What is a “signature look”? And why is it important for fashion companies? Every design company has a “look” that, if it is successful, is recognizable to the public. If a company look (as part of its “branding”) is really well established you’ll be able to recognize a design company just be the font it uses in its packaging, in its chose of color, or cut of the clothing.

CK, and some other companies, have pushed this to the max. In this case, Calvin Klein stripped its packaging to the absolute essentials, using flat color and plain font logo.

Model Lara Stone (CK ad) embodies the angular, androgynous look of CK's products line itself.

The logo was so successful that it has been regularly incorporated back into CK clothing, for both menswear and womenswear. Used in CK’s fashion lines, the logo is nearly always transformed into a textiles pattern, so that it helps create a mood for the garment.

The signature look and the mood of a company represents a kind of person, or, rather, the aspirations and cultural influences (from TV programs to favorite vacation spots) of many people. You can probably imagine what kind of people purchase CK, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan, etc., and what types of people shop at Target and Urban Outfitters. The latter tend to be younger, less affluent but very trend conscious, and like socializing in bars and clubs.

A signature look goes hand in hand, then, with less artistic and more commercial considerations, most especially pricing and where a company will have their lines distributed and offered to the public. CK is high end, and has its own stores, which, of course, are designed with the same mood as the CK fashion, home furnishings, and perfume lines. For other designers their look might mean selling in an edgier environment, or, increasingly, online — where smaller companies can have their own “virtual” storefronts. If you’re looking at creating a website, that’s also going to need to have the same mood as your line, using the same kind of colors, graphics, and so on.

To put it succinctly, thinking about signature look and mood of a fashion line is thinking about the big picture, from design to retail.