Shopify Ecommerce Development for Vel De Reis Equestrian
How Avelize built the Shopify storefront for Vel De Reis Equestrian: premium equestrian apparel and horse gear, custom theme development, and conversion-focused product UX.
About Vel De Reis
Vel De Reis is a premium equestrian brand based in Malta, selling show jumping apparel, riding gear, and horse equipment. The brand draws on Andalusian heritage and positions its products at the intersection of performance and tradition — high-quality breeches, show jackets, saddle pads, and ear bonnets made with Italian fabrics and designed for competition and everyday riding. The brand needed a Shopify storefront that matched the premium positioning of the product and presented the full range — rider apparel and horse gear — clearly and convincingly to equestrian buyers.
The challenge
Equestrian retail has specific UX demands that generic themes handle poorly: riders browse by discipline (show jumping, dressage, casual), by rider and horse categories simultaneously, and by competition-grade versus everyday use. A standard Shopify theme would flatten this into a basic product grid, burying the brand story and making it hard for buyers to find the right product for their horse or discipline. The store also needed to convey the Andalusian heritage and premium quality of the brand visually — not just through copy, but through the structure and feel of the storefront itself.
Scope of work
- Custom Shopify theme development tailored to equestrian retail UX
- Separate navigation and collection architecture for rider and horse product lines
- Product page design with discipline, fit, and care detail for competition apparel
- Brand storytelling integrated into collection and homepage templates
- Performance optimization for high-quality product photography
- SEO-safe implementation with schema, canonical URLs, and metadata from launch
The solution
Avelize built a custom Shopify theme structured around the dual product lines — rider apparel and horse gear — with collection architecture that lets buyers navigate by category without confusion. The homepage and collection templates carried the Andalusian heritage narrative visually, using the premium product photography to drive the brand feel rather than relying on stock imagery or generic layouts. Product pages were built to give competition riders the detail they need: fabric information, fit guidance, care instructions, and competition suitability — presented cleanly without cluttering the buying path.
Technical approach
- Custom Liquid theme with dual product-line navigation (rider and horse collections)
- Collection page templates with category filtering for apparel and gear
- Product detail pages with extended metafields for fabric, fit, and competition specifications
- Homepage template with brand heritage sections and editorial layout
- Image optimization pipeline for high-resolution equestrian product photography
- JSON-LD Product and BreadcrumbList schema across all product and collection pages
- SEO foundations: canonical URLs, XML sitemap, metadata, and structured navigation
Outcome
Vel De Reis launched with a custom Shopify storefront that presents both the product range and the brand heritage clearly — a premium equestrian ecommerce experience built for buyers who know the sport and expect the store to match the quality of what it sells.
Related services
Start a project
Avelize delivers custom Shopify development, technical SEO, and UX work for ecommerce brands. Contact us to discuss your project, or see the full portfolio.