Proenza Schouler has a new website on Farfetch’s Black & White platform that plays into its current path of becoming a global brand.
Proenza Schouler looked to Farfetch’s Black & White platform to fill holes in its operations, including the ability to ship globally and reach international customers: Farfetch sites can be deployed in nine languages and ship to 190 countries. It will also enable omnichannel inventory and manage customer care.
Since 2015, when private equity firm Castanea Partners bought a minority stake in the company, much news has come out of the Proenza Schouler camp. (At the time, the company reported nearly $85 million in revenue.) In 2016, designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez brought on Judd Crane, formerly of Selfridges, as CEO. In July, they shifted their show and production schedule, showing their spring 2018 lineup during Paris haute couture in place of doing a separate resort show followed by a customary spring show in September. (Pre-fall will roll into the fall show, bringing yearly collections to just two.) In 2018, they’ll debut their first fragrance under Paris-based L’Oréal Luxe, through a global launch.
A product page, on the new ProenzaSchouler.com
Along with broadening the brand’s customer base, the site was driven by a need to mesh content and commerce, as well as cater to the site’s growing number of mobile visitors, said Crane.
New York–based creative agency Wondersauce contributed to the latter objective by designing the site to be fast on mobile, and incorporating an endless scroll feature to mimic the look and feel of an Instagram feed.
New imagery guidelines were set to let customers see “the same level of craftsmanship and attention to detail online as they would in a brick-and-mortar environment.” Added features include personal product recommendations, and one-tap mobile payment integrations with PayPal and Apple Pay.
In contrast to the former site, which kept content and commerce “too separate,” the new site was made to juxtapose shoppable styles and editorial content, building off the duality of the traditionally crafted, cutting-edge brand.
“We’ve created a [site] centered around storytelling, where the content complements and support the products,” said John Sampogna, Wondersauce co-CEO and founding partner.
Proenza Schouler’s fall 2017 collection, on the new ProenzaSchouler.com
In phase two of the site’s rollout, the product detail and category pages will seamlessly scroll into related products and product categories. “It’s something new for the industry,” he said.
