Social media is saturated with lifestyle brands, everyone from individual bloggers, to street style photographers, to indie brands, and of course, style magazine, are clamouring for your attention–and more importantly–your dollars. So how do you create a new brand that can stand out from the noise?
That was the challenge we faced when Samuel Werner approached us with his idea for a new high-end mens socks collection: Aristocrat Socks. Mr. Werner had a look and feel in mind–he wanted it to be luxurious yet still affordable. His family’s history in producing top quality garments, meant access to the best materials and production facilities. We wanted to communicate that to our client.
The solution:
To stand out from other sock brands, many of which focus on quirkier, brighter designs with a hipster/skater crowd in mind. We decided to focus on a different crowd and create a more refined brand. We studied the history of menswear, how mens’ style developed through the centuries and decades. The image of the ‘dandy’ particularly resonated with the Aristocrat vision.
We started thinking of men, art, and literature that resonated with our brand – we used this inspiration to create the copy.
We also wanted to bring more modern elements into the brand, especially a feel of the city where Aristocrat was born–Toronto. Our first photoshoot was centred around the Werner’s office near Bathurst and Dupont. In addition to our brand imagery, our product naming was also inspired by the streets and areas nearby.
The result is a brand that has a clean, modern feel but alludes back to the good old days, when getting dressed was a pleasure, not a chore, and men paid attention to every detail of their outfit, from head to toe…or sock.
