Project Case Study

Project at a Glance

Client	Dress Code
Location	Milton, NSW South Coast
Founders	Tracy & Brie
Industry	Fashion - Designer Dress Hire
Services	Brand Identity, Copywriting & Tone of Voice, Website Planning, Design & Build, Social Media Strategy & Templates
Platform	Shopify
Status	Launched
Website	www.dresscodesouthcoast.com

The Client

Dress Code is a curated designer dress hire business founded by Tracy and Brie on the NSW South Coast. Born from a gap Tracy noticed in the local market after moving to the region, Dress Code makes designer labels accessible to women aged 25–40 - without the full retail price tag.

The concept is simple and modern: beautiful pieces, shared. Whether it's a wedding, a races day, or a long-awaited celebration, Dress Code gives women access to labels like Bec + Bridge, Sir the Label, Natalie Rolt, Manning Cartell, Arcina Ori, and Koster Kulture - for a fraction of the cost of buying.

The Challenge

Tracy and Brie came to The Design Cure with a vision and a business concept, but needed everything else built around it. As a brand-new business launching into a relatively untapped local market, they needed a trusted partner to take them from idea to fully operational - across branding, content, website, and social media.

• A complete brand identity, built from the ground up
• A tone of voice and content strategy that felt premium but approachable
• A professional, conversion-focused Shopify website with every page written and planned
• A social media strategy and branded templates to launch with confidence
• A clear, cohesive online presence that positioned Dress Code as the destination for designer hire on the NSW South Coast

The Approach

The Design Cure delivered end-to-end — from the very first logo concept through to a launched Shopify store and a social media strategy ready to execute. Tracy and Brie could focus on building their collection and their community, while The Design Cure handled everything else.

Brand Identity

Dress Code needed a brand that felt considered, elevated, and distinctly South Coast — not generic fashion, but something with personality and longevity.

• Logo design — full wordmark, logo mark, and multiple variations for use across digital and print
• Tagline development — written to capture the brand's positioning around accessible luxury and the joy of dressing well
• Colour palette and typography — selected and documented to create a consistent, premium visual language
• Brand guidelines — a comprehensive document covering logo usage, colour, type, tone, and application rules
• Brand elements set up and uploaded into Canva for easy, on-brand use by the client
• Mood board — to align the visual direction before production began
• Imagery curation — sourcing and selecting a photography library that reflects the brand aesthetic
• Mockups — showing the branding applied in context across real-world touchpoints

Tone of Voice & Copywriting

Every word on the Dress Code website, social channels, and brand materials was written by The Design Cure — starting with a clear tone of voice framework so the brand could speak consistently across every touchpoint.

• Tone of voice guidelines — defining how Dress Code sounds: warm, confident, and quietly aspirational
• All website copy — from homepage through to FAQs, policies, and product descriptions
• 10 SEO-optimised product page descriptions across 6 designers
• Taglines, trust strip copy, newsletter sign-up, and footer
• About page — Brand Story and Our Ethos, written to reflect Tracy and Brie's genuine motivation for starting the business
• Email automation copy — hire reminder sequence

Website Planning & Content Strategy

Before a single page was built, The Design Cure mapped out the full website content plan — ensuring the site structure supported both user experience and search visibility.

• Website content plan — outlining every page, its purpose, and its content
• Sitemap design — iterated across multiple versions to land on a clean, intuitive structure
• Navigation architecture — refined to seven top-level items with considered dropdown groupings
• Collection landing page strategy — creating a browsing tier that supports both UX flow and SEO
• 14-phase Shopify project task list — from discovery through to 30-day post-launch check-in

Website Design & Build

The Shopify site was built in The Design Cure's Partner account before being transferred to the client post-launch — a clean, professional handover process that gave Tracy full ownership from day one.

• Shopify store build across 14 phases, from discovery through to 30-day post-launch check-in
• Navigation design: Home, Browse, How It Works, Book a Try-On, FAQs, About, Contact
• Collection landing pages as a dedicated tier between browse categories and individual product pages
• Full product page content for 10 dresses across 6 designers, each with an SEO-optimised description, feature bullet points, and four accordion sections
• Supporting pages: About, How It Works, Book a Try-On, Contact, FAQs, and a full Size Guide
• Policy pages and T&Cs written to reflect the 3-day and 5-day hire periods
• Trust strip, footer copy, newsletter sign-up, and hire reminder email automation
• Complete client handover documentation including a step-by-step Shopify Payments setup guide

Social Media Strategy & Templates

Dress Code launched with zero following — so the social strategy needed to be both intentional and executable from day one.

• Platform strategy: Instagram as primary, Facebook as supporting
• Four content pillars: Inspire, Educate, Validate, Convert — with percentage splits and clear direction for each
• Posting cadence recommendations for both platforms
• Growth tactics for months 1–3: local vendor collaborations, social proof seeding, a Reels strategy, and Facebook community engagement
• Launch week action plan and realistic follower milestones
• Branded social media templates for ongoing content creation

The Outcome

Dress Code launched as a fully established brand - with a logo, a voice, a website, and a social presence, all working together from day one.

Tracy and Brie didn't just get a website. They got a complete brand identity built with care, a content system that sounds like them, and the tools and strategy to keep growing confidently.

The site reflects the brand's ethos — accessible luxury, conscious consumption, and the joy of sharing beautiful things — while being built for real-world use. Every element, from the logo mark to the product description format, was designed to be sustainable and scalable as the collection grows.

Early client feedback has been positive, and Dress Code is exactly where a new business should be at launch: confident, cohesive, and ready to grow.

This project is a strong example of what The Design Cure does best — taking a founder's vision and building an entire brand world around it, so they can show up professionally from the very first day.

Services Delivered

Brand Identity

• Logo design & variations
• Logo mark
• Tagline development
• Colour palette
• Typography
• Brand guidelines
• Canva brand setup
• Mood board
• Imagery curation
• Brand mockups

Copy & Content

• Tone of voice guidelines
• All website copy
• 10 product descriptions
• SEO meta descriptions
• Brand Story & Our Ethos
• Email automation copy

Website

• Website content plan
• Sitemap & navigation
• Shopify store build
• All pages & policies
• Size guide (6 labels)
• Client handover docs

Social Media

• IG & Facebook strategy
• 4-pillar content framework
• Posting cadence plan
• 3-month growth tactics
• Launch week action plan
• Branded content templates