Reimagining the Elaine Kim Digital Experience
Case Study: Elaine Kim
the Brand
Launched in 2008, the Elaine Kim Collection is a thoughtfully curated wardrobe solution for the modern, global woman—comprised of versatile, layerable, and luxurious pieces that move effortlessly from day to night, season to season, and city to city.
Her designs can be found in high-end boutiques across the U.S. and around the world, and her loyal following includes editors, stylists, and travelers who seek sophistication without compromise. Her three key Southern California locations include:
- Newport Beach, CA 92663
- Santa Monica, CA 90402
- Wholesale HQ: West Hollywood, CA 90069
About the Designer
Elaine Kim is a pioneer of “quiet luxury,” celebrated for her refined, travel-ready wardrobe staples designed for accomplished women around the world. With decades in fashion, a background that spans UC Berkeley and the Sorbonne, and fluency in five languages, Elaine’s creative vision is global, intelligent, and rooted in real-life elegance. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, WWD, and beyond.
Project Snapshot
Client: Elaine Kim
Industry: Fashion / Luxury Ecommerce
Services:
Omnichannel Marketing Strategy • Email + SMS Campaigns
Influencer Coordination • Content Creation • Ecommerce Merchandising
Social Video Production (Reels, YouTube Shorts) • Pinterest Strategy
Event Marketing • Storytelling Copywriting • Sustainability Messaging
The Challenge
Elaine Kim’s brand was deeply loved by fashion insiders, but her digital presence didn’t fully reflect her design philosophy, sustainability values, or sophisticated lifestyle approach.
Her website needed a UX refresh, marketing content lacked strategic structure, and her core values around sustainability weren’t being surfaced online. Plus, key moments like product drops and holidays weren’t being fully leveraged to grow her community or convert traffic into sales.
With three locations and a growing collection, she needed a cohesive content engine that would tie everything together—visually, emotionally, and strategically.
The Solution
We reimagined Elaine Kim’s digital presence to reflect not just the beauty of her designs—but the purpose behind them. Our strategy combined intentional storytelling with elevated visuals and community connection, creating an experience that felt curated, luxurious, and deeply aligned with the brand’s mission.
What We Did:
Product Merchandising & UX Enhancements
Segmented collections by color, texture, and season—transforming the shop into a curated editorial experience
Refined product naming and created styling guides to inspire outfit-building and discovery
Added color swatches for easier shopping by shade and preference
Enlarged product images to showcase fabric texture and design detail
Integrated smart filters to help shoppers search by category, fit, or collection
Identified high-interest keywords (like “blazer”) and introduced a new ‘Blazers & Jackets’ category to match shopper intent and improve SEO
Lifecycle Email & SMS Strategy
2x Weekly Email Blasts: Built and managed ongoing campaigns aligned with product drops, gift guides, trunk shows, and styling tips
Welcome Sequence: Introduced new subscribers to the brand ethos, styling philosophy, and sustainability mission
Abandoned Cart Flow: Nudged customers with elevated visuals, social proof, and exclusive offers
6-Month Re-Engagement Sequence: Revived dormant contacts with fresh looks, style stories, and curated picks
Weekly SMS Campaigns: Delivered on-brand mobile messages highlighting drops, invites, and last-chance promos
Seasonal Campaigns & In-Store Events
Created gift guides that merged editorial elegance with shoppable links
Designed cohesive marketing for trunk shows, including signage, digital invites, stories, and email support
Aligned all seasonal content across platforms to create continuity and excitement
Influencer & Social Video Content
Partnered with influencers to create on-location content at all three store locations (Newport Beach, Santa Monica, West Hollywood)
Produced Reels & YouTube Shorts that captured fabric movement, day-to-night styling, and brand energy
Wrote captions and created stories that reflected Elaine’s tone—minimal, powerful, and elevated
Discovery Platform Strategy
Launched a Pinterest strategy with curated boards that highlighted collections, campaign themes, and gift guides
Created content templates to make visuals shoppable, pin-worthy, and consistent
Wove the “Sustainability at the Heart of EK” message into email, product pages, and marketing assets
Brand Alignment & Campaign Management
Oversaw cross-platform brand consistency, ensuring every email, SMS, social post, and in-store asset aligned with Elaine Kim’s luxury aesthetic and values
Created and maintained a campaign calendar to keep all digital and in-person efforts cohesive, timely, and visually on-brand
Video
The Results
↑ Stronger omnichannel engagement: email, SMS, social, and web
↑ Consistent traffic to ecommerce site from influencer and location-driven content
↑ Higher conversion rates from storytelling-led email + SMS sequences
↑ Reconnected brand values with visual identity and digital presence
↑ Renewed momentum around campaign launches, gift seasons, and in-person events
"A consummate professional who is always thinking of solutions, Danielle works smart AND hard to achieve the goals. Her positivity and work ethic makes her a pleasure to work with. Danielle is the whole package- she is creative, but also analytical and isn’t afraid to dive into numbers to see if something is or isn’t working. At the same time, she makes excellent social media content, whether it’s videos or static images. I highly recommend Brand Candie!!"
Elaine Kim Team