The luxury market and the cycling market have both grown for five years running, and nobody stood at the intersection. VELOQUE is the maison I built to close that gap: research, brand identity, e-commerce UX/UI, and industrial design, run as one continuous system over nine months.
Every premium cycling brand has invested in visual identity. Almost none in digital craft, in listening to their users, or in the end-to-end experience. The opportunity for VELOQUE is structural, not just aesthetic: a case study in understanding user experience and what makes a brand feel desirable as luxury.
7.5%Annual luxury market growth
8.1%Annual cycling market growth
0True luxury cycling maisons
VELOQUE is a luxury cycling maison, positioned as the first brand to bring the language of haute couture to the peloton, handcrafted in Europe. I built it end to end over nine months as Co-CEO, UX researcher, and product & interaction designer, running the personas and market research, designing 27 technical garments and their construction, building the full brand identity and brand book, and designing the e-commerce UX/UI and conversion system, working alongside a manufacturing partner to take it from empathy maps to a signed production agreement.
It exists because two growth curves crossed and nobody was standing at the intersection. The luxury industry has grown 7.5% annually for five years; the global cycling market, 8.1%. Every established cycling brand studied, MAAP, Pas Normal Studios, Assos, Q36.5, had invested in visual identity. None had invested in digital craft or in treating the customer as a member of something exclusive rather than a buyer of gear.
The Brief
Designing a digital boutique
"Our challenge was to design a digital boutique, a brand and a digital experience that truly is perceived as a fluid exclusive experience."
Online Experience
01Clarity showing the composition of the product range & brand structure
02Show brand value and storytelling
03High quality of purchasing experience
04Help users choose the right product by features & purpose
Product Experience
01Lack of innovation & repetitive tech solutions for 15 years
02Products without specifying their use and information
03Solve specific problems of product features that are always repeated
The Decision
Cap the range, don't chase it
Every competitor in the category treats catalogue breadth as growth. Our own category research, run with an external research partner, found the opposite: past roughly 30 SKUs, a cycling brand stops reading as premium. MAAP and Pas Normal Studios both lose luxury perception to volume, wide ranges, and the end-of-season discounting that volume forces. So instead of expanding the catalogue to chase revenue per drop, I capped it at 27 models across two collections, each one earning its place rather than padding a page.
01
27 models, not 50+.
The trade-off is real: a smaller range means less shelf space, less cross-sell, and a slower path to scale. I took it anyway, because the five personas from our research weren't shopping for a wardrobe, they were buying membership in a short, deliberate list of things worth owning.
Trade-off: scale vs. exclusivity
27Models in the final range
~30SKU ceiling before luxury perception erodes, per external category research
Where It Stands
From empathy map to signed production line
Nine months turned four disciplines into one shippable system: 27 technical garments engineered to spec across two collections, a complete brand identity and brand book, a four-platform e-commerce architecture, and a signed manufacturing partnership. VELOQUE is currently in advanced sampling, with its first Limited Drop of six SKUs scheduled for production sign-off, and is waiting on investment to go to market.
27Technical garment models
4Platforms, one experience
5Rider personas mapped
SignedManufacturing partnership
Four Chapters
The story, chapter by chapter
The thesis, the decision, and the outcome above are the whole argument in miniature. Each chapter below is where that argument gets its evidence. Read them in order, or dive into whichever discipline interests you most.
In Hindsight
What I'd do differently
Nine months across four disciplines taught me that a brand's hardest constraints are usually self-imposed, and worth it.
01
Capped the range on purpose. 27 models instead of 50+ was the right call for exclusivity, but it slows the path to scale more than I expected.
02
Lock in manufacturing earlier. If I ran it again, I'd start that conversation sooner so production timelines stop lagging behind design decisions.
03
Running a maison is a business, not just a design problem. Negotiating the manufacturing agreement and building the financial model took as much of my time as the 27 garments and the brand book combined.
04
Where it stands. Partnership signed, first drop in advanced sampling. Investment, the one variable outside my control, is what still stands between here and a public launch.
05
What's next. Sourcing a manufacturing partner that can scale without compromising the quality bar, running further testing, and raising the investment needed to fund both production and the go-to-market campaign.
Start with Research
The project begins with understanding the market opportunity, where luxury meets cycling, and where every competitor falls short.
Figma
Framer
Next.js
Shopify
ChatGPT
Typeform
Claude Code MCP
Rhino
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
