Reclaiming The Golden Years

Over a two-day Techstars x USC sprint, my team and I developed and pitched a product that took home 1st place, securing interviews with Techstars Catalyst and the Techstars Accelerator.


I led a four-person team through user research, technical validation, and materials exploration, and built the pitch narrative and deck to set our speaker up for a winning presentation.

Role: Strategist & Designer

Client: Rebecca Allen


July 2026 | On going

A paid ad series developed and tested to showcase the versatility of a single nude slipper style — proving that one product can be worn anytime, anywhere, and complement every skin tone. This is still an ongoing project.


Deliverables:

  • Social Media Campaign & Strategy

  • Asset Creation

THE BUSINESS PROBLEM:
Rebecca Allen needed to re-connect BIPOC women 40–60 to colorful and elegant shoes.


THE INSIGHT:
This audience hasn't stopped dancing, laughing, or feeling beautiful, they've just stopped seeing themselves reflected back as their world has gotten busier. The insight isn't "feel young again," it's "feel like yourself again."


THE SOLUTION:
"The Golden Years" is a campaign created to feature real women shot mid-motion (dancing, laughing, walking arm-in-arm) in maximalist, expressive styling, with candid, golden-lit photography.


Each shoe pairs with an individual woman's story of reclaiming a moment in her life, tying back to the "Still Her" collection concept across video, email, and PDP.


RESULTS:
Measured through click through rates, views and reach on socials and email marketing.

THE CASE STUDY

RESEARCH AND TESTING: We grounded the concept in published industry research on representation gaps: studies show mature women remain significantly underrepresented in fashion advertising, and when age representation does exist, racial representation drops off sharply — women of color are still severely underrepresented in fashion advertisements, and ageing women of color are almost nowhere to be found even as agencies add "mature" model categories. Broader ad-industry data reinforces the same pattern: globally, only 35% of BIPOC characters in ads are women, compared with 43% of white characters, and even once cast, women of color face an institutional lack of access to makeup artists, stylists, and photographers — meaning representation alone doesn't guarantee authentic portrayal. This gap directly informed the campaign's mandate to cast real women in-range, shoot candidly rather than in a controlled studio look, and let styling stay maximalist and specific rather than generically "elegant."

The Winner




‍


  • Skin-tone representation drove performance

  • Versatility beat feature-first messaging

  • The winner was also the most efficient

  • Generic styling claims underperformed

Creative

CTR

CPC

Spend

A

6.58%

$0.45

$640.04

B

8.19%

$0.11

$244.98

C

4.71%

$0.55

$254.64

Testing Variety

Testing Variety

These currently are currently being tested against each other. Come back for results!

UGC Creatives | Telling one story

UGC Creatives | Telling one story

To reinforce the 'every occasion' message with authenticity, we partnered with UGC creators to style the sandal across multiple colorways and looks — extending the campaign's versatility promise beyond paid media and building deeper brand trust through real, relatable styling.

Let's Get to Know Each Other

Let's Get to Know Each Other