client : Aakasha |
year : 2019 |
services : Re-Branding, script and copywriting, Social Media, UX UI Design, Video Production
The Brief
The Brief
AAKASHA, custom-tailored or contemporary, a fashion brand for the casual extravagant. Urban, minimal, futuristic garments,
trending in the US, Asia & Scandinavia. Started as a passion project, it took the brand just four years to emerge as the fourth largest
store on ETSY.com The client expressed the need for a major evolutionary step but also concerns for the risk of loosing established
clientele. ReBranding was unavoidable, as ETSY had gradually limited the store’s scalability, to avoid monopoly and maintain a market
of small-to-mid scale artisans.The goal was to enter new markets, sell higher-end products at higher prices, and raise brand recognition.
AAKASHA was to change but maintain its customer base, initiating the transition to become independent from ETSY, without
suffering major losses. Our objective was to reinvent a signature brand and fashion experience that stands up to haute couture names
like Off-White, Rick Owens, Balenciaga. Moreover, to attract a new audience, and expand the customer base. Deliver the message that
all designs are custom-tailored in-house.
Our Angle
Our Angle
We like to start [re]Brands slow, by doing our homework first. Phase I: Discovery, is the moment to audit the brand, scout the market,
mimic others, go back in time, gather intel and steal know-how. In this case, it taught us that high fashion means wearable art,
contemporary in its attitude, and proud of its weirdness. We also learned that “alien” describes a feeling of unknown familiarity
that is both unsettling and welcoming to those who stand out from the crowd. And since “Aakasha” means Aether - the mystic
material surrounding planets, keeping them afloat in space. Naturally, we took what was already there, and put a cosmic spin
on the entire ReBrand - implanting Sci-Fi mystery as a driving motif.
In order to Change but Remain, we split the brand into three (planets), spawning two new sub-brands:
AAKASHA: the motherbrand, gently refreshed but unchanged in pricing, to sustain the customer base at ETSY - if it works, don’t fix it!
AAEGO: the high-end specimen of the AAKASHA trio - provocative models at significantly higher prices. AAEGO vs AAEGO, a kind
of Emporio vs Georgio Armani brand segmentation.
AARIZE: casual sportswear that retains the spirit of elegance of the main brand. Mid-priced, made for urban movers with a style.
The Outcome
The Outcome
Each sub-brand is a planet, each planet has a signature color code, a highlight juxtaposed to the prevailing monochrome minimalism
of the AA universe. We designed the AA attitude unapologetically confident, communicated through its disruptive Lingo (those who
wear AA are UNFUCKWITHABLE; Alien wearable language, God Complex Skin).
We split collections into:
ætHER & ætHIM, and completed a deep and passionate Brand Bible, embracing its new Logo, spreading its authentic
tone-of-voice across the fashion universe.
Redesigned from end-to-end, the brand launched its new Webstore, entirely remodelled and optimised, in matching colours
and bravado with the massive content that followed. We drew inspiration from neon classics like Blade Runner, Gattaca and
The Matrix, to produce an out-of-this-world Fashion Editorial photoshoot. At last, months of work came all together to
complete the ReBrand with a Cinematic Trailer that warps viewers into the story and leaves them feeling otherworldly. Our goal
was to leave the mystery lingering and unexplained, provoking interest in the form of a movie/game teaser. The universe
of AA was born.
All Hail AAKASHA. Embrace. Transform. Ascend.