Design Thinking: HÉROS

(Image courtesy of House of Héros)

In Graduate School, one of the buzzwords professors love to discuss is "Design Thinking." Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding (Dam and Siang). Design Thinking enables a company to understand consumer needs to serve their audience better. For this project, I contacted different companies to learn how the organizations apply Design Thinking into their market offerings. I had the opportunity to talk with designer Joni Kilmurry her brand.

(Image courtesy of Héros)

1. What makes House of HÉROS different from other brands on the market? HÉROS is an activewear collection designed through a fashion lens, rather than a fitness & wellness lens. We manufacture everything in Los Angeles, using Italian fabrics and we create pieces that are made to be worn in your everyday life, not just the Pilates studio.

(Image courtesy of Héros)

2. How does HÉROS stay ahead of upcoming trends? We design pieces that we want to wear ourselves. HÉROS was built on The Unitard, crafted in a luxe Italian Scuba fabric and we have continued to built the collections with an emphasis on one-pieces, which has become our trademark.

(Image courtesy of House of Héros)

3. Where does HÉROS draw inspiration from during the design process? Similarly, inspiration comes from creating a daily uniform of hero pieces that we want to wear, styles that we can mix & match with our favorite wardrobe staples - a unitard paired with a tailored blazer or boyfriend shirt for example.

(Image courtesy of House of Héros)

4. How does HÉROS incorporate its mission and vision into its product offerings? Through our designs and fabric choices. Our styles must be as functional as they are beautiful, while always being true to the brand aesthetic, which is simple, elevated, luxury essentials.

(Image courtesy of House of Héros)

5. What is the future of the company? We continue to grow the collection by adding new styles and seasonal colors, while maintaining our core, hero pieces. We’ll be expanding into other categories, that will truly create a HÉROS lifestyle and also returning our RTW collection.

(Image courtesy of House of Héros)