About State ministry retail chain

This is a large civilian clothing retail chain, present in every major city in its country and often with several stores per city. The chain belongs to a state ministry and was loss-making; the task was to make it profitable and competitive on a modern fashion market where it looked badly out of date. Wave built a full sub-brand architecture: a souvenir line, an everyday clothing line spanning mass-market and budget segments, and a premium line. Each sub-brand got its own brand platform and identity — distinct styling, typography and color — united by one shared logo, so the lines could appear together in a single store or stand alone in a single-line boutique. For the two clothing lines Wave also designed concept stores and pop-ups. Deliverables ran from garment labels, tags and paper bags to display stands, in-store equipment, façades and the fit-out of existing and new stores, plus a distinctive utilitarian aesthetic — practical and workwear-inspired, but modern and current. The branded pattern series is built from angular line drawings of technical silhouettes and utilitarian shapes; it comes in grey and warm taupe versions and runs across jacket linings, paper bags, merch and store interiors, and its shapes also appear as raised 3D forms in store displays. The rebrand repositioned an old-fashioned, loss-making retailer as a competitive contemporary fashion offer.

In 2020 we rebranded a state ministry’s civilian clothing retail chain. The task was to unify its diverse collections into one recognizable brand and to reposition an outdated, loss-making retailer as a competitive contemporary fashion offer.
The chain had been producing civilian clothing for several years. A new step in the company’s development, and simultaneously a challenge for us, was to unify the diverse clothing collections into a single brand. Developing two store lines in different price categories, while maintaining recognizability and distinguishing them from each other under a unified naming, was a non-trivial challenge that we successfully overcame.
Concept store entrance with a video wall above the doors and clothing rails on both sides
For the sign in the volumetric version, transparent
And reflective materials.
Decoration of facades of "Concept" stores in class A shopping centres
Concept store facade in a shopping mall with an illuminated sign above the glazed entranceConcept store frontage in a class A shopping mall with a spring–summer window graphic
Merch of the "Concept" line
Concept line merch: printed T-shirts and a tote bag
Branded pattern series
Branded pattern: grey line drawing built from technical silhouettes and utilitarian shapesBranded pattern: interlocking angular line drawing in warm taupeJacket with a lining printed in the branded taupe line patternPaper shopping bag printed with the branded taupe line patternShapes from the branded pattern rendered as raised white 3D formsConcept store interior with a central display tableStaff-only door graphic “personal only” in the Concept line stylePoster announcing the presentation of a new collectionWayfinding graphic “Centre” with the store’s coordinatesGarment neck label in the Standard line style
The budget line "Standard" includes elements referring to administrative forms that inspire the trust of the older generation of customers.
Price tags in the Standard line styleStandard line display stands with folded clothingPop-up store in a shipping container with a glazed entranceStore interior with long clothing rails and a new-collection wall graphicStreet-level store facade at night with an illuminated sign and window graphicsIn-store wall with a collection poster and womenswear wayfinding