I've always been curious and passionate about the process behind something I like. How did they come up with this idea? Was this the initial concept? How many attempts and changes were necessary to complete the product?
That's why I decided to share our own creative process with anyone who, like me, is also curious about what's behind the scenes.
Additionally, I hope to show that not everything goes smoothly all the time, and that's a part of life. It happens to all of us, and it's okay – the journey is still beautiful and fulfilling.
Alright, let's dive in.
THE INTENTION
I love basic clothes.
With high-quality basic garments you can keep it simple and still look chic. Or, if you want to wear other statement pieces, basics will add the perfect foundation and contrast to your outfit.
Basics are incredibly versatile, and developing beautiful, high-quality, practical clothes became one of our main goals here at You've Seen Better from the start.
THE CONCEPT
Throughout the process of thinking about this collection, I couldn't help but ask myself a few questions:
- Is this too basic? Are people going to think that I'm not creative? Maybe I should come up with something else.
- Why will anyone care, if there are already so many good basic garments out there?
- Will people think these clothes are boring?
Don't get me wrong – it's important to challenge your ideas, specially on a business standpoint. But the fact that I spent a lot of time "trying not to seem boring" made me think about how much time we waste trying to look "cool" for other people when we could be focused on being authentic and true to who we are.
At that point, my whole thought process shifted from "is this going to be too boring?" to "boring is actually really f* cool, and I will make this collection about that." A collection of basics that are so awesome that we don't care if we're called boring.
After all, is "boring" just a point of view? And we do things a certain way because that's who we are and what we like, or because we're trying not to seem boring?
THE ELEMENTS
One of my favorite parts of the creative process is to think of additional elements that will showcase and support the message we're hoping to convey. As I came up with ideas, I noticed that pretty much everything I was thinking fell into one of these categories:
- "Boring" elements: I wanted to celebrate other things that are labeled as "boring", but that we love. Such as:
- The color gray: this collection is fully designed in variations of gray. Gray is often associated with "boring", but it can also be extremely chic.
- Iced Lattes used in campaign on social media (link)
- These famous slippers used in campaign on social media (link)
- Concrete shoes used in photoshoot (link)
- Museums used in campaign on social media
- Vanilla Scent developed by us specifically for this collection, and added to packages
- Contrast ("non-boring") elements
- Models
- Photo Angles
- Keychain sent out to a few clients (link)
- Packaging Tape
- Etc...
PHOTOSHOOT
All the photos were shot with an iPhone 14 Pro Max and with natural light only.
PACKAGE
We believe that the package is another tool to communicate with our clients, so it's an important and special part for us. Other than focusing on the concept, as a brand recently entered in the U.S market, we also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to our new clients.
With that in mind, we used the following elements:
- Vanilla scent: vanilla is considered a "boring" scent/flavor, but it's the base for so much. For example, most ice creams are made with vanilla base.
- Boring box: we didn't want to create an elaborated box with our logo or anything like that. We purposely wanted something boring.
- Tape: we made a boring tape similar to a "fragile" tape, but warning of a "boring content".
- Gray tissue paper: to keep the concept explained in the previous section about the gray color
THE SETBACKS
If you're starting a fashion brand now or really any project, the biggest favor you can do for yourself is mentally prepare for certain things to not go according to plan.
It's just the way it is. Unfortunately, when dealing with setbacks, it's easy for people to assume that it's a sign that whatever they're doing is 'not for them'.
Setbacks are usually challenges, not threats. Challenges work in your favor, threats don't. Some setbacks we had when developing this collection were:
- Launch Date: It took us a year and eight months to launch this collection, which was eight months later than our initial target. The geographical distance between our team in the U.S. and the production in Brazil added a time component we hadn't initially factored in.
- Blazer: Our original plan was to create a blazer with the help of a trusted tailor in Brazil. Unfortunately, most of the tailors we approached were fully booked and couldn't meet our tight deadline. Even when we finally secured a tailor and purchased the fabric, we encountered an unexpected delivery issue specific to the region where the tailor was located. After several months of trying to find a workaround, we decided to shelve the blazer project for a future opportunity.
- Sheer Tank Top: We initially designed a sheer gray tank top, making one set of adjustments to the sample. This top had to be in a precise shade of gray to align with the entire collection's color scheme. Unfortunately, after our adjustments, the fabric in that particular gray color had become sold out nationwide, leaving us with limited options. At that time, we decided to make this top in a future opportunity.
If you have additional questions/are curious about things I didn't mention here, feel free to leave a comment below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. :)
Oh, and if you like this type of content make sure to subscribe to our newsletter (in our footer) in which we share more about our creative process. You can see more behind the scenes content on our TikTok and Instagram.
Fernanda Rodrigues
Creative Director – You've Seen Better.