The Elder Statesman

Apr 1

The Elder Statesman is a luxury ready-to-wear brand based in Los Angeles, celebrated for its exceptional knitwear, bold use of color, and unmistakably laid-back, psychedelic aesthetic. The brand strikes a rare balance between luxury and levity, elevating cashmere to a fresh, contemporary place. In addition to crafting many of their garments in their downtown LA factory, they collaborate with artisans across a range of disciplines, resulting in pieces that feel both handmade and heirloom-worthy.

While The Elder Statesman had long focused on wholesale and in-store retail, the brand aimed to expand its direct-to-consumer presence with a fully custom e-commerce experience. As Art Director, I led the design of the new Shopify site from the ground up—creating wireframes, building visual concepts, and working closely with a development team through to launch.

The final site channels the brand’s playful, unconventional energy through immersive video, interactive product features like pop-outs, and a robust custom embroidery portal. To further personalize the experience, I contributed bespoke design elements, including script fonts derived from my own handwriting, echoing the brand’s handcrafted ethos and creative spirit.

SERVICES:
E-Commerce, Brand Strategy, Art Direction, Packaging, Illustration

CREDITS:
Creative Director: Bailey Hunter
Development: Grizzly & Poppy
Photography: Emma Trim, Benjamin Askinas
Video: Tucker Phillips

Page designs

The site was fully custom-built with features such as a Lookbook widget with hot spots, Vimeo integration, a custom embroidery portal, a rainbow textured mega-menu, and hand-drawn details sprinkled throughout.

Custom Font

The Elder Statesman values craft and artisanship. Along with Union Bold, two handmade typefaces were created for the brand. The typefaces echo the playfulness of the brand’s image and garments, and contribute to the overall immersive brand experience.

Navigation + Shopify Integration

Mobile Optimization

E-commerce Photoshoots

New on-model e-commerce photography was Art Directed to properly represent and sell their luxurious garments.

Italy smoking jacket_ Neon Orange multi.jpg

RIS10AOP AO Intarsia Regular Sweater Painted BLACK_IVORY with PSYCHEDELIC PAINTED ADAM'S 'MAGIC MUSHROOMS' copy.jpg

Custom Embroidery Portal

The portal is an advanced way of automating custom requests for embroidery. After selecting the color and size of the sweater to be customized, the portal prompts a choice in placement of the embroidery. Characters to be embroidered are chosen along with the thread color. Finally the prouduct is added to the cart.

select placement

select characters

The character selection step is similar to the functionality of a carousel post on Instagram. After clicking on a character, the number order is shown in the top left corner of the keyboard. This view shows the embroidery “HI ☺”.

select thread color

In the final steps, you choose the thread color from a list of hex represented options. The portal is customizable on the backend to allow for updates in thread inventory. The last step is a confirmation of your customization with an “Add to cart” button.