Background
Private White V.C. is a Manchester-based manufacturer of luxury menswear. The company handmakes all of their garments on the banks of the River Irwell and is ‘the last remaining clothing factory in the world's first industrial city.’
Recognised for the iconic styles that emerge from its Victorian red-brick gates, loyal admirers come in the form of pop stars, presidents, sporting greats & even royalty.
Our Services
- UI/UX design
- Stakeholder workshops
- Custom theme development
- Digital Marketing
Brief
The illustrious heritage brand approached Onstate with a simple brief: to elevate their existing Shopify store.
They felt the current theme was not representative of the brand and that it didn’t reflect the same level of detail that goes into the crafting of the product lines.
We were tasked with reinforcing Private White’s authenticity and quality through improved aesthetic and functionality, without impacting trading, all whilst supporting the KPI’s for the sale period.
Enhanced Aesthetic
We knew they were working with a brand that took design seriously. This was evident in the raft of impeccably designed garments on offer. But, perhaps more importantly, Private White V.C is a brand with a story to tell.
From its inspirational origins to being the only remaining clothes manufacturer left in ‘Cottonopolis’, Onstate wanted to make heroes of these aspects alongside the already admirable attire.
Touch Points
The team at Onstate began by establishing a design system for typography, colours and UI styles. We took a pragmatic approach through key pages, correcting, aligning and enhancing them, until it satisfied the brief.
Implementation
We quickly demonstrated our ability to work directly within the existing templates, turning around impactful improvements and avoiding a lengthy design phase. This allowed us to spend more time delivering code updates and maximised the budget.
A series of incremental improvements injected life into the site, moving back the requirement for a more substantial redevelopment.
Shopify 2.0
A shift to Shopify 2.0 gave the client greater accessibility and flexibility. As a constantly improving platform, Shopify is frequently adding to its tools and features for us to take advantage of.
Sections Anywhere, for example, allowed for more options in the presentation of information on product pages. The merchandising team could now make the most of the section library we created for them, producing richer pages and maximising the assets that were available without third party apps or custom development.
Ongoing Ventures
With what Onstate had already implemented, Private White were keen to develop the relationship further. Onstate will be making ongoing improvements to the site structure, enriching new pages with copy and devising a long-term content strategy in order to enhance user experience and search visibility. To supplement this, we will also be managing the PPC campaigns for the brand across Search, Shopping and Display.
