For some reason, some women care a very great deal that the clothing they wear is not matched by anyone else at the same event [1].
The obvious solution to this is to make each dress one of a kind. I propose a business that guarantees that it will only manufacture one of any particular design[3].
How
could this work? One option would be to design a new dress from scratch for each customer, but this is an impractical solution, which is expensive and doesn't scale well.
I propose instead that each garment be specified using a mix-and-match approach from a number of design components. These would include colour and pattern of the material, shape of the top and bottom sections, sub-panels, buttons and attachments and other decorations, and so on - which can be selected to suit the client's taste.
It is then straightforward to ensure that no identical or even similar item is purchased by searching a database of previous sales. As a starting point, I propose that dresses are sufficiently dissimilar if they differ by two or more components.
The interface could be electronic, which would be very much like an online 'dress up' game.
[1] We don't have to care why[2], it is enough that this is generally recognised as true.
[2] I think someone once told me why, but I forgot.
[3] Or perhaps only sell a design to the same customer again, or require permission to re-sell, or maintain a specified exclusive time period, whatever.