Design strategy for Eileen Fisher by IDEO

IDEO is an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. Eileen Fisher contacted IDEO when they found out that retaining their customer base is becoming a challenge for the brand.

Since its launch in a small East Village boutique 25 years ago, New York-based clothing design and manufacturer Eileen Fisher has enjoyed consistent growth and robust success. The brand now has a national presence, selling in more than 40 company retail stores, online, and to major department stores. Its success is due to the company’s design philosophy and its loyal customers.

Eileen Fisher was doing steady business, but the brand no longer attracted the customers who had sought it out in the beginning: women in their 30s and 40s with blossoming careers and busy families who wanted beautifully crafted yet highly functional clothes. Instead, these women regarded Eileen Fisher as their mothers’ brand, despite the fact that its design evolution was more relevant than ever to this younger demographic, as well as to its core customers.

Read the complete case study here.