Rough trade gear
Rough Trade, a legacy leather brand, needed a modern identity that honored its heritage while appealing to a new generation of design-conscious fetishwear customers. I led a full rebrand that repositioned the company from gritty adult retailer to luxury heritage label. The result elevates Rough Trade’s brand perception, affirming its status as the authority in high-quality leather gear.
Independent Project
I. The Challenge
Rough Trade Gear, a Los Angeles–based fetishwear company with 25 years in the LGBTQ+ community, had a dated logo and inconsistent visual identity. Despite being a local institution, the brand’s imagery and tone did not reflect the prestige it had accomplished, nor the sophistication of its clientele. Rough Trade Gear needed to differentiate their brand from other competitors who dominated the niches of fast fashion and sex appeal.
III. The Journey
I mapped major competitors across a spectrum of sex, style, and severity to reveal where Rough Trade could uniquely position itself. I developed multiple logo concepts inspired by craftsmanship marks and tailoring details; “Gear” was dropped from the brand name to focus on simplicity. When real-world testing revealed legibility and contrast issues with the original palette, I pivoted the direction to a regal purple and gold scheme. The final deliverable was a comprehensive brand guide defining visual standards for logo usage, typography, photography, and graphic motifs derived from the logo’s silhouette.
II. The Mission
I needed to frame Rough Trade Gear as the authority in high-quality leather gear. They should command respect for their craft while celebrating their decades of heritage in leather culture. The goal was to modernize the identity, clarify its message, and give the brand a system that could scale from social media campaigns to physical garments. I was responsible for re-envisioning every visual and verbal touchpoint from research and concept development through logo design, palette, and brand guidelines.
IV. The Impact
The new Rough Trade identity reframed the brand as Dominant, Sophisticated, and Legacy-driven—values now codified in its brand book. The redesign elevated its perception from “street tough” to “heritage luxury,” giving the company a timeless foundation that speaks to both old-guard leathermen and design-conscious newcomers. The modular system and clear ruleset now enable consistent application across physical and digital media while being unmistakably distinct from competitors.
