From Placeholder to Identity

From the beginning, we knew one thing for sure: good branding takes time.

So instead of forcing a perfect identity from day one, we chose something simple, neutral, and temporary — a starting point that let us work, grow, and move forward without locking us into a direction that wasn’t yet ours.

In the early days of our atelier, everything felt exciting and fast-paced. We wanted to have it all in place at once: a name, a logo, a website — the whole identity. Our first name, Corporate Fashion Lab, made sense at the time. Uniforms were our starting point, but as the vision expanded, we knew that this name was only one chapter, not the whole story.

Our early branding followed the same instinct: quick, simple, functional. A logo created so we could exist. A website built so we could move. None of it was wrong —It was a placeholder, not the final word.

So we slowed down — intentionally.

We allowed ourselves the time we hadn’t taken in the beginning. We questioned what we wanted to say, how we wanted to appear, and what our brand needed to feel like for clients, collaborators, Fashion Fellows and ourselves.

It wasn’t a quick process. It was thoughtful, sometimes messy, often challenging — but completely necessary.

And now, looking at where we are — our atelier, our branding, our voice — I can say it honestly:

It took time.

It took reflection.

And we’re proud of how far we’ve come.

Tatiana