Launching a Website for the Most Expensive Store in the World
Through a series of fortunate coincidences, we were connected with Nicolas Bijan Pakzad, son and heir to the Bijan empire, a men’s fashion and lifestyle brand and boutique built by his late father, Bijan Pakzad, in 1976.
Throughout his decades-long career, Bijan’s elite clientele included presidents, celebrities, and prime ministers. He was awarded the Otis Design Legend Award by Otis College of Art and Design in 2010 and named Entrepreneur of the Year by Oxford University in 2011, the year that he passed away. Bijan was and will forever remain an iconic force in the world of men’s fashion.
Needless to say, we were incredibly honored when Nicolas approached us to build a new website for the brand, and we were thrilled to take on the project.
However, from the outset, we knew that it would be a challenging undertaking.
Located on the iconic Rodeo Drive, Bijan is known around the globe as being the most expensive retail storefront in the world. It is also the most exclusive store in the world; appointments are required just to step inside.
We knew we needed to recreate the experience of being in that ornate, luxurious space while simultaneously honoring the brand’s rich history. And we also knew that a typical e-commerce site simply wouldn’t suffice, especially because the price tags on the goods sold in Bijan’s boutique range from thousands to millions of dollars.
With these imperatives in mind, we made three key strategic decisions that, ultimately, helped us meet our goals for the site:
1. It was imperative to give users a parallel experience to being present in the boutique.
To create an immersive online home page that mimicked the sensory experience of walking through Bijan’s boutique, we knew that we’d need to produce stunning, full-width photography of the space. We wanted visitors to feel like they could feel the textures of the clothing and smell Bijan’s signature fragrance.
2. We deviated from the “Amazon” structure common among ecommerce sites.
While most retail websites organize their catalogues by product-specific categories, we knew that organization would not be an option when showcasing Bijan’s numerous collections, which are curated by colors, textures, fabrics, and even concepts. To more accurately convey the spirit of Bijan’s product offerings, we created a page for each of these collections that users could explore, piece by piece, as they scrolled from the top to the bottom of the page.
3. We told Bijan’s story to keep his legend alive.
It was also incredibly important to us to take users back in time to revisit and celebrate Bijan’s numerous accomplishments throughout his remarkable life journey. To achieve this feat, we dedicated a full page to the brand’s history via a user-friendly vertical timeline that highlighted key moments for the brand and its illustrious creator.
We’re very proud of the work we produced to represent Bijan online. It was truly an honor to work with such a legendary brand, and the free parking on Rodeo Drive during the project wasn’t bad either :)
Did Bijan like their new site? Well, they sent us each a bottle of their world famous fragrance and gifted Chapin the sweet bow tie he wore to his wedding.
We’ll take that as a yes.
