The Chili Project | Founder & Creative Director
(Sep 2025 – Oct 2026)
From a spicy idea to a living brand. 🌶️
The Chili Project was my own D2C apparel brand. I built it from the first idea to the last order: design, branding, the online store, marketing and production. It was my playground for e-commerce, branding and creative direction, and the best crash course I could have asked for.
Strategic Impact & Execution
- Brand Architecture: Developed the full visual identity and brand voice, from the logo and packaging (“You’ve got a great taste”) to social media, keeping it consistent across every online and physical touchpoint.
- E-Commerce: Built and ran the WooCommerce store end to end, from product taxonomy and naming to product descriptions and the purchase journey through checkout.
- CRM & Automation: Set up automated abandoned-cart (3-step) and post-purchase flows in Brevo and sent regular email campaigns to the brand’s customers.
- Growth: Ran the Meta ad campaigns, created the ad creatives and optimised SEO.
- Creative Direction: Led content production for each collection, including photography, social content and short-form video for TikTok and Instagram.
- Business Operations: Managed the supply chain: supplier research, material selection, production coordination and logistics.
Key Results:
- 10k+ users in the first year, on a lean, ads-only budget
- 136k+ people reached with Meta ads, with landing page views from €0.08
- First page on Google through SEO
- Automated email flows working in the background from day one
Why it matters
Running every part of a brand on my own showed me how e-commerce really connects: from the supplier to the product page, from the ad to the checkout, from the first order to the follow-up email. It brought together everything I do, from project management and web implementation (HTML/CSS/PHP) to visual storytelling, and taught me to move fast, test, measure and let go of what doesn’t work.
Closing the chapter
In October 2026 I closed The Chili Project to start a new chapter. The brand is closed, but the work and everything I learned stay with me.The Chili Project was my own D2C apparel brand. I built it from the first idea to the last order: design, branding, the online store, marketing and production. It was my playground for e-commerce, branding and creative direction, and the best crash course I could have asked for.
Project Gallery
Visit the Site: thechiliproject.com