Velvet Coat by Kiku Obata & Company

Velvet Coat is a fashion retailer with two stores in Iowa, one in Des Moines and a second in Iowa City. Bringing together a mix of established and emerging designers, Velvet Coat offers a thoughtful collection of beautifully designed contemporary pieces; and has established itself as one of the leading fashion retailers in the region since opening nearly two decades ago. We created the Velvet Coat identity using different characters from three serif typefaces for the logotype and for the body type by using GREP styles, giving what at first glance looks quite classic a contemporary edge. The body type is paired with a modern sans serif for secondary information. We used simple, affordable materials for packaging and printed matter, yet with the addition of letterpress printing and custom details, these understated pieces maintain a sophisticated quality. This combination of elements convey the retailer’s foundation of timeless pieces intermixed with more experimental wears from up-and-coming designers. Velvet Coat does not sell online, but wanted a distinct digital presence to introduce itself to customers. For a site with minimal content, we designed a highly interactive website that changes with each new visit by randomly generating different combinations of photographs from the brands carried in store. Our design establishes a distinct graphic language around the type-based identity.