Esme
Role
Founder & CEO
Contribution
Creative Direction
Brand Identity
Business Development
Product Development
GTM Strategy
Web Design
As the founder of Esme, a seaweed-based underwear brand, I oversaw branding, product development, operations, creative, production in Portugal, and financing.
Website
Milestones & Highlights
With a 5% acceptance rate, I was one of the youngest and few female founder applicants admitted into On Deck Founders-- a Silicon Valley-based incubator. Esme’s business model was built at On Deck.
With a 7% acceptance rate, I was admitted into Launch House’s exclusively female cohort. Launch House was an incubator backed by a16z to help launch scalable women-owned businesses. I launched Esme at Launch House.
Recruited to be on Shark Tank in February of 2024 for Esme.
Esme has been featured in Vogue, Yahoo, Athleisure Mag, & more.
Branding & Packaging
I created Esme’s branding originally from an appreciation for the quote “I revel in love with the day to day things, for they bubble then form into sweet memories,” derived from the intimate confines of my personal journal.
The messaging was organically revealed from there — embodying the product’s everyday intended use as your Everyday Underwear, and emphasizing that the essence of joy and fulfillment lies mostly in the graceful cadence of our everyday motions and movements. This lead directly into exploring the language of motion and dance and we hired Savvy Studio to breathe life into our aspirations by way of a logo and original hand-painted watercolor artwork for our packaging.
The packaging outcome has seemingly infinite nods to the product and brand itself has to offer. - We chose an ivory mailer envelope as opposed to color or a box to keep it light and airy, like our fabrics. - The pouch that holds the underwear was made from translucent glassine, another nod to lightness and transparency. Its shape was originally inspired by a croissant bag. Grabbing a coffee and sweet treat is a source of a small joy in many people’s life. It’s often equated to ‘treating yourself’ and so we thought a shape inspired by that would be fitting. The end product became slightly more elongated than a pastry bag to accommodate more pairs of underwear per pouch, and its additional length adds elegance. - A burst of the brightest and deepest mandarine orange accented our packaging via the envelope. It was a homage to my 94 year old grandmother Esme’s (of which the company is named after) love of bright colors. She also keeps every card she receives and loves sending handwritten cards so with that in mind, the envelope was the only unbranded item so it could be reused by customers to hopefully send their own cards to those they love. - Even the humble garment care card, often overlooked, became an integral part of the unboxing experience. We went with an extremely lightweight paper to emulate the ebb and flow of seaweed it the ocean’s embrace. The original artwork was painted in watercolor for the very same reason.
Garment Care Card Artwork
Mailers
Glassine Underwear Pouch
Envelope (holds garment care card & any handwritten notes)
Photography - Studio
Team
Creative Direction: Katherine Zohar
Styling: Katherine Zohar
Casting: Katherine Zohar
Photography: Lily Merriman
Editing: Lily Merriman
We knew this shoot would be used for ages to come so it had to be, first and foremost, timeless. We also aimed to have some of our more abstract branding words come through this evergreen shoot: invigorating, assertive, soulful, meditative, substantial, illuminating, tender, sculptural, warm, and poetic. We did this by utilizing natural light in a way that bathed the model, breathing ‘soulful’ and ‘illuminating’ into the picture. It was important that we cast a model that moved gracefully and passionately. The model we cast also had assertive but soft facial features. She had a lean and athletic build to translate ‘sculptural’ and ‘substantial.’ Because this shoot was used primarily on an e-commerce website, we aimed to strike a balance between product clarity and emotive resonance. While clarity remained imperative, our overarching goal was to imbue each image with an editorial flair to evoke a connection in the consumer where they could envision themselves not only with the product but also experience the abstracted branding words.
Photography - Wildposting
Team
Creative Direction: Katherine Zohar
Art Direction: Jackie Sterna
Photography: Jackie Sterna
Casting: Jackie Sterna
Retouching: Jackie Sterna
Graphic Design: Katherine Zohar
With a creative brief outlining lighting guidelines, setting options, and examples / inspiration / mood images, we handed photographer Jackie Sterna the reins of creative freedom to allow her artistic vision to flourish within these parameters. The images she took in her hometown in Tennessee grace our website and socials as well as the city of Brooklyn, NY via our Spring Summer wild posting campaign.
Photography - Esme At Home
Team
Creative Direction: Katherine Zohar
Art Direction: Katherine Zohar
Photography: Katherine Zohar
Casting: Katherine Zohar
Set Design: Victoria Jane
Because Esme is branded as your Everyday Underwear, we were excited to dedicate a shoot to transforming ‘everyday mundane’ at home into ‘domestic bliss’ to embody what our audience wants to feel like on a Sunday morning. And because our audience tends to place an emphasis on self care via skincare, being in nature, and cooking, we included elements like fresh blooms, a pet cat, and activities like lounging in the sunlight, reading coffee table books, and cooking. A common thread when casting models for Esme has always been allowing the model’s individuality to shine through…. designing the shoot with their interests, passions, and identity in mind. Having worked in fashion for a decade, I hear so many model’s experiences summed up as being treated as “a hanger” essentially, and I made it a point when starting Esme to celebrate those who wear Esme, especially the model. So when the model Abbey said she was Italian American and loved to cook, we asked her what she loved to make at home and she immediately answered ‘Pasta from scratch!’ We provided her with all of the necessary ingredients and simply click-click-clicked the camera as she came alive whipping up fresh pasta.
Photography - Portrait Series
Team
Creative Direction: Katherine Zohar
Photography: Katherine Zohar
Casting: Katherine Zohar
Set Design: Kiara
Kiara had been working at a restaurant when I spotted her and I, along with so many others surrounding her, were immediately intrigued by her spirit and how she carried herself. I extended an invitation to do a portrait-style shoot for Esme, to which she accepted. I initially had envisioned a structured set design for Kiara, however after getting to know Kiara and finding out she’s an incredibly talented artist who lives in an older bohemian-style Williamsburg apartment, I ran with the raw authenticity of both her and her space and we did the shoot at her place. Embracing the essence of Kiara’s everyday became our muse — in an almost ‘Esme meets Humans of New York’ way. We captured her meandering through the intimate corners of her home from her living room lounging to her dimly lit room which serves as a sanctuary for her artistic endeavors. Each snapshot tells a story of her Everyday at home.
Photography - UGC Campaigns
Using creative briefs ranging from 'try on haul' to 'living your Everyday' to 'self portrait,' we were able to utilize content made by creators to help supplement what Esme stands for - celebrating the individual in their unique Everyday. Through UGC (user-generated content) we portrayed the authenticity and diversity that we as a society see in real life. As a bootstrapped company, this was also a way for us to celebrate a diverse set of people without spending an enormous amount of resources on dozens of models and agency fees. From postpartum mothers to fitness-focused pole dancers to business owners to non-binary individuals, each person’s story added a unique hue to the spectrum of Esme. Through UGC, we not only showcased the beauty of our Everyday Underwear but we also celebrated a culture of self-expression.
Product Development & Supply Chain
I led the product development for a seaweed-based fabric, a concept initially dismissed as unattainable by many in the industry at the time. Following 1.5 years of development and performance testing, the fabric exhibits remarkable qualities. Notably, it performs like cotton in the wash, it’s softer and more absorbent that cotton with a silkier sheen, it has chemically bonded wellness properties thanks to the seaweed fiber that protects against free radicals and is soothing to the skin, it’s naturally antibacterial which helps prevent infections for women, it is hypoallergenic so it’s soothing for those who have skin conditions like eczema, it’s certified baby safe (meaning it had to pass over a hundred additional parameters to ensure it is non-toxic) and we’ve tested for pilling and stretching out so that neither of that happens even after many washes.
Packaging & Branding
Packaging & Branding
Packaging & Branding
Product Development & Supply Chain
