Project at a Glance

• Client Sissa Sorella

• Location Deakin, ACT

• Founder Kate

• Industry Fashion Retail - Women's Shoes & Accessories

• Services Brand Identity, Website Design & Build, Copywriting & Content, SEO, Email Marketing, Social Media, Campaign Strategy, Ongoing Brand Management

• Platform Shopify

• Status Active - ongoing partnership

• Website www.sissasorella.com

The Client

Sissa Sorella is a Canberra-based women's shoe boutique with a soul - a carefully curated edit of European and Australian designer labels, a fiercely loyal community of customers, and a founder with an instinct for building something that feels genuinely different and special.

Founded by Kate and based at Deakin Shopping Centre in the ACT, Sissa Sorella stocks an considered range of footwear from designers including Chie Mihara, Hispanitas, Django & Juliette, LODI, Joni, EOS, and more. What sets the store apart isn't just the labels - it's the experience. Kate has built Sissa Sorella into a community-first business, anchored by the Sissahood loyalty program and a reputation for warmth, honesty, and genuinely excellent service.

In five years, Sissa Sorella has grown from a new local boutique to a Canberra Local Business Award winner (Fashion, 2025), a CWIB finalist and winner (2024), and a business with over 100 five-star Google reviews - milestones that reflect the quality of what Kate has built, and the consistency of the brand behind it.

The Challenge

When Kate came to Rachel at the start of Sissa Sorella's journey, she needed more than a logo and a website. She needed a brand partner who could help her shape something that would last - and then stay by her side as the business grew.

The challenge was never just the launch. It was everything that followed: staying consistent across channels, evolving the brand without losing its identity, keeping up with seasonal campaigns, managing a growing Shopify store, and showing up professionally at every touchpoint - without a full in-house marketing team to lean on.

Over five years, that has meant:

• Building the brand from the ground up - identity, voice, and digital presence

• Managing the Shopify website through every season, sale, and collection update

• Running email marketing campaigns, seasonal EDMs, and customer communications

• Developing campaign concepts and bringing them to life across digital and print

• Creating signage, in-store materials, and branded assets as the business evolved

• Providing ongoing strategic counsel - from loyalty program development to community partnerships

The Approach

The Design Cure has been Sissa Sorella's brand manager since day one - not a supplier who delivers and disappears, but an embedded creative partner who understands the business, the customer, and the vision as well as Kate does.

The relationship has grown through five distinct layers of work:

Brand Identity

Sissa Sorella needed a brand that felt warm, feminine, and confident - with enough personality to build a community around, and enough longevity to grow into.

• Full brand identity: logo, logo variations, colour palette, and typography

• Brand guidelines covering all usage, tone, and application rules

• Canva brand setup for easy, on-brand content creation by the client

• Mood board and imagery direction to align the visual world before production

• Brand mockups showing the identity applied across real-world touchpoints

• Ongoing brand management - maintaining consistency as the business has evolved

Website Design & Build

The Sissa Sorella Shopify website was built to do two things: convert browsers into buyers, and reflect the quality of the in-store experience online.

• Full Shopify store design and build

• Navigation, collection architecture, and product page structure

• All website copy - from homepage through to policies, FAQs, and brand story

• SEO-optimised collection and product page copy across a large and growing catalogue

• Ongoing website management: seasonal updates, new arrivals, campaign banners, and content changes

• Technical support and troubleshooting as the platform has evolved

Copywriting & Content

Every word across the Sissa Sorella brand - online and off - has been shaped by The Design Cure.

• Tone of voice guidelines: warm, knowledgeable, community-focused

• All website copy, product descriptions, and collection content

• SEO meta descriptions across the site

• Blog content: brand stories, style guides, designer profiles, and shoe care guides - written to rank and to resonate

• In-store signage copy and printed materials

• Campaign copy across seasons, sales, and special events

Email Marketing

Email has been a consistent and exceptional-performing channel for Sissa Sorella - managed end to end by The Design Cure, with a database that has grown steadily alongside the business.

• EDM strategy and send calendar

• Seasonal campaign emails: new arrivals, sales, events, and community moments

• Automated sequences: welcome, post-purchase, and loyalty communications

• Sissahood loyalty program communications - from launch through to ongoing member engagement

• Copywriting, design briefing, and campaign coordination

• 50% average open rate - well above industry benchmarks, reflecting a highly engaged and loyal customer base

Events, Campaigns & Brand Activations

Sissa Sorella's brand comes alive beyond the screen - and The Design Cure has been there for all of it.

• In-store events and launches - concept, promotion, and branded materials

• Fashion parades - planning, collateral, and campaign support

• Photo shoots - creative direction, styling coordination, and content planning

• Community partnership campaigns - co-branded activations with local Canberra businesses

• Meta ads strategy and copy across multiple campaign sets

• Branded content templates for ongoing use

• Campaign ideas and set-up for key retail moments: Mother's Day, Easter, end of season, and more

• Signage and in-store print materials across campaigns and seasons

The Outcome

Five years in, Sissa Sorella is one of Canberra's most recognised and loved independent fashion retailers - with the awards, the reviews, and the community to prove it.

The Sissahood has grown into a genuine loyalty community. The online store has been established as a meaningful income stream alongside the physical boutique. Emails consistently achieve a 50% open rate - a number that speaks directly to how well the brand communicates with its customers. The website handles both in-store and online customers with confidence. And the brand looks and sounds consistent across every touchpoint - from the Instagram grid to the in-store signage to the welcome email that lands in a new customer's inbox.

Kate hasn't had to figure any of it out alone. Every strategic decision, every campaign, every event, every piece of copy has had The Design Cure behind it - thinking about the brand, the customer, and the long game.

This is what an ongoing brand management partnership looks like in practice: not a one-off project, but a relationship built on trust, deep business knowledge, and a shared commitment to doing things properly. Five years of fashion parades, photo shoots, product launches, award nominations, community activations, and daily marketing - all of it underpinned by a brand built to last.

Sissa Sorella is a business that has grown because it was built on strong foundations - and because those foundations have been maintained, evolved, and protected every step of the way.

Services Delivered

Brand Identity

• Logo design & variations

• Colour palette & typography

• Brand guidelines

• Canva brand setup

• Mood board & imagery direction

• Brand mockups

• Ongoing brand management

Copy & Content

• Tone of voice guidelines

• All website copy

• Product & collection descriptions

• SEO meta descriptions

• Blog content (8+ articles)

• Campaign copy

• Signage & print copy

Website

• Shopify store design & build

• Navigation & collection architecture

• All pages & policies

• Ongoing website management

• Seasonal updates & campaigns

• Technical support

Email Marketing

• EDM strategy & calendar

• Seasonal campaign emails

• Automated sequences

• Sissahood loyalty communications

• 60% average open rate

Social Media, Events & Campaigns

• IG & Facebook strategy

• Content pillars & cadence

• Meta ads copy library

• Campaign concepts & execution

• Branded content templates

• In-store events & launches

• Fashion parades

• Photo shoot creative direction

• Community partnership campaigns