Manychat’s approach to merch: obsess over fit, build from scratch — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design
Most company merch ends up in a drawer. Manychat’s Brand Design Studio set out to create the opposite – clothing their team would actually choose to wear, built from scratch rather than stamped onto standard blanks. The difference shows in the details: custom cuts tested against favourite personal garments, embroidered elements that add texture without overwhelming, patterns that evolved from their core brand identity into something that works on fabric.
The approach centres on Manychat’s visual identity – the ‘M’ lettermark, a bright colour palette and the checkerboard pattern. Each piece explores how these elements can feel refined rather than promotional. “The biggest challenge has always been figuring out how to use these in a refined way: making pieces that feel like stylish clothing rather than just branded giveaways,” Brand Design Lead Arthur Reimer explains.
The designs emerged over different years and occasions, each solving a specific brief whilst building a cohesive wardrobe. For the company’s eighth birthday celebration themed around ‘Manychat Island,’ the team created an ‘M’ with a palm tree inside – capturing both brand and event in a single mark. A summer tee transformed the checker pattern into a flower graphic that resonated so strongly people wore their shirts until they literally fell apart. The first hoodie became a testing ground for balancing graphic weight, eventually landing on black fabric scattered with colourful embroidered ‘M’s, each in its own hue. Even the blanket pushes beyond the obvious – overlaying arrow graphics onto an inverted checkerboard pattern to create fresh energy from familiar elements.
Behind each piece sits an obsessive attention to fit and construction. “We literally brought in our own favourite tees – different brands, different countries, the stuff we actually wear every day – and handed them to our production partner,” Head of Brand Design Sergey Andronov notes. “We studied the fits, mixed elements together, and we eventually landed on a cut and layout that just felt right.” The fabric density, the way garments sit on the body, how seams are finished – these technical decisions determine whether something gets worn daily or forgotten in storage.
The production partnership with Berq Studio in Armenia shifted the project from transactional order to genuine collaboration. Berq operates as both streetwear brand and creative space housing a record shop, photo lab and indie bookstore. “We were literally printing paper ‘M’s on our office printer, pinning them to fabric with clips, and experimenting with placement,” Andronov shares. “Every step was trial, error, and iteration.” The hands-on process meant dealing with fabric warping, correcting distortions, and re-sewing when needed – complications most brands avoid but which delivered results that feel considered at every level.
Manychat’s own team members model the collection, wearing pieces they’d chosen for themselves long before any photoshoot. The Barcelona shoot introduced an additional format: teams of three rotating through model, photographer and behind-the-scenes roles every thirty minutes. Developers, data engineers and product managers swapped positions, creating content about the clothing whilst documenting each other in the process. “People don’t just wear this merch for a photo shoot – they live in it,” says Andronov. “We see our colleagues in the hoodies, tees and even carrying the tote bags on weekends.”
The project connects directly to Manychat’s core principles of ‘care intensely’ and ‘win together.’ The first shows in building every piece from scratch rather than taking shortcuts. The second emerges in how people across departments – not just designers – stepped into creative roles. “Engineers, analysts, PMs… everyone got the chance to step into a creative role for a day,” Andronov reflects. “That’s what made the whole thing so powerful: the merch became a tool for connection. It brought people from different teams together, gave them a playful way to express creativity, and resulted in pieces we genuinely love to wear.” The response extends beyond internal enthusiasm. People outside Manychat ask about the pieces and want them for themselves – validation that the work succeeds as clothing first, branded merchandise second.