Client: Top Fashion
Project: Brand storytelling for footwear and anniversary campaigns
Years: 2022–2024
Services: Media Strategy and Systems, Media Intelligence, Flagship Creative and Selective Production, Community Storytelling
Top Fashion is not just a place to buy sneakers. It is a family business that has been part of its neighborhood since the seventies, evolving from a local footwear store into a key retailer for brands like Jordan while still feeling like a spot people grew up with. That mix is tricky. What actually matters to their customers is the family, the history, and the way they show up for the community. Our work with them was about closing that gap.
Over the course of two years we helped Top Fashion use content to tell their own story, not just move product. Internally the phrase that kept coming up was that it is bigger than the shoes, and we treated that as the thread through everything we made. When we shot event recaps, the focus was not just on the line for a Jordan release, but on the small things Top Fashion did around it. One morning it was donuts and hot chocolate for everyone waiting outside. In other moments it was how staff greeted families, remembered faces, or created a safe, celebratory space around a launch. Those details became the spine of the visuals.
We built an archive with them, project by project. There were unboxing pieces around holidays, where we played with format for Christmas releases and used local Chicago artists and musicians to make each drop feel like a moment rather than a transaction. There were storytelling led videos around Jordan drops that tapped into something a lot of people know well: the connection between hard working parents and that feeling of seeing them step out in something fresh. One concept drew directly from that experience of a dad who spent the day on a job site, came home covered in dust, cleaned up, and laced a pair of Jordans before heading back out. That energy of pride, aspiration, and shared ritual gave us a way to showcase new shoes, matching apparel and color stories while still centering real life.
When their anniversary came around, we went deeper into the roots. We pulled old photos and memories from the owners, dug into the history of the store, and then used a VHS camera alongside modern footage to create a piece that felt like it was literally moving through time. Community members, archival material, and present day scenes all sat side by side so you could feel how long they have been part of the neighborhood and how much has changed around them.
Across everything we created for Top Fashion, the goal was twofold. First, help them compete in one of the most crowded and brand driven categories by letting their own story and values lead the way. Second, build a smart body of work they can keep using and reusing rather than starting from zero with each release. For the kind of retailers and local brands we want to work with, this is where LAKESHOREHY is strongest.
