Kitsch Kandy
Company
Kitsch Media Group
Year
Mar 2020
Project Scope
A clothing brand built as a lifestyle expression within the Kitsch Media ecosystem.
The Ask
Kitsch Kandy was a clothing brand I founded as part of the wider Kitsch Media Group. It sat alongside Kitsch Mix and Kitsch Mix Shop and played an important role in expanding our ecosystem. The aim was to create a lifestyle-led brand that offered clothing with personality and cultural relevance, while using editorial and social content to drive organic reach.
The requirement was simple. Build a brand with strong visual identity and personality, design an easy to manage e-commerce experience on Shopify, and create a content model that could fuel traffic and community engagement.
Project Scope
I led the full creation of the brand and its digital presence. The scope included:
- brand positioning and lifestyle identity
- e-commerce UX design and full Shopify build
- product curation and merchandising strategy
- content planning for blogs, features, and social posts
- integration with the wider Kitsch Media ecosystem
- growth and community engagement strategy
- ongoing optimisation and storefront improvements
This work covered every stage from concept to trading.
The Opportunity
Kitsch Kandy gave us a chance to expand the Kitsch Media Group beyond editorial content. Our audience engaged deeply with culture, creativity, and expressive fashion, so a clothing brand became a natural extension. The opportunity was to turn community interest into a lifestyle product line that felt true to the voice of the platform.
Because we already had strong organic reach from Kitsch Mix, we could use content as the engine for traffic rather than relying on large paid campaigns. This made Kitsch Kandy both strategically aligned and commercially viable.
Design Principle
Several principles shaped the direction.
- Lead with attitude. The brand needed to feel confident and playful, with visual character that stood out.
- Keep the experience simple. Fast browsing, clear product pages, and easy checkout were essential.
- Use content to fuel discovery. Editorial stories, features, and social posts worked together to bring users into the store.
- Build for agility. The brand needed to adapt quickly to new product lines and trends.
Architecture and Platform
built the store on Shopify because it gave us speed, stability, and flexibility. I shaped the storefront around clear navigation, strong visuals, and responsive design. On the back end, I set up inventory, fulfilment workflows, and product structures so the team could operate smoothly with a small capacity.
Kitsch Kandy connected directly with our editorial platform. Content pieces, lookbooks, and style features acted as natural entry points into the shop. This created a circular ecosystem. Users discovered the brand through stories, moved into product pages, and returned through community-driven content.
Impact
Kitsch Kandy grew through organic traffic, community engagement, and social visibility. A strong aesthetic and clear lifestyle positioning helped the brand stand out in a crowded space. Because the platform used content as its main driver, traffic and conversion grew without relying heavily on paid media.
The Shopify build provided a stable foundation for sales and allowed us to test new product lines quickly. The brand also deepened the identity of the wider Kitsch Media Group by adding a lifestyle and fashion dimension.
My Responsibility and Team
I founded the brand and led the strategy, identity, e-commerce design, and platform build. I also directed content creation and social storytelling to support growth. My work involved balancing creative direction with the practical realities of running a lean start-up.
The team remained intentionally small. I collaborated with a supplier for manufacturing and handled design, UX, product decisions, and digital operations within the group.
Social media content production
Producing bespoke content was an ongoing effort as part of our social media strategy. I aimed to produced original content with social influencer and mutual fashion networks.
Pushing products was always the primary consideration when it came to our social presence, while maintaining integrity in the culture. Finding this balance was sometimes a challenge.
Triggered Emails
Encouraging shoppers to purchase, thanking them, and offering them discounts along the way.
Content marketing strategy
Our marketing budget wasn’t big so a core feature to our digital presence was content marketing strategy, and the development information magazine which could sit alongside the website.
