Project #1 · 2022 - 2025
Founder · Designer · Marketer
Stella's
Studios.
An independent apparel brand built through illustrated designs, content, and community-led growth. Founded, designed, marketed and scaled solo.
£50K+
First-year revenue
£16.7K
Peak month (Mar–Apr 24)
2m+
Views across social content
10K+
Followers built organically
01 · Overview
The brand
Stella's Studios is a D2C apparel brand built around original, hand-drawn illustrations, combining visual identity, product design and digital-first marketing into one cohesive brand.
I founded and scaled the brand independently, leading everything from illustrative design to campaign execution and performance tracking. It sits at the intersection of fashion, illustration and culture, with a focus on distinctive, wearable graphics and an engaged online audience.
A selection of designs illustrated by me.
02 · Background
Design + digital, together.
Stella's Studios was created to offer a more colourful, design-led alternative to traditional graphic apparel. I developed the full brand identity: visual language, tone of voice, product direction, alongside designing and illustrating every piece.
Alongside product creation, I built the brand's digital presence across TikTok, Instagram, email and Shopify, using content-led marketing to grow awareness and drive sales.
Grew the social following to 10,000+ and the email list to 2,000+.
03 · Skills applied
Every part of the CV.
Stella's Studios is the case study where every marketing discipline on my CV was earned in production, end-to-end, with real money and real customers on the line.
Brand & Creative Direction
Built the identity from scratch: logo, voice, illustrated visual system, product design across 3 years of drops.
Campaign Strategy
Planned and executed the Euros 2024 drop and repeat seasonal campaigns. See the dedicated Euros case study.
Social Media & Content
Grew TikTok +3,900 in five months, generated 2m+ views, ran Instagram and Reels programmes solo.
Influencer & Partnerships
Managed creator gifting, discount-coded seeding and collaborations to extend reach beyond owned channels.
Email & Lifecycle
Built the CRM base to 2,000+ subscribers with Klaviyo welcome, launch, abandoned-cart and winback flows.
Ecommerce & Analytics
Ran the Shopify store, tracked performance in GA4 and Meta, used data to guide the next drop.
Paid Social
Tested Meta Ads around campaign launches: creative, audiences, budget pacing and reporting.
Community
Cultivated a return rate that grew beyond one-off drops, with customers who came back for the next release.
Illustration & Design
Illustrated and designed every product, the creative discipline underneath everything else.
04 · Challenge
Small brand vs. global retailer
When ASOS copied
my oyster design.
A viral Stella's Studios design turned up on a t-shirt sold by ASOS. With no legal team, I took it public: the tee was pulled from sale, compensation was secured, and the story brought a wave of new followers to the brand.
Read the full case study →
05 · Marketing strategy
Organic + strategic.
- 01Built a strong TikTok presence through trend-aware, product-led content.
- 02Leveraged cultural moments (the Euros) for timely, relevant campaigns.
- 03Used Instagram and email to support launches and drive conversion.
- 04Managed influencer gifting and creator collaborations to grow reach.
- 05Optimised Shopify and tracked performance through analytics tools.
06 · Results
The numbers.
- ●Generated £50,000+ revenue in the first year.
- ●Hit £16.7K in the peak month (March–April 2024).
- ●Drove 2m+ views across social content.
- ●Grew TikTok by 3,900+ followers in 5 months.
- ●Euros drop: 100+ units sold on launch morning · 37.8% of that week's sales · £6.3K+ revenue.