Garni makes extraordinarily comfortable tights that move with our bodies. But after a year in the market, the startup was lost in a sea of direct-to-consumer brands and millennial pink clutter. Founder Elina Tunyan turned to UME to help take the Garni brand and business to the next level.
At UME, we believe that growth happens from the inside-out. So we started with research to gain a deeper, richer understanding of their customer, their competition and their company. Through our Brand Strategy, we revealed a simple, powerful idea — Beauty Is Freedom. Practical and profound, the success of the brand essence is how it animates across layers of meaning. It’s true at the product-level, elevating the ease and fluidity that the tights empower. It’s true at an emotional-level, speaking to the audience’s innermost aspirations. And it’s true at the brand-level, amplifying Garni’s purpose, spirit and visionary invitation to liberation.
Moving from ideas to identity, Beauty Is Freedom inspired a unique Brand Identity. A rich and expressive palette embraces the full spectrum of colors, feelings and human experience. Bold and playful custom photography brings movement, sensations and inner confidence to life with a uniquely Garni style. And the logo embodies fluid curves and robust personality.
Guided by the big idea, language became fun, sensual and empowering. Using semiotics and synesthesia, UME developed product naming that borrowed positive traits and associations from clouds (Airspun: sheer tights), chocolate (Ganache: opaque tights), mermaids (Siren: fishnet tights). Language helped customers see themselves in Garni’s tights.
UME delivered a full e-comm website including user experience, design, copy and development. Customers can now navigate the site and shop with ease, while viscerally experiencing the brand at the same time. Social Content gave the brand space to roam free and engage and inspire audiences.
Many founders often wrestle with how to integrate and balance their personal brand with the brand of the company they’ve dedicated years of their life to creating. UME supported CEO & Founder Elina Tunyan in articulating her personal story and how she gave birth to Garni.
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