When our design team first sat down with GANT, the fashion brand had defined a new, transitional strategy: it was time to move towards a more modern brand feel and start appealing to a younger audience. With this in mind, GANT asked DEPT® to create a new website. What started as website design steadily grew into a whole new visual identity for all of GANT’s digital touchpoints.
Capturing the brand’s core values
We started from scratch, exploring how to incorporate GANT’s four core values — creativity, community, courage and confidence — into the design. Setting GANT apart from other fashion brands with an e-commerce solution was crucial. By translating confidence and courage into a bold, no-nonsense design with prominent images and strong colours, we created a visual expression of the brand’s values. Similarly, instead of showing off the logo, we dared to be different and decided to tone it down.
In addition to the brand’s values, we needed to make sure that GANT’s unique style also came across clearly in the new design.
Preppy fashion, with its collegiate roots and characteristic neat apparel, was a key source of inspiration for GANT, and college students embracing the style would often combine classic outfits with bold details or statement pieces to stand out from the crowd. Tapping into this idea, we wanted to play with contrasts to create the combination of classic and bold inherent to the brand’s identity.
The new design
Contrast is key
Contrast is key
Ultimately, the design is characterised by two key features: minimalism and contrast. By keeping the basis of the design minimalistic, e.g. working with a limited selection of font sizes and colours, the content really pops out.
Adding a lot of fashion expertise to the mix, GANT can then play around with the elements they choose to highlight.
A simple grid system
A simple grid system
The decision to be understated in some places leaves room for easy and effective impact in others — simply by using big typography or a strong colour combination. Crucially, the design is made up of a grid system that lets the content live and speak for itself.
With all of GANT’s prints and geometric influences, it’s especially important to have a design that makes room for those unique elements. A wide shot of a model wearing a shirt appears next to a close up of the fabric of that same shirt. This way elements never stand alone: there’s always something that ties them together.
Flexible features
Flexible features
A huge benefit of having minimalism and contrast at the centre of everything is the fact that it provides a lot of flexibility. GANT’s new design system applies not only to their website but also to new campaigns, lookbooks and really anything brand-related.
The combination of a strong foundation and added elements that are subject to change means that there are certain rules in place but, at the same time, a high degree of freedom. Even if typefaces and images are changed, the overall design will still look and feel like GANT.
A unique branded experience on a Salesforce platform
GANT’s site had already been migrated to Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) in the summer of 2020 as phase one in the transformation project. With this migration, the brand moved beyond a simple e-commerce solution, and it was interesting to see how we could build on the large, standard platform to create a unique brand experience.
Making the most of the functionalities the Salesforce platform offers, we collaborated closely with the UX team at GANT to make informed design decisions based on data and user tests. As a result, the brand identity shines through in every phase of the customer journey; even in the image-sparse checkout flow.
The tech transformation
Ready for the future with Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Ready for the future with Salesforce Commerce Cloud
As the core priority for GANT was the commerce platform migration and technical implementation, we prioritised the technical delivery of the website in order to meet the short 5-month time frame for launch.
Once the technical part was in place, we moved on to refreshing the design. This helped us to ensure the design was given the attention it deserved and enabled us to implement the new look in the best way possible.
The online store is a jack of all trades
The online store is a jack of all trades
GANT’s new ecommerce platform was build with the flexibility to accept several payment methods – and to be customisable to the preferred solutions in each market. For example, in Denmark you can pay with credit card or via Klarna (where you either pay in installments or 14 days after ordering), while in The Netherlands you can also choose PayPal and iDeal as additional payment methods.
The platform also takes advantage of Salesforce Order Management System for easier order processing. Completing the service offer is the popular “Click & Collect” (buy online, pick up in store) as well as standard returns and exchanges.
The user experience on GANT’s website has improved enourmously after the redesign. Similarly, it is now easier to manage the backend and implement changes.
A worldwide digital strategy
A worldwide digital strategy
The online store was launched first in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), having been transferred from Magento 1 to SFCC in December 2021. Soon after that, the solution was also rolled out in the Nordics and in the UK, with several other markets following suit.
Through exceptional collaboration, in which open communication had a central role, we have quickly created an innovative e-commerce platform. From there, we will expand the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programme further so that GANT can deliver a centralised worldwide digital strategy.
A new visual identity
Working within a short time frame and collaborating closely with GANT, we have delivered a brand new site for the fashion brand. And website design is just the beginning. The new design has essentially become the basis of GANT’s overall visual identity, adding an edge that appeals to a younger target audience. Together we’ve laid out the ground rules, and now it’s time to start expanding.
