Corrie Nielsen Website Redesign
Internationally recognized fashion designer Corrie Nielsen wanted a website that reflected the full scope of her creative output. She needed something that showcased her past accomplishments in ready-to-wear while clearly communicating her couture offering. One of the challenges of the brief was to organize, edit, explain, and display the vast archive of material from a career spanning more than two decades, including multiple mentions in every major fashion magazine.
As creative director, it was my responsibility to work closely with Corrie and comb through her records to select the photographs and articles that best tell her story. After reviewing all the material, I created a site map that presented everything in an easily digestible format. I categorized everything under four classifications for news, collections, special projects, and boutique with further subclassifications for collaborations, film, campaigns, and museum exhibitions. A detailed background section organized the brand history into areas labeled biography, atelier, timeline, press, awards, and recognition with further subclassifications for digital and print media.
Main Page Overview
Over the course of the project I provided creative direction, clarified the brand voice and tone, conducted keyword research, wrote all copy, and managed the design team for the new corrienielsen.com website.
Special Projects Page Overview
Corrie Nielsen Blog Posts
For anyone considering the time and expense of a couture garment, major media recognition is a key barometer of value and taste. Potential customers also want to see that the brand is active and evolving. Therefore, a key part of this project was highlighting recent recognition and updates. Below you’ll find example posts from the website’s news feed.
Natalie Imbruglia Wears Corrie Nielsen
On New Album Cover
Collaboration in commercial art can be a complex undertaking. Competing ideas and personalities need to coalesce around a clear narrative. There is always a challenge in finding the right designers, photographers, and writers whose styles can work together to tell a coherent story. The cover art for Firebird, the sixth studio album by Natalie Imbruglia, perfectly merges the talents of world-renowned fashion photographer Simon Procter, stylist Masha Mombelli, and designer Corrie Nielsen.
The songs on Firebird delve into issues like feminine empowerment and overcoming adversity, so it was important for the album cover to reflect these concepts. The cover art shows Imbruglia wearing a Corrie Nielsen evening dress adorned with lace and sequins together with a duchesse satin cape. The singer-songwriter is surrounded by clouds of blue smoke as if to depict a phoenix rising from the ashes — an appropriate motif, seeing as Imbruglia’s new album marks an endpoint to a long hiatus from the music scene.
As a trained fine art painter, Procter focuses on shapes and atmospherics in his photography work. His style perfectly complements the darkly romantic beauty of Nielsen’s sculptural garments. These elements, in turn, work seamlessly with Mombelli’s styling techniques, whose multilayered looks play with colours, volume, and textures to convey a message.
The collaboration on the cover art for Firebird is a clear example of successful artistic collaboration. Together, these artists’ styles create a compelling image that celebrates the exhilaration of finding one’s voice and the beauty of rebirth.
Corrie Nielsen Archive Sale Presents Rare Opportunity
When museums deaccession artworks, the process is often difficult for the people working in the institution but it's a necessary step — and one that presents a great opportunity for collectors around the world to acquire objects with good provenance. In a similar way, an archive sale from an established fashion house allows designers to make room for new pieces while offering fashion connoisseurs a chance to purchase rare items that enhance their wardrobes.
“Redefining my brand as couture first and foremost has given me a moment to reassess my past prêt-à-porter work and make some decisions about what to keep and what to let go," said Corrie Nielsen. "It's time to make room for new designs and new projects, which means relinquishing items from earlier collections.”
In preparation for her upcoming couture collection, Nielsen is listing a variety of classic pieces from past collections for sale in her online boutique. Each coveted item is straight off the catwalk. Every piece features Nielsen’s distinct silhouettes, sculpted forms, luxury fabrics, and attention to detail. These high fashion garments are the building blocks of distinctive wardrobes. This archive sale is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for collectors to acquire designer finery in pristine condition for sale at modest prices.