Visual search company Slyce has launched Craves, a boutique fashion discovery app for iOS that uses advanced visual search. Craves enables users to snap a photo of clothing items or fashion accessories in the real world or upload screenshots from Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr or other sites and instantly find matching or visually-similar items from over a hundred upscale boutique and classic fashion retailers.

Images snapped by a user in Craves require no manual cropping or product characterization in order to find a match, and the image recognition also facilitates 2D searches from web images, print ads, billboards and catalogues. The app is powered by the Slyce visual search technology which also powers Slyce’s Pounce and SnipSnap apps and brand apps from companies such as Niemen Marcus and JC Penney.

Once Craves finds visually similar results for an uploaded image, users can view additional details about the results, favourite any they like and be notified of any price drops or, buy directly from the retailer. Users can also follow friends and influencers to see what they’re Craving.

“Individual style is an incredibly personal thing and trying to search for specific fashion you’ve seen using traditional text search is like trying to explain a song you like by drawing a picture.” said Craves co-founder, Scott Cormier. “Visual search offers the most intuitive way for people to move from seeing something they might Crave – whether it be in a magazine, on a best friend’s Instagram or worn by a stranger walking next to them on the street – to discovering that item and, if they choose, buying it there and then.”

Craves has an affiliate relationship with the more than 100 retailers and boutiques whose products are searchable through the app. Retailers benefit from additional traffic driven by Craves and will be able to work with Craves in the coming months to leverage the app’s data on consumer interests to better understand and market to their mobile customers.