sans gêne

Role:
Chief Operating Officer
ETHOS - BY TESSA HOLLINGER

Sans Gêne is an intersectional dimension of apparel. It represents a community of those uninhibited by societal constraints and, by the same token, champions social commentary as mediated by fashion. On an individual level, Sans Gêne promotes self-inquiry and aims to position wearers in the same multi-hyphenate space—and state of being—that we understand as Sans Gêne. In this way, Sans Gêne embodies the French appellation for which the brand is named: without (sans) + reservation, discomfort, or embarrassment (gêne). Though the phrase itself accommodates many interdependent meanings, Sans Gêne weaves these interpretations into one resounding ethos: to disrupt the labels that routinely divide us. Its definitions portend the brand’s mission of delineating binary constructs, bringing human issues into focus, and mobilizing fashion as not only a medium of expression, but a vehicle of actionable change through Sans Gêne’s philanthropic partnerships.

Unrestricted by traditional distinctions across the ways in which we describe and participate with the fashion industry, the lines between genres—typically separated and likened to disconnected labels, the distinctions between what constitutes casual and formal dress, and the very concept of menswear and womenswear—are blurred. Imperative discussions around mental health and wellbeing is central to Sans Gêne’s promotion of inclusivity.

Sans Gêne launched its inaugural Pre-Fall collection on May 20, 2022. Each garment is unisex, modular, and made in Italy. As a collection, Sans Gêne offers convertible and multi-functional styling opportunities with an emphasis on luxury, artisanal quality.

SKIP TO WORK SAMPLES
FULL CASE STUDY COMING SOON
FULL CASE STUDY COMING SOON

Sans Gêne is a unisex clothing start-up, and I was recruited to join the founding team in June 2021. I worked alongside a multidisciplinary team to build Sans Gêne from conceptualization and product discovery to launch (May 2022). As a technical "co-founder," I was primarily responsible for for end-to-end product management and building/managing talented teams of designers, developers, producers, and other specialists. Additional domains under my jurisdiction included: brand identity/ethos, product design, web development, advertorial/video production (with CEO), funding/budgeting (with CEO), and more. I supervised up to 15 personnel per engagement, coordinating between in-house and external agencies and keeping stakeholders informed of progress and milestones. My cross-functional performance eliminated the need to hire 2+ new employees (~$100k in cost savings).

Internal documentation (prior to delivery) is NDA-protected; the provided summaries below are derived from real data, deliverables, roadmaps, and processes. Thorough case studies and outcomes are available upon request!

Product Overview & My Role

Objectives

Inbound

• Setting the vision
• Product planning
• Product strategy
• Testing
• Product development
• Product launch & strategy

Outbound

• Market research
• Competitive differentiation
• Positioning
• Branding
• Customer experience
• Pricing
• Promotion & advertising
• Distribution and sales
• Analytics

Contributions

• Fashion (Collection 1, Pre-Fall '22) Design - Recruited, interviewed, and hired two fashion designers, two print designers, a UX team, and worked alongside production managers—the liaison between SG and Italian factories—to ensure delivery of all moving parts in highly-unpredictable contexts (COVID shut-downs, supply-chain issues, etc). Managed stakeholder alignment, technical specifications, and the approval process. Aligned timelines to ensure development and delivery of second collection (F/W) in accordance to industry standards.

Brand Identity - Designed logo, brand guidelines, and design system (inclusive of UI components).

Visual Design - Designed logo pattern for SG's viscose sets (all-over print), labels, hangtags, poly mailer bags, stickers, tissue paper, and rigid boxes (merchandizing materials).

E-commerce/Development - Led UX research (and resulting quantitative/qualitative analysis, with methods including: ethnography, heuristic evaluations, usability testing, participatory design, concept testing, & surveys); defined technical requirements (PRD/FSD); recruited, interviewed, and hired development support; led A/B testing, provided flow diagrams, wireframes, prototypes, mock-ups, and worked closely with developers for MVP release. Onboarded team and ensured accessible CMS (more details in "Web Development" section). Set-up and managed Klaviyo (Email & SMS Marketing).

Marketing/Sales - Built customer awareness with various marketing campaigns/promotional activities; defined price strategy based on product's value and market competition; Google/FB analytics set-up and FB/IG distribution channels; procured joint-venture proposal with The h.wood Group & Sun-Ny Side Up to support launch; determined strategic launch timing and configured product launch plan; produced two events, oversaw contract negotiations with influencers, and worked alongside team on a capsule collection.

Leadership - Oversaw creative production and direction; led design and development teams of 5+, led and coordinated photoshoot/video production timelines (10+ individual contributors per production); worked alongside CEO to structure and lead pitches and business meetings with stakeholders.

Brand Ethos

(Written by Tessa Hollinger)

Sans Gêne is an intersectional dimension of apparel. It represents a community of those uninhibited by societal constraints and, by the same token, champions social commentary as mediated by fashion. On an individual level, Sans Gêne promotes self-inquiry and aims to position wearers in the same multi-hyphenate space—and state of being—that we understand as Sans Gêne. In this way, Sans Gêne embodies the French appellation for which the brand is named: without (sans) + reservation, discomfort, or embarrassment (gêne). Though the phrase itself accommodates many interdependent meanings, Sans Gêne weaves these interpretations into one resounding ethos: to disrupt the labels that routinely divide us. Its definitions portend the brand’s mission of delineating binary constructs, bringing human issues into focus, and mobilizing fashion as not only a medium of expression, but a vehicle of actionable change through Sans Gêne’s philanthropic partnerships.

Unrestricted by traditional distinctions across the ways in which we describe and participate with the fashion industry, the lines between genres—typically separated and likened to disconnected labels, the distinctions between what constitutes casual and formal dress, and the very concept of menswear and womenswear—are blurred. Imperative discussions around mental health and wellbeing is central to Sans Gêne’s promotion of inclusivity.

Sans Gêne launched its inaugural Pre-Fall collection on May 20, 2022. Each garment is unisex, modular, and made in Italy. As a collection, Sans Gêne offers convertible and multi-functional styling opportunities with an emphasis on luxury, artisanal quality.

Web Development

Execution

UX research conclusions/findings involved the user's need to preview garments on models with a gender of their preference. Working closely with development, we quickly made note of Shopify's inherent constraints (inability to access server-side code) before building our own "toggle" functionality. We created custom image fields (in the Product's CMS) to allow us to set a M and F image and, nested beneath these, we added additional logic for scaling purposes/to allow the user to preview each garment on not only a gender of their choosing, but in sizes XS-XXL. Additionally, we developed a quick add-to-cart on hover to introduce as many (unobtrusive) touch points as possible, as well as a solution to link products in sets to one another/allow them to be added to cart in tandem. The information architecture remained pretty standard to e-commerce platforms, but prior to my departure, we began to plan our second sprint and feature release. In this roadmap, we categorized our second round of UX findings, which resulted in prioritizing: 1. interactive sizing charts/modals per product and 2. leveraging our existing components to sell garments in sets by default—and at a slight discount—with the option to purchase individually.

Takeaways

• Validated that I can work with new technologies (e.g. Shopify) without being able to write any level of production-ready code. I learned Liquid over the course of three days, and in working alongside a small development team, I also began to (better) recognize the value of documentation, ticketing systems, and building with scale in mind.

• How to plan for success. We exceeded our "reach" metrics and conversion rates upon launch, while areas given less attention fell below our baselines. We were able to reallocate efforts in our second, post-launch phase and set better-defined OKRs to prevent unfavorable outcomes moving forward.

• How to use techniques from other disciplines to strengthen my process. In collaborating with fashion designers, I was inspired to make a point of visualizing all that we could (roadmaps on in-office whiteboards and bulletins, design references, etc) and utilize more preliminary sketching with pen and paper in my own fields.

• How to increase and streamline team communication by optimizing the tools that we'd already been using: Agile methodologies (Scrum), Jira, and Slack.

• How to approach a multi-faceted business/platform and ensure you're solving for the correct side ("When the user feels X, the business feels Y").

• How to connect with consumer bases and the importance of product visibility.

• What it means to be a venture-backed startup, how it impacts decisions, and how to manage budgeting & burn rate while running lean.

• How to utilize my natural "connector" abilities to strengthen my network and connect with CEOs/veterans of the industry for mentorship.

Results & Launch

Ethos

(Written by Tessa Hollinger)

Sans Gêne is an intersectional dimension of apparel. It represents a community of those uninhibited by societal constraints and, by the same token, champions social commentary as mediated by fashion. On an individual level, Sans Gêne promotes self-inquiry and aims to position wearers in the same multi-hyphenate space—and state of being—that we understand as Sans Gêne. In this way, Sans Gêne embodies the French appellation for which the brand is named: without (sans) + reservation, discomfort, or embarrassment (gêne). Though the phrase itself accommodates many interdependent meanings, Sans Gêne weaves these interpretations into one resounding ethos: to disrupt the labels that routinely divide us. Its definitions portend the brand’s mission of delineating binary constructs, bringing human issues into focus, and mobilizing fashion as not only a medium of expression, but a vehicle of actionable change through Sans Gêne’s philanthropic partnerships.

Unrestricted by traditional distinctions across the ways in which we describe and participate with the fashion industry, the lines between genres—typically separated and likened to disconnected labels, the distinctions between what constitutes casual and formal dress, and the very concept of menswear and womenswear—are blurred. Imperative discussions around mental health and wellbeing is central to Sans Gêne’s promotion of inclusivity.

Sans Gêne launched its inaugural Pre-Fall collection on May 20, 2022. Each garment is unisex, modular, and made in Italy. As a collection, Sans Gêne offers convertible and multi-functional styling opportunities with an emphasis on luxury, artisanal quality.

Logo Design & Branding
Launch Campaign - directed by Amber Park
Featuring: Slick Woods, @ngc1961, @icherishwaters, + more
Notable Press Inclusions/Coverage: Hypebeast, WWD, Complex, V Magazine, & The Zoe Report
Promotional Lifestyle Campaign - Pre-Fall '22
DP: Cory Burmester; ft. Col3trane
Custom Web Design + Build in Shopify (since re-designed)
www.sansgenestudios.com

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