The main direction for this site was to try to recreate the real shopping experience online. Every online store out there is trying to do the same. Through a new site structure and an art direction based on the real store layout we believed we could become quite successful.

Their collection catalogue used very interesting fabric patterns and I decided to make use them extensively on the site. Cole Haan is an American brand that can be categorized as being half-way between Ferragamo and Banana Republic – so excesses weren’t allowed, neither was ultra-classicism or something “funky”.

The solution was to implement a clean design and only use elements already selected for the print material. I wanted to have a main flash area in the centre of the page that would present one of the pages of the catalogue at a time in full colour and size. That camera would very slowly pan through the image and reveal information and links when a garment was in full view.

Other areas of the site followed something more conventional.