GmbH
Project Details
Areas of Work
- eCommerce
Roles
- UX / UI Design
- Front-end Development
- Back-end Development
About the client
Critically acclaimed by Vogue, The Guardian, Dazed, New York Times, nominated twice for the LVMH Prize, finalists for the International Woolmark Prize, listed in the BoF500 and stocked at retailers including Dover Street Market, Browns, GR8, Slam Jam, LN-CC and SSENSE: GmbH took the fashion world by storm.
Rooted in their own multiculturalism, GmbH are known for introducing new modern silhouettes and fabrics, promoting diversity and addressing themes like climate change and over-consumption with their campaigns and exceptional pattern-making, tailoring, sourcing and environmental policy.
“I really appreciate the work GmbH are doing. They have a unique voice and point of view, and they live the life of the clothes they make.”
— Kim Jones, Artistic Director, Dior Men’s
Task & Scope
GmbH’s debut at Paris Fashion Week in 2016 was an instant success. After earning critical acclaim and being stocked at retailers around the globe it was time to develop a proper digital presence.
Digital presence
Design and development of a website to showcase who GMBH are and what they have to offer
eCommerce storefront
A low maintenance eCommerce storefront that allows GmbH to sell selected items directly to customers around the world
Private orders
A specialized storefront where VIPs can place private orders
Overview
A website that acts as a flagship store and gives customers the full GmbH experience
We defined the role of the website as similar to one of a flagship store: the ultimate manifestation of a brand.
The website was conceptualised as a government institution, a take on German bureaucracy — which not only informed the brand’s name (GmbH is the standard legal acronym for a limited company in Germany) but is a recurrent theme in their communication and collections.
“There is something affectionately clumsy about the name; it seems to be mocking the infamous German bureaucratic system. Even the website is designed like one of those torturous forms that one has to fill out when applying for a new passport.”
A bureaucratic look and feel, but still highly usable
While the interface and interaction concept feel intentionally out-dated and clumsy, the focus was to make sure we were still delivering a modern and snappy experience.
Presenting the looks in the best way possible: without any distraction
The user interface becomes less obtrusive on lookbook pages, so that the looks and high-quality imagery can take center stage.
An integrated eCommerce storefront
The website is accompanied by an eCommerce storefront, through which selected items and special releases are sold to the brand’s global audience.
The handling of private orders from VIP customers were streamlined through digital facilitation.
Results
Positive resonance
Very positive resonance among key stakeholders that further strengthened the image of GmbH. “Looks brutal, old school, boring and very DSCHÖRMÄN” – L’Officiel
New revenue stream
The website not only attracted many visits but also generated significant sales, turning the website into a new reliable source of revenue.
Better operations
The workflow for private order and VIP customers got successfully streamlined, freeing resources and providing better operational control.
Technology
A headless implementation of Shopify allowed us to use the best of both worlds: Short time to market through a standardized platform with a vast ecosystem of back-end extensions while delivering a completely custom user experience.
Tech Stack
- Gatsby (Jamstack)
- React
- GraphQL
- Shopify (headless)
- Prismic
Credits
Photography
- Benjamin Huseby
- Filippo Fior (runway)