Case Study · Product design & artist collaboration
Founder · 2021 - 2022
Vital
Clothing.
Independent fashion label and long-term artist collaboration. Every piece designed and hand-embroidered by me, sold independently, and built entirely through social media.
Lozeak in the signature cross-embroidered vest
01 · Overview
My first fashion brand, start to finish.
Vital Clothing was my first fashion brand, founded in 2021. I designed and hand-embroidered every piece myself, sold them independently, and built the brand entirely through social media, no team, no funding, just me figuring it out as I went. The standout of the whole project was a long-term collaborative relationship I built with musician lozeak, which ended up shaping the brand more than anything else I did.
02 · The collaboration
A cold DM that became a partnership.
I cold-pitched lozeak directly over DM, starting simple: a gifting collaboration, no expectations attached. What made it last wasn't the first gift, it was noticing she genuinely loved wearing the pieces, and building on that instead of letting it stay a one-off. I started designing customised versions specifically for her, including a signature cross-embroidered design that became something people came to associate with her. She wore the pieces on tour and across multiple official music videos. It stopped being a placement and became an ongoing creative partnership, the brand becoming part of her brand, and her becoming part of mine.
Video · Music video
Worn on tour and on camera.
The custom cross pieces appeared across lozeak's official music videos, putting the brand in front of an audience I could never have reached by paying for it.
03 · Process
Made by hand, one piece at a time.
Every piece was designed and hand-embroidered by me, no outsourcing, no production line, just me at a table figuring out how to make something good enough for someone else to want to wear on stage. Pitching lozeak wasn't a big strategic plan, it was a DM I sent because I thought the pieces suited her and it felt worth a try. The relationship grew because I paid attention to what she actually responded to and kept designing around that, rather than treating it as a single transaction.
04 · Outcome
What a real artist-brand relationship takes.
Vital Clothing taught me what a real artist-brand relationship takes, not just landing it once, but sustaining it. Lozeak wearing custom pieces on tour and in her videos gave the brand a level of visibility I couldn't have bought, and gave me a genuine, ground-level understanding of partnerships from the brand side, before I had any professional reason to know it. It's the experience that's shaped almost everything I've built since, including Stella's Studios.