esther perbandt

Omnichannel for a fashion house

esther perbandt

Omnichannel for a fashion house

Visit estherperbandt.com

  • Technical audit

  • Shopify redesign and migration

  • Brand guide, newsletter and WhatsApp activation

  • Campaign and acquisition strategy

  • Team handoff and ongoing optimisation

Outcomes

1
1

products enriched

+

+

1
1

%

%

newsletter open rate

1
1

%

%

WhatsApp opt-in rate

1

products enriched

+

1

%

newsletter open rate

1

%

WhatsApp opt-in rate

Why a rebuild?

esther perbandt has made black, avant-garde, made-to-order fashion in Berlin for 22 years. Its online store ran on an outdated Shopify theme, with no structure behind the product data or the content.

I led the strategy, design and development to give the storefront the same care as the collections. Today I run the campaigns and optimisation that carry it across channels.

3 Big Takeaways

  1. A technical audit shapes every decision that follows.

  2. A component system lets a small team run the storefront.

  3. One brand voice lifts engagement across WhatsApp and email.


1.

Defining the foundation

1.

Defining the foundation

1.

Defining the foundation

Technical audit

I opened with a technical audit of the Shopify backend, covering product data, content, search visibility and AI readiness. It showed where the structure held back discoverability and day-to-day maintenance: inconsistent product and gender logic, thin descriptions and product data that search engines and AI assistants could not read.

Technical audit

I opened with a technical audit of the Shopify backend, covering product data, content, search visibility and AI readiness. It showed where the structure held back discoverability and day-to-day maintenance: inconsistent product and gender logic, thin descriptions and product data that search engines and AI assistants could not read.

Technical audit

I opened with a technical audit of the Shopify backend, covering product data, content, search visibility and AI readiness. It showed where the structure held back discoverability and day-to-day maintenance: inconsistent product and gender logic, thin descriptions and product data that search engines and AI assistants could not read.

Phased roadmap

I turned the findings into a phased strategy, sequenced to the brand’s budget. It began with content enrichment and moved on to editorial, homepage, category structure and CRM, with training so the in-house team could take over the simpler work.

Phased roadmap

I turned the findings into a phased strategy, sequenced to the brand’s budget. It began with content enrichment and moved on to editorial, homepage, category structure and CRM, with training so the in-house team could take over the simpler work.

Phased roadmap

I turned the findings into a phased strategy, sequenced to the brand’s budget. It began with content enrichment and moved on to editorial, homepage, category structure and CRM, with training so the in-house team could take over the simpler work.

2.

From runway to storefront

2.

From runway to storefront

2.

From runway to storefront

Visual direction

I treated the store as an extension of the runway. Black Tailored Summer, the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week SS26 show, set the look: monochrome, airy, with white as negative space. I chose the Madrid theme for how closely it matched.

Visual direction

I treated the store as an extension of the runway. Black Tailored Summer, the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week SS26 show, set the look: monochrome, airy, with white as negative space. I chose the Madrid theme for how closely it matched.

Visual direction

I treated the store as an extension of the runway. Black Tailored Summer, the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week SS26 show, set the look: monochrome, airy, with white as negative space. I chose the Madrid theme for how closely it matched.

Design system

I customised the theme as a system of components. Every page starts as a design in Figma. It becomes a template of reusable sections and snippets, written in Liquid, CSS and JavaScript and built to my spec with Claude Code. The team can then add pages and seasonal stories without starting from scratch.

Design system

I customised the theme as a system of components. Every page starts as a design in Figma. It becomes a template of reusable sections and snippets, written in Liquid, CSS and JavaScript and built to my spec with Claude Code. The team can then add pages and seasonal stories without starting from scratch.

Design system

I customised the theme as a system of components. Every page starts as a design in Figma. It becomes a template of reusable sections and snippets, written in Liquid, CSS and JavaScript and built to my spec with Claude Code. The team can then add pages and seasonal stories without starting from scratch.

Migration & publishing

I moved the whole store across with care and published it in all 3 languages, checking every page in every local market before it went live. Pages once assembled by hand now run on templates that hold when the theme changes.

Migration & publishing

I moved the whole store across with care and published it in all 3 languages, checking every page in every local market before it went live. Pages once assembled by hand now run on templates that hold when the theme changes.

Migration & publishing

I moved the whole store across with care and published it in all 3 languages, checking every page in every local market before it went live. Pages once assembled by hand now run on templates that hold when the theme changes.

3.

One voice across channels

3.

One voice across channels

3.

One voice across channels

I extended the brand one channel at a time, starting with the website. The newsletter carried its look into the inbox, and WhatsApp, with Jenna, the AI concierge I built, turned it into a conversation.

Blackhearts

For the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week presentation, I turned ticketing into a conversation. Every ticket carried a unique code tied to a guest’s WhatsApp number, and the scan at the door triggered a welcome message from the brand’s AI concierge.

After the show, a sales campaign invited each guest to try the piece virtually and pre-order it. A quarter of the invited guests opted in to WhatsApp marketing, giving the brand its first list for the channel. The activation built excitement before the event and drove sales on the night.

Blackhearts

For the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week presentation, I turned ticketing into a conversation. Every ticket carried a unique code tied to a guest’s WhatsApp number, and the scan at the door triggered a welcome message from the brand’s AI concierge.

After the show, a sales campaign invited each guest to try the piece virtually and pre-order it. A quarter of the invited guests opted in to WhatsApp marketing, giving the brand its first list for the channel. The activation built excitement before the event and drove sales on the night.

Blackhearts

For the brand’s Berlin Fashion Week presentation, I turned ticketing into a conversation. Every ticket carried a unique code tied to a guest’s WhatsApp number, and the scan at the door triggered a welcome message from the brand’s AI concierge.

After the show, a sales campaign invited each guest to try the piece virtually and pre-order it. A quarter of the invited guests opted in to WhatsApp marketing, giving the brand its first list for the channel. The activation built excitement before the event and drove sales on the night.

Newsletter

I redesigned the newsletter as a Mailchimp template built on the website’s aesthetic, and I run the newsletter marketing. Any team member can send an on-brand campaign from it.

Newsletter

I redesigned the newsletter as a Mailchimp template built on the website’s aesthetic, and I run the newsletter marketing. Any team member can send an on-brand campaign from it.

Newsletter

I redesigned the newsletter as a Mailchimp template built on the website’s aesthetic, and I run the newsletter marketing. Any team member can send an on-brand campaign from it.

Brand guide

I wrote the brand’s first content guide around the customer lifecycle, from the first-time walk-in who needs orienting to the loyal client who returns for every drop. Tone and calls to action are set by content type and written to invite instead of pressure, so every touchpoint holds one luxury register.


Brand guide

I wrote the brand’s first content guide around the customer lifecycle, from the first-time walk-in who needs orienting to the loyal client who returns for every drop. Tone and calls to action are set by content type and written to invite instead of pressure, so every touchpoint holds one luxury register.


Brand guide

I wrote the brand’s first content guide around the customer lifecycle, from the first-time walk-in who needs orienting to the loyal client who returns for every drop. Tone and calls to action are set by content type and written to invite instead of pressure, so every touchpoint holds one luxury register.


Notify me

Based on my CX analysis, notify-me is replacing made-to-order on sold-out pieces. Customer demand becomes a dashboard that guides small-batch local reproduction, while couture stays made to order.

Notify me

Based on my CX analysis, notify-me is replacing made-to-order on sold-out pieces. Customer demand becomes a dashboard that guides small-batch local reproduction, while couture stays made to order.

Notify me

Based on my CX analysis, notify-me is replacing made-to-order on sold-out pieces. Customer demand becomes a dashboard that guides small-batch local reproduction, while couture stays made to order.