Della Luce Style

Matthew Jeppsen and Kendall Miller, Chicago based filmmakers, approached me on a referral from a fellow filmmaker, Pablo Korona, seeking to develop and plan a business focusing on apparel for peer filmmakers. They came prepared with a brand name, “Della Luce Style”—and from there I took off with brand concepts to launch their dream business. Everything went well between Jeppsen, Miller, and myself working remote (online), and the brand was soon launched at a filmmaker’s expo in Las Vegas. Below is a handful of the work I directed and produced for the young team over the course of 2012. Della Luce entered the ecommerce market soon after, targeting filmmakers and apparel sales.

Original brand launch shown below. However—it all took a strange, unexpected turn.

Miller approached me about branding feedback received in early 2013 from the referral source, Pablo Korona. He asked Miller that he rebrand Della Luce with my continued services on stand-by. He approached Miller before talking to me or Jeppsen. I advised Miller that it would create confusion to do something so soon after launching, and affect multiple ongoing marketing initiatives as well as apparel purchase orders in motion. Miller did not side with my consult, and also went against Jeppsen’s advice. Korona took a rebranding stab, redesigned shirts, and even stopped by my home studio to ask for help. “No, this is all on you.” There was no reason for the rebranding. It was a foolish decision. The end result by Korona became a collection of tacky ‘Affliction’ styled tee shirts which muddied up the original Della Luce Style’s brand and launch. The misguided efforts tanked Jeppsen and Miller’s small business launch within two years. A monkey could have predicted the train wreck once Korona decided to derail months of work.

I tried to save their startup business from an amateur-minded, short-sighted, ego-fueled decision—but what can ya do when you’re not being listened to? I still got paid and the work was fun. Thanks either way, guys! Lol.