• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 2, 2020

Overall demand and consumer sentiment is down due to economic uncertainties, but brands such as Lunya, a D2C luxury lounge- and sleepwear brand, are trying to adapt by going back to their roots.

COVID-19 has not been kind to the luxury brand.

Similar to other brands and retailers, Lunya temporarily closed all its physical locations — Santa Monica, Manhattan, Brooklyn — laid off workers, and put its store openings in Atlanta and D.C. on hold. Then the company spun on its heels, retooled its message, and took a work-from-home approach.

“Work from home has become a lifestyle,” said Lunya CEO Ashley Merrill. “You’re not going to want to show up on a Zoom call wearing a twenty-year-old track shirt. There’s been an overall change in behavior as people try to establish new routines.”  

The company has continued to advertise across search, display and video, but wanted to adjust the message as people continue to deal with physical and economic hardships.

On Lunya’s Instagram page, the company last week launched the Nominate A Nurse campaign and received more than 450 nominations across the United States. The company sent out sleep sets to about 75 nurses based on the description of the submission. The nomination and giveaway lasted five days.

“We wanted to be a force for good, while still keeping the lights on,” Merrill said. “It was really good for the company’s sole, too.”

Merrill, who compares her brand to Lululemon, began creating the company in 2012 and took the D2C brand online in 2014. Then brought the luxury sleepwear brand into physical boutiques shortly after.

The company not only considers style, but the fabric and how each piece functions and feels with different body temperatures. For example, on the Lunya website, each clothing piece provides information on how the fabric reacts.

The cotton silk Henley is made out of fabric that helps the body breathe and helps to maintain a comfortable temperature, Merrill explains.