Spinning a new yarn for Second Cashmere
How can a sustainable fashion brand develop its identity to create more stand out while staying true to its roots?
This is the challenge we were given by Second Cashmere, an independent brand who restore and resell high-quality second-hand cashmere products. Their founder came to us to develop a new brand story to distinguish the company from the competition and establish them a leader in an emerging and growing category.
Through close collaboration to understand why the company was started, how it operates and what the ambitions for Second Cashmere are, we were able to build a picture of the brand and its potential and to identify the unique attributes that sets it apart.
It became clear that Second Cashmere had a role beyond sales – it’s a truly eco-conscious brand that’s well placed to raise awareness and spread a wider sustainability message.
Our recommendation was therefore to renew the brand story to give less detail about their process, and more emphasis on the brand’s purpose.
The task for creative was twofold – to build on the existing style and assets to help them work harder, and to create a set of guidelines to establish some rules and consistency for their application.
We developed a logo that retained an existing visual signature and introduced the company name to help build greater brand recognition and memorability. We expanded the colour palette for flexibility and to express the brand’s personality, particularly for gaining attention across social channels.
Led by our strategic direction, the guidelines include the new brand story, tagline, tone of voice, typography, motion principles and design system.
The design system centres around the idea of duality, echoing the two sides of the business. The first and second life of the garments are represented across the brand by the split design, highlighting the reflection of product and philosophy in Second Cashmere.
The guidelines are hosted on an easy-to-manage digital platform, so they can be quickly updated or added to in the future.
