How to make luxury tangible: launch campaign for a new fashion label
How do you launch a new luxury brand that has neither a history nor a well-known name? That was the task Penelope, a new e-commerce brand for luxury fashion, gave us: to create desire, emotion and exclusivity from a standing start, with limited quantities.
Fashion brand advertising campaign with photography and cross-media video assets for social media, web, online shop & POS
| Client | PENELOPE CLOTHING |
|---|---|
| Campaign | Drop 01 Spring 2025: commercials / reels / product photos |
| Agency & production | Pathfinder Studios |
| Director | Tom Wolt |
| Producer | Ivy Thomas |
| Camera | Thomas Adolph |
| Hair & Make-up | Sarah-Lena Kreuter |
How we charged a new high-end brand with emotion and desire
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Penelope is a young fashion label that positions itself in the premium segment with exclusive, limited drops. The brand addresses a new generation of luxury consumers who value personality and special pieces rather than fast-moving trends.
THE CHALLENGE
“The craftsmanship and limited exclusivity of luxury brands. Just without the history.”
How do you establish a completely new fashion label from a standing start in the demanding luxury segment? For the launch of PENELOPE’s first collection, our task was to create desirability and brand value for a product the target group had never seen before – on a limited budget.
That was the task Penelope gave us. They had exquisite products that could compete with the biggest names in the industry, but the brand was a blank canvas.
Our mission was to develop the entire visual identity from scratch and give the name the emotional value that justifies the luxury price and creates immediate hype for its limited launch.
THE OPPORTUNITY
“Breathing luxury value into a new name straight away.”
A new brand isn’t untrustworthy – it is simply unknown. For a luxury start-up like Penelope, the challenge wasn’t proving it existed, but immediately giving the name the value customers expect in the high-end market. With no established heritage as an anchor, the visual work had to carry the full emotional weight.
The client’s primary goals were clearly defined:
- Charging the brand with emotion: the images had to connect the name Penelope immediately with strong feelings such as desire, confidence and sophisticated exclusivity.
- Visually confirming the premium price: the campaign had to communicate the superior quality of the materials and craftsmanship so effectively that it justified a luxury price from the start.
- Creating hype for the limited launch: with a fixed launch date and a limited production run, the campaign had to build significant buzz and a sense of urgency.
All this had to be achieved within a tight four-week timeframe and on a start-up budget. There was no room for error.
Radical efficiency as an art form: a complete campaign in one day
OUR SOLUTION
The biggest challenge was delivering a complete visual identity – a hero commercial, social media cut-downs, e-commerce model shots and complex “ghost mannequin” product photography – on a tight budget. Our solution was radical efficiency.
By deploying our core team of director (Tom Wolt), photographer & camera operator (Thomas Adolph) and make-up artist (Sarah Lena), led by producer Ivy Thomas, we were able to plan and carry out the entire multi-format shoot in a single, smooth day. This wasn’t about cutting corners, but about expert preparation and a team that works hand in hand thanks to many years of experience and expertise. It saved the client considerable time and money without compromising on quality.
Instead of stretching the budget, we were able to invest it strategically. Our concept shifted the focus to the elements that communicate luxury non-verbally: authenticity and aesthetics.
We knew it wouldn’t be enough just to show beautiful clothes. Our creative approach focused on a single, powerful concept: “The embodiment of desire.”
The quiet confidence, the intimate comfort, the cultivated strength of wearing something truly special. The goal wasn’t for viewers to want the clothes, but the feeling Penelope conveyed.
- The right faces and emotions: we carried out an intensive casting process to find models who not only present the product but embody the brand’s DNA. Under the direction of experienced director Tom Wolt, we focused on sustained eye contact and natural, relaxed moments to captivate the viewer.
- The visual world of soft luxury: we filmed in a daylight industrial studio. This saved valuable lighting and set-dressing work and created a clear, minimalist aesthetic. The whole visual style was defined by soft, natural sunlight and a warm, cream-coloured palette. This high-quality, airy feel made the clothes themselves the star.
- The visual excellence of a luxury brand: detail shots of the high-quality materials, combined with carefully selected location scouting and first-class hair & make-up, created the feel of a campaign by a well-known brand.
The result was a complete visual world for the launch – from a cinematic commercial and viral social media assets to high-end product photos for the online shop.
Testimonials
“With a new luxury brand, you can’t rely on a logo – you have to create a feeling. Our energy went into directing, to create a tangible connection between model and camera. Viewers should feel the value, not just see it.”
– Tom Wolt, Director
Testimonials
“The brief was: ‘a Saint Laurent look on a start-up budget’. The project proves that a first-class result is less a question of money than of trust in an experienced film production company that knows what matters. In this case: perfect casting, an easily controllable location and an excellent styling & camera team.”
– Ivy Thomas, Producer
THE RESULT
The launch of the “Drop 01” collection successfully established Penelope as a serious new brand in the premium segment.
We delivered a comprehensive package of assets:
- 1x 30-second hero commercial (16:9 & 9:16)
- 7x 15-second social media cut-downs (16:9 & 9:16)
- 1x silent web banner video
- 44x high-resolution e-commerce model photos
- 7x high-resolution “ghost mannequin” product photos
The real measure of success, however, was the reaction of our client and the stakeholders. We had created a visual world so powerful and convincing that the client felt ready to hold its own in the market. This led to immediate talks about the second collection, even before the first had been launched.
Testimonials
“I was honestly speechless when I saw the videos for the first time. The team was great and did really good work.”
– Baran Maktay, Owner
SERVICES
Web commercial reels
- Concept & idea
- Script, scene plan, storyboard
- Direction & filming in the studio
- Model casting & booking
- Post-production: editing, colour grading, sound design
- Motion graphics, visual effects, captions
- Various formats & adaptations
Fashion photography
- Model photography for the online shop (full body, portrait, details)
- Hollow product images for the online shop
- each including visual concept, on-site staging, retouching
- in web and print quality
More about Penelope: online shop
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Yvonne Schwalowski
Senior Producer
+49 2251 773 99 66
office@pathfinder-studios.de
