Leading the Creative Direction for Club Monaco's E-commerce Experience

Club Monaco needed its digital flagship to be more than just a store; it had to be an immersive brand experience that reflected its minimalist, sophisticated aesthetic. The challenge was to create a flexible and scalable online platform that could support frequent product refreshes, editorial content like lookbooks, and curated collections, all while maintaining a cohesive and elevated user experience.

‍

My primary goal was to define and execute the digital creative vision for the brand. This involved:

• Translating the brand's minimalist aesthetic into a functional, beautiful, and intuitive e-commerce experience.
• Designing a flexible information architecture to accommodate monthly product drops, seasonal lookbooks, and curated editorial content.
• Ensuring a seamless user journey from brand discovery and inspiration through to purchase.
• Maintaining brand consistency and creative direction through the corporate transition to Ralph Lauren ownership.

‍

• Establishing the Digital Creative Direction: My first step was to define the core principles of the digital brand identity. Working closely with brand stakeholders, I translated Club Monaco's signature minimalist aesthetic into a set of digital guidelines, covering typography, color palettes, grid systems, and photography standards. This ensured every element on the site felt intentional and aligned with the brand's ethos of “modern essentials.”‍
• Designing a Scalable Information Architecture: I designed a flexible information architecture that could gracefully handle the constant flow of new content. The structure was built to seamlessly integrate editorial content, such as seasonal lookbooks and curated “Design Essentials” lists, with the core e-commerce functionality. This allowed users to easily move from inspiration to purchase, creating a holistic shopping journey that felt both curated and convenient.‍
• Creating Immersive Lookbooks & Editorial Content: A key part of the ongoing experience was the monthly refresh. I led the design of immersive digital lookbooks that showcased new collections in a clean, editorial format. My focus was on art directing the layout to make the high-quality photography the hero, while creating intuitive navigation that encouraged exploration and told a compelling story for each collection.‍
• Ensuring Brand Continuity Through Acquisition: When Club Monaco was acquired by Ralph Lauren, a key responsibility of mine was to ensure the integrity of the digital experience. I collaborated with the new parent company's teams to maintain the established creative direction and user experience. The core design and architecture I had established lived on, providing a stable and consistent brand presence during a period of significant corporate change.

‍

• Timeless Digital Identity: Established a clean, minimalist, and highly effective e-commerce platform that translated the brand's sophisticated in-store experience to a digital format.
• Integrated Content and Commerce: Blended editorial content (lookbooks, curated lists) with commerce, guiding users smoothly from inspiration to purchase and boosting time on site.
• Operational Efficiency: Built a flexible, scalable design framework that made monthly product refreshes and seasonal campaign launches faster for the internal team.
• Proven Brand Durability: The design and information architecture stayed consistent and functional through the brand’s acquisition by Ralph Lauren, preserving identity and performance.

This long-term project taught me that a successful digital brand identity is not static; it's a living system that must be both consistent and flexible. The key was designing an architecture and creative framework that was strong enough to define the brand, yet adaptable enough to accommodate constant product and content evolution. It proved that a well-defined, minimalist design system is incredibly resilient, capable of maintaining its integrity even through significant organizational changes like a corporate acquisition.

‍