ROKA London
The challenge was never growth. It was making sure the infrastructure could keep up with it.
Client
ROKA London
Sector
Fashion / Bags & Accessories
Challenge
A growing brand and an expanding range had outgrown a website that no longer represented ROKA London or made its products easy to shop
Solution
Shopify redesign and rebuild, brand-led product pages, a colour drawer for large colour ranges, “Pair with a perfect hue” accessory matching, native Shopify recommendations, editable sections for the ecommerce team, 12-month Growth Programme
Outcome
A store that feels like ROKA, is easier to shop across a big colour range and gives the team more control, with a Growth Programme to keep improving it
The Inflection point
ROKA London had the momentum: a distinctive brand, a loyal community, an expanding range and impressive growth.
Its website had helped build that success. But the business was moving beyond what the site could support.
With ecommerce expected to drive the next stage of growth, ROKA needed a store that made its products easier to shop and felt like the brand its customers loved.
We worked with the team to redesign and rebuild the store on Shopify, with a programme of improvements beyond launch.
Afterwards, Emma Katz described the change across ROKA London and ORI London:
“It feels cleaner, faster, easier to shop, more visual and much more representative of who ROKA London and ORI London are today.”
Emma Katz
Founder
The Enemy:
The website wasn’t doing ROKA justice
ROKA’s team didn’t feel the site represented them. The brand had a joyful personality and a loyal community, but too little of that came through online.
Product pages weren’t showing customers enough of what made the bags worth choosing.
That matters when customers can’t pick up a bag, feel the fabric or look inside every pocket. The website has to help them understand what they’re buying and why they’ll love it.
Shoppers were working too hard. Sizing information could take them away from the product page. More styles and colours made the range harder to navigate.
Routine changes behind the scenes were also becoming cumbersome, just as the ecommerce team needed more freedom to move.
The Decision:
Deciding what to build first
ROKA wanted to get moving, without waiting for every future idea to become part of one large project.
Together, we agreed on a rebuild followed by ongoing improvement. Discovery would establish what belonged in the launch and what could follow.
On product pages, that meant giving customers a proper look at the bag, space to understand its features and the information to choose the right size.
ROKA’s imagery and storytelling needed room alongside the practical details.
What we built
Product storytelling ROKA London wanted shoppers to see
Some ROKA bags come in dozens of shades, with each colourway held as a separate product. We introduced a colour drawer so customers could explore the selection without every option competing for space on the page.
We also dropped Quick Add during design. It was in scope, but the small pop-up was a poor fit for the colour choice and skipped the product storytelling ROKA wanted shoppers to see. We agreed that customers would be better served by the product page.
Recommendations needed attention too. With every colourway treated as a separate product, a row of recommendations could fill up with the same bag in different shades. “Pair with a perfect hue” gave complementary accessories a place in the journey, bringing colour-matched pouches, socks and umbrellas alongside the bag.
The outcome
More control for the ROKA London team.
The rebuild also changed how ROKA London could manage the store. Editable sections let the team build pages, merchandise products and introduce new shades through Shopify’s editor without a developer.
We used native Shopify functionality where it met the requirement, including replacing a separate paid recommendations app. The tools ROKA already relied on stayed, with the new theme built to support them.
The new store launched in September 2026.
The challenge was never growth. It was making sure the infrastructure could keep up with it.
ROKA’s team now has more control over how it presents the range, and an experience Emma describes as more representative of the brand.
She also credited Underwaterpistol with understanding what the team wanted to achieve, listening to their ideas and challenging their thinking throughout the project.
The work continues through a 12-month Growth Programme. Further improvements are planned, with priorities reviewed as the teams learn from customers and the business develops.
If your business has moved on but your website hasn’t, we should talk.
Technology
Shopify Plus
Tangiblee
Mirakl
Okendo
Videowise
Depict
Services
Shopify Plus
Discovery
Redesign
Rebuild
UX
Retainer
Has your Shopify implementation kept pace with your business?
If your retainer is going to maintenance rather than momentum, the architecture is probably the reason.