"Blue Ocean" and "Green Field"

That WSJ article on “Blue Ocean” is useful — reminds me of my old industry where we referred to the under-served markets as “Green Field”. Blue Ocean looks to be different in that it focuses on “re-inventing” or “re-shaping” expectations as Cirque de Soleil did so well.
I agree, I think differentiation can take place on multiple planes, not just product. They could have operational excellence like Walmart for example. The flexible manufacturing capability that Shenshi claims can help it adapt and react to up-and-coming new trends and supply a relatively small niche until demand subsides and then move onto another niche and another. The key phrase for me in Shenshi’s description of their capabilities was “moderate sized batches of virtually any sort of men’s clothing at low cost”. That kid of opens the door wide open.
The beauty of a Pinterest strategy is that those “up-and-coming” trends can so easily be identified quickly and give them a lead-time on competitors. It could be fair to say that an “I saw it first" advantage will become very, very important in years to come.