Overview
At a time when the force of fast fashion drives the apparel industry, fostering a bud of slow and sustainable fashion brands is a mixed blessing. Also, when the industry giants dominate the market narrative, new startups with novel concepts take a back seat. Especially when the emphasis is on a trivial-sounding concept like ‘pockets.’
Zebein literally translates into pockets, “Dresses with pockets.” A brand that dedicatedly stitches pockets to their garments, considering that a woman always needs to carry her home in her bag. But it would be a mistake to limit one’s understanding of this brand to an added functionality.
Yes, Zebein is way beyond creating some extra room for luggage; it is about drawing the modern world towards an existing divide; it is about breaking the glass ceiling; it is about diminishing the gender divide through pockets.
Pockets often connote a person who goes out, works hard and brings bread at home. Although, earlier, it used to be men; now, earning is not limited to gender. It denotes freedom of choice, work and making decisions for oneself. Hence, Zebein is an expression of freedom, a revolution that liberates women from age-old stereotypes by combining fashion with functionality.
About Zebein
Zebein is a contemporary clothing brand that combines utility and femininity through pockets. Founded by Sachi Kumar and Ruchi Gusia, the three-year-old start-up promotes fashion with functionality by selling Indian and fusion apparel. Its identity lies in its fabrics, mainly linen, enabling sustainability and comfort.
With an unparallel clarity in slow fashion that focuses on environment conservation, both the entrepreneurs are inclined to make bold moves with soft fabrics and designs that match today’s taste.
Zebein’s choice to use linen for their dresses supports their commitment to sustainable fashion. Linen is a highly durable fabric that comes from natural sources and adds comfort. Hence, using a material which brings comfort in day-to-day hustle is empowering.
Hence, the brand comes with perfect awareness of self, unlike many other players in the game.
Project
Decode has been associated with Zebein right from its foundation. The brand required a brand new marketing package that helped them navigate and position themselves in the market. Decode was involved in creating its brand identity, tonality, and positioning.
A brand that has ventured into ethnic and formal clothing tailored for your everyday needs, Zebein positions itself in the urban-market segment for working women. Although many other established brands are in the same segment, Zebein could create its niche by identifying and addressing the gaps these famous brands have left in the market.
Zebein tapped into the sustainable ethnic wear segment, an alternative to fast fashion, which became its unique selling point for the brand. Hence, our offline and digital ad campaigns revolved around its commitment to sustainable fashion and fashion for functionality, apart from showcasing its elegant garments.
Decode also handled Zebein’s Social Media to create its presence noticed by potential customers. We shared its gorgeous campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. Decode intended to initiate interaction on its pages to create an appropriate buzz around its unique concept. To achieve this, we explored the option of influencer marketing which is a raging trend.
We collaborated with a few popular influencers for cross-marketing, which gave a face to our brand. Apart from onboarding influencers, another technique that pulls users to our pages is SEO. Decode worked on optimising Zebein’s website and social media pages through search engine friendly content.
Talking about Zebein’s website, we designed their e-commerce website by crafting a simplified user experience. Its organised inventory and attractive layout hook around 30,000 users’ traffic every month.
Moreover, we facilitate the photoshoots of their latest clothing line. We also created their in-store branding and designed catalogues, look books, and stationery, all in tone with their brand identity.
Challenges
While we have had very smooth sailing with Zebein in every aspect, their product photoshoots come with a set of challenges for us.
Every photo shoot is unique and requires to be shot in a unique location, a site that sets the tone right. That's when various factors such as budget constraints, climatic conditions, and location availability play an adverse role.
Moreover, creating traffic for our website amongst other labels was initially a huge task. Therefore, Decode deliberately worked on search engine optimisation to achieve traffic on its website.
Opportunities
As we described earlier, this project came to us as a mixed blessing. Though we had minor hiccups while working on the project, we could not forgo the bigger picture. Our association with Zebein allows us to be a part of a powerful revolution. We are glad to be creatively involved in such an innovative brand with a subtle cause.
Another aspect of working with Zebein is the endless scope of creativity. An agency hardly enjoys a free hand from its clients. Their faith in us enabled creative freedom while designing their brand strategies. Moreover, such B2C projects give us tangibility. Since, Zebein was one of our first stints in fashion and the e-commerce industry; there were a dozen of tangible gains.
Firstly, we gained hands-on experience in how the fashion industry works; then, our growth trajectory achieved a new milestone with this project. Additionally, it helped us understand how social media works, especially Instagram, which is high on aesthetics.
Impact
Fashion has often been a subject of social criticism but hardly had any brand thought of toppling gender stereotypes by addressing politics revolving around something as insignificant as pockets.
As we designed Zebein's content strategy and creatives, it was of utmost importance to not miss out on the brand's primary objective. Therefore, we maintained grids on Instagram and targeted the right keywords to increase the sales achieving a healthy conversion rate.
We took Zebein's Instagram following from zero to 15,000 users in a few months. Likewise, we achieved huge traffic on its website within a year.
Hence, we can safely say that today Zebein is an established brand that has been able to carve out its niche, and we are merrily taking our partnership to achieve many more milestones.
