Tim Weingarten, CEO of mobile app maker ShopTap, had a fashion emergency. Well, perhaps not so much an emergency as a fashion hurdle. The designs he wanted most were on social media. Users on Instagram, Tumblr and social sites, however, rarely labelled the clothes they wore or provided pricing or store information.

It was a problem, sure, but also an opportunity. Weingarten figured there were others who must be frustrated by fashion items they couldn’t find in catalogs. And here had to be a better way to identify those items than by reaching out to social media users.

In 2013 he not only found that way, but he also brought it to the world when he and ShopTap CTO Simon Peck launched The Hunt, an iOS and Android app that brings together the best of both social media and cognitive computing technology from IBM Watson Developer Cloud.

Using the app, fashion hunters and experts alike can post photos of outfits and accessories they find online (or in stores), along with the brands and where to purchase. The app attracted high-profile celebrity investors like Tyra Banks, Ashton Kutcher and major producer RedOne. But, with four million users and more than three million searches processed each week, it’s fair to say that The Hunt’s appeal goes beyond its celebrity endorsement. In fact, it may just be transforming the way people shop online.