Han Kjøbenhavn was founded on the outskirts of Copenhagen in 2008 and has since been an outsider from the norms of the fashion industry. Han Kjøbenhavn offers eyewear, menswear, and womenswear with roots in Danish design culture.

HAN Kjøbenhavn wanted to strengthen its digital presence with a website that could further build their brand and help them grow the business. A site that could work as a solid brand platform in the ever-changing world of fashion, where new collections change the game at least twice a year. The site had to be a natural extension of the HAN brand and still lend its focus to current products and communication.

How to take HAN Kjøbenhavn, the odd fit of the fashion industry, to the next level digitally in terms of both brand and business building?

The odd fit of the fashion industry looks perfect dressed in a spreadsheet.

Our main creative task was to create a framework that was both original and could fit the ever-changing lineup of Han Kjøbenhavn. We needed to strike a balance between a firm brand core with longevity and at the same time cater for a complete change in product inventory at least twice a year. How do you build a consistent image for someone who is in constant change?

We found inspiration in 1990’s software aesthetics, and we have re-purposed the design language from back then to fit the cutting edge fashion brand we see today. We've combined the quirky fashion brand with a spreadsheet Excel-style. Weird, that the go-to work tool of the oversizes business suits in the nineties now is the platform from which something as vanguard as HAN Kjøbenhavn can shine. But that's why it works.

Our strategy was to let the brand - and not only products - catch the attention of consumers. At the same time, we wanted to scale down on the physical distribution of HAN's products. In other words, we wanted to raise demand and lower supply. This was to raise the willingness to pay and be able to increase the price points.

With less distributed sales, we clearly wanted to facilitate an owned eCommerce experience aligned with the brand.

We looked at Byron Sharp's 7 Rules for Brand Growth and prioritised the rules about creating attention over the ones about being easy to buy. With insights from Daniel Kahneman, we set out to build something strangely familiar. In a world where consumers don't think rationally as much as we think, research from System1 tells us, that the most successful innovations have 20% new and 80% familiar connotations.

In the conventional world of corporate and e-commerce sites we have crafted a site for HAN Kjøbenhavn that acts as both a strong, personal voice and a frictionless buying experience. It's purposely an experience with frictions because we believe that frictions drive personality. Therefore it's also a unique solution specifically tailored for HAN Kjøbenhavn. We find pride in the fact that it cannot be white labeled.

We'd designed the solution from scratch to fit screens in any size. We moved HAN's online shop from PrestaShop to WooCommerce to better facilitate a global setup. WooCommerce integrates with the warehouse solution, that distributes products to stores and B2B partners.

The design language is kicked-off with a strong spreadsheet look, but it will be broadened to include other strong nineties software references. This way we retain a strong brand platform with the ability to change looks.

Since launch HAN Kjøbenhavn has seen an uptake in sales. Already in the first month, we hit the ambition of increasing sales with 10%. That positive development has continued since launch bringing in increased sales every month.

HAN now owns their online eCommerce experience fully allowing them to launch products much faster and to do so continuously. Organisationally this gives HAN a much more agile and active role in building their business.

HAN drives traffic directly to the solution and can in real time measure brand and business impact.

"This solution gives us the ability to build our brand value and still make a daily business. At core, we want to be as differentiated from the fashion norm as possible. I’d rather have 10 people that love HAN than 100 people that buy HAN. The website allows us to have that approach", says Jannik Wikkelsø, Creative Designer from HAN Kjøbenhavn.