Editorial & Ecommerce Website
Lily Samii
Role: Visual & Interaction Designer
Tech Stack: Squarespace, Figma, Custom CSS/HTML
Primary Goal: Creating a sophisticated digital presence for the launch of Lily Samii: A Journey Through Life & Fashion, while giving visitors a seamless way to discover and purchase the book online.
01.
The Challenge
Lily Samii: A Journey Through Life & Fashion is a memoir celebrating the extraordinary life and career of renowned fashion designer Lily Samii. From her childhood in Iran to her work with legendary designers Edith Head and James Galanos, the book chronicles a remarkable journey through fashion, art, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.
The website needed to serve two distinct but connected purposes: introduce visitors to Lily’s story and legacy while creating a straightforward path to purchasing the book.
As the project evolved, the site expanded beyond the initial book launch to incorporate press coverage, events, and additional content documenting Lily’s career and influence within the fashion world.
02.
Visual Direction & Content Architecture
The visual direction was inspired by the elegance and sophistication that define Lily Samii and her work. I developed a rich, dark visual palette with gold accents to create a refined, editorial feel, while clean typography and generous spacing allowed archival photography and storytelling to take center stage.
Editorial-Inspired Layouts: Structured pages around large-scale photography, carefully considered typography, and generous negative space to create an experience reminiscent of a high-end fashion publication.
Visual Hierarchy: Established clear distinctions between storytelling, book information, press, and other content so visitors could easily move between exploring Lily’s history and taking action.
Luxury Meets Accessibility: Balanced the elevated visual language of Lily’s fashion career with clear navigation, readable typography, and intuitive interactions so the site remained approachable rather than feeling overly formal.
03.
E-Commerce Experience
Because the website also served as a direct-to-consumer storefront, the purchasing experience needed to feel like a natural extension of the editorial site rather than a separate e-commerce destination.
I designed the book-purchasing flow to make it easy for visitors to select an edition, review their order, and move through checkout with minimal friction.
Desktop & Mobile: Designed the purchasing experience to maintain a consistent visual hierarchy and clear path to completion across screen sizes. The mobile experience was specifically adapted to make key information, form fields, and purchase actions easy to navigate within a more constrained layout.
04.
Outcome & Impact
The finished website established a sophisticated digital presence for Lily Samii while giving the book a dedicated platform for discovery and direct purchase. Editorial storytelling, archival imagery, and e-commerce were brought together within a cohesive visual system that reflects Lily’s career and legacy.
As the project evolved, the website expanded beyond the original book launch to include press, events, and additional content, becoming an ongoing digital archive celebrating Lily Samii’s contributions to fashion.