel

Diesel (clothing company)

Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian design company. It is best known for luxury, pret-a-porter clothing aimed at the young adult market. The company is owned by its founder Renzo Rosso, and is based in Breganze in northern Italy.-History:...

, Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

, ELLE

Elle

Elle may refer to:*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle , a fashion publication*Ellé, a river in France*Elle , a female given name*Elle , a Sri Lankan game similar to baseball*Ælle of Sussex, a Saxon king...

, and Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen is a Danish company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, whose first significant product was a radio that worked with alternating current, when most radios were run from batteries...

.

Memberships and Judging

Stig Harder is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences or IADAS was founded in 1998 in New York to help drive the progress of the Internet and evolving forms of new media. The academy selects the nominees and winners for the Webby Awards, and their European equivalent, the Lovie Awards.Membership...

 as well as of the International Academy of the Visual Arts and the FWA

Favourite Website Awards

The Favourite Website Awards is a website awards program, established in England in 2000, showcasing websites who use cutting edge technology, together with inspirational ideas, that lead the way for future generations....

 and serves as a judge for the Webby Awards

Webby Awards

A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

, the FWA Awards, the W3 Awards, the Davey Awards and the Communicator Awards.

Aviation

Also a private pilot

Private Pilot

A private pilot is the holder of a Private Pilot License. They are able to fly to almost anywhere in the world, but are limited in the type of aircraft that they can fly...

, Harder earned his license on October 19, 2005, after training with AACIT -- Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

 (NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

) and California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

's aviation club in Los Angeles.