The-Acey: Creative Direction – January 2015 / Present
How do you launch a slow fashion brand in a fast fashion world?
The Brief:
During her time growing the shoe brand TOMS in EMEA Holly Allenby became increasingly aware of a real problem in the fashion industry. The rise of fast fashion and it’s impact on the world. People were looking for ways to shop responsibly however there was no credible outlets they could rely on to find fashion brands that were working towards a better future for the industry.
Her response was The-Acey.com an e-commerce platform that sources and sells fashion brands trying to make a difference through their business practices without compromising on quality or style.
When she launch her challenge was to shift the perception of the word ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ in the fashion industry and the brand needed to lead this. This is when she brought us in to create and oversee all aspects of the brand from identity to campaigns to retail environments.
Branding / Website / Art Direction / Environmental / Packaging
Our approach was to do more with less, celebrate people and honour raw materials. This approach was applied to every touch point of the brand.
Website: This simplicity and elegance of thinking was applied to the website. We wanted the user experience to be easy to navigate and elegant to use. We shot all the imagery on the site in real life situations, including product shots. This made the site feel like it was connected to the real world and enabled women to relate to it.
Art Direction: We created campaigns seasonally featuring the product and worked with the aesthetic and branding of The-Acey. Below features the SS19 campaign.
Editorial Content: The #AceyWomen series featured a variety of real women wearing the clothing who were connected to the brand and inspirational to our audience. This gave The-Acey organic reach with minimal media spend and added a valuable layer to the campaign imagery.
As The-Acey lived online it meant that there was nowhere for people to come together and connect to the brand, however we understood the importance of a physical touch point.
Environmental: We regularly hosted pop up shops to allow customers to see, feel and experience the clothes, whilst meeting the people behind the brand. We created guidelines for bringing the brand to life in the real world so there was also consistency, even when the space changed.
This also gave followers of the brand something to post about online sharing the story of the brand.
Packaging: One of the most important elements of the packaging was the hand written notes that accompanied every delivery, this human touch resonated with our audience and significantly built brand love.
Delivered:
Visual identity and branding
E-commerce website design
Seasonal campaigns throughout the year
Charity collaborations
Store design direction
Editorial content strategy and approach
Results:
50% year on year growth
15k organic social followers from 0
Major publication features