High Fashion Rainwear goes adaptive technology.
Challenge
Belgian startup ĀPA Intemporal is reinventing luxury with this innovative and ethical product, 100% made in Europe, and massively crowdfunded in 2018. The thermo-adaptive fabric used to create this range of raincoats is one of many distinctive features of this new label: If you live in a city where the weather changes constantly, then this coat is made for you. With growing e-commerce platforms absorbing a large share of the fashion market today, ĀPA’s challenge has been to find its niche, and radiate through its singularity.
Solution
LOGO / MARK ĀPA is the Sanskrit word for the element of "water”. MAIN COLOURS & TYPEFACES All colours inspired by the product itself. BRANDING A journey through the retail selling process... Visually, everything had to be created for this young brand and its first line of rainwear. Setting up and sustaining the brand's visual DNA consistently throughout the different applications included a crowdfunding campaign, print promotions, tags and labels, packaging solutions, and much more. The entire brand image for ĀPA was developed with a focus on minimalism, clean, and ‘high-end’ visual choices. Classic but unique, timeless but innovative. There are countless features to this product, from revolutionary fabrics to smart functional design, the raincoat created by fashion designer Léa Potache-Stein surely is one of a kind. Yet, for a design aiming to be minimal, and (nano) technologies being invisible to the eye, it's not an easy task to sell such a product at a high price without heavily promoting the "why". The box, a high-end luxury feel. The packaging is a key element of branding. Particularly in the case of ĀPA as many Kickstarter buyers awaited their price on every corner of the world, their unboxing experience had to be rewarding and feel luxurious. Unboxing the ĀPA navy blue box and its waterproof protective pouch has been often compared to "unwrapping a new Apple product". E-SHOP ĀPA opens digital sales It is certainly challenging for a young fashion brand today to drive traffic to its own e-shop when most shoppers consistently turn to global fashion platforms online. Yet, the strategy for this Kickstarter-launched project was to continue to maintain direct B2C engagement, a chance to personally and thoroughly communicate its incomparable technological functions.
Linn Legros
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