Founded in 2013, UY Studio is an art collective and fashion brand created by immigrants who moved to Berlin and fully embraced the local art and techno scene. They began by making garments for themselves and their friends, using fashion as a means to address issues such as gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, size, and age. As their community grew, so did their reputation for genderless and provocative designs, which became icons of Berlin's emerging techno music scene.
After seven years of existing as a brand, they aimed to create a new voice that resonated with a wider, global, and mature community. Our mission was to create a brand world that connected with the more cohesive, timeless, and sophisticated designs they were crafting. They wanted to be more than just club wear, but still maintain their edgy approach.
Through a wide rebranding process, we reworked the whole brand architecture, including its Purpose, Role, Core Values, Symbolic Universe and Business Strategy. This process was nurtured by fashion experts and consumers interviews that helped to uncover the brand’s key tensions and insights. With that solid foundation built, our friends from Sometimes Always designed the new visual codes, translating UY’s raw
take, built on simple yet powerful materials, straightforward shapes, and minimal interventions.
At the core of the brand narrative, we highlighted UY’s unique relationship to performative arts and it’s purpose to help people listen and talk with their bodies. As a global home, that welcome artists from different backgrounds and angulations, UY inhabits a hybrid place; where global meets local, cozy meets edgy, and familiarity meets cultural fluidity. After our branding journey, the company was able to reach new audiences, expand its operations with a new store and increase its global sales presence through pop-up expeditions in cities such as Paris.