CB Project State — Internal

CALTON BROWN — MASTER PROJECT STATE

Last updated: 5 July 2026 | Maintained by: Claude (fetch this page at the start of every session)

BRAND OVERVIEW

Calton Brown London. Premium contemporary British menswear. caltonbrown.store. Company No. 17230415, Montegrove (Pty) Ltd trading as Calton Brown Ltd. Founder: Mhlengi Ayanda Mustapha Hadebe (goes by Mustapha). Tagline: Defined by restraint. Sustained by routine. London anchor. 84 products. 4 collections: The Standard, The Workshop, Foundation, Protocol. Instagram: @caltonbrownco, 2,100+ followers.

INFRASTRUCTURE STACK

Shopify Advanced / Atelier theme → Klaviyo (email) → Judge.me (reviews) → HyperSKU (fulfilment, Vicky is WhatsApp contact) → Stripe UK via Wise Business → Xero (accounting) → DHL Express (courier, KZN regional manager relationship) → GRIN (influencer, 15% commission, 10% customer codes) → Meta Pixel 1588775775572250 → Meta catalog 1486489076250821 → Windsor.ai (IG account ID: 17841449054119778) → Spacemail/Jellyfish (email filtering) → Iptica (SA trademark) → UKIPO (UK trademark in progress)

KEY IDs AND REFERENCES

  • Draft theme: gid://shopify/OnlineStoreTheme/150176825414 (Atelier — EU Withdrawal Rights Draft)
  • Live theme: gid://shopify/OnlineStoreTheme/147777159238 (Atelier)
  • CLTN15 discount node: gid://shopify/DiscountCodeNode/1557346123846 (15% off second order)
  • CB Protocol Credit gift card: gid://shopify/Product/8359001784390 (exclude from all product ops)
  • CB Advisor page: gid://shopify/Page/127499698246 (handle: cb-advisor)
  • Male metaobject: gid://shopify/Metaobject/207910076486
  • Free shipping threshold: GBP 150
  • Shipping rates: UK Standard GBP 15, UK Express GBP 25, Intl Standard GBP 25, Intl Express GBP 35 (PLACEHOLDERS pending DHL data from Vicky)

BRAND VOICE RULES — ABSOLUTE

  • NO em dashes anywhere. Not in copy, captions, WhatsApp drafts, documents, anywhere.
  • No exclamation marks. No retail pushiness. No overexplaining product.
  • No reintroductions or re-raising settled decisions.
  • London is always the anchor. Every location frames as: a man from the Calton Brown house in London is here.
  • Environmental selling: content tells the story, product tag answers what he is wearing.
  • Every post must stand without the product tag.
  • Pace as luxury signal. Post when there is something worth saying, not to fill a calendar.
  • WhatsApp to Vicky: warm, structured flowing paragraphs, no em dashes, no subheadings, connected prose not a checklist.

CONTENT PILLARS (confirmed)

The Standard | Workshop | Field Notes | Routine | Dispatches | House Notes

THEME WORK RULES

  • Live theme cannot be written to via themeFilesUpsert — always work on draft theme 150176825414.
  • shopPolicyUpdate blocked (missing write_legal_policies scope) — policy edits must be done manually in Shopify Admin > Settings > Policies.
  • Klaviyo MCP: read/reporting only, no flow or segment creation endpoints.
  • API write to live theme is blocked. Always: duplicate → edit draft → Mustapha previews and publishes manually.

OPEN ITEMS — HIGH PRIORITY

  1. CLOUDFLARE WORKER PROXY: Mustapha needs to deploy cloudflare-worker.js, then update PROXY_URL placeholder in snippets/cb-advisor.liquid AND sections/cb-advisor-page.liquid with the live worker URL.
  2. DRAFT THEME PUBLISH: Preview Atelier — EU Withdrawal Rights Draft (150176825414) and publish when satisfied.
  3. AI DISCLOSURE POLICY PAGE: Not yet built. Goes on draft theme. Legal protection for AI-enhanced product visuals.
  4. KLAVIYO POST-PURCHASE FLOW: Build manually in Klaviyo UI. Trigger: first fulfilment. Filter: community-invite segment + lifetime order count = 1. Code: CLTN15. Subject: You're in.
  5. LIGHT RELIC SLATE BLAZER: Resolve 300,000+ unit inventory anomaly with Vicky on HyperSKU. Currently set to Draft. Publish once resolved.
  6. DHL SHIPPING RATES: WhatsApp Vicky for actual transit times and rates. All shipping rates on site are placeholders. Also: All other countries zone has zero shipping methods — silently blocking GCC, Australia, SEA buyers.
  7. GMC DISAPPROVALS: All 5 root causes fixed this session (ghost variants, HTML attributes, duplicate SKUs, barcodes, country of origin). Check GMC disapproval count 24-72hrs after feed sync.

OPEN ITEMS — LOWER PRIORITY

  • Transit Crossbody Bags: Colour option needs manual rename to Style.
  • SKU-less variants with 500 inventory on 7 products: Monolith Blouson Parka, Fusion Utility Jacket, Protocol Fleece Cardigan, Glacier Shield Puffer, Air Uniform Jacket, Impact Mesh Overshirt, Static Weave Short.
  • Refund Policy: return-shipping sentence needs edit. Also Covenant Garden typo to Covent Garden. Both manual in Settings > Policies.
  • CB Journal blog: Shopify blog setup not yet started.
  • Six content pillar briefs: not yet written.
  • UK Class 25 word mark: filing in progress at UKIPO. Madrid Protocol deferred until revenue permits.
  • Woven label physical sample: $8.61, approved, pending dispatch from Vicky.
  • AW26 / The Standard Capsule: teased on Instagram. Continue building toward.

PACKAGING SPECS (locked with Vicky)

  • Hang tag: 130x45mm antique gold foil, 1,000-unit MOQ
  • Semi-transparent card: 108x22mm, 1,000-unit MOQ
  • Woven neck label: 16x60mm, ivory/black, Celine/Android Homme register
  • Thank-you card: 300gsm, antique gold foil stamp
  • Strategy: fund branding run from initial sales revenue, not upfront capital

JUDGE.ME BADGE (static, on draft theme)

Stars: Antique Gold (#9E835D). Score: Charcoal. Count: Stone. Display: star 4.8 (4,958). Right-aligned. Positioned after size guide, before Add to Cart.

CB ADVISOR

  • Full-page advisor: caltonbrown.store/pages/cb-advisor (template: page.cb-advisor, section: cb-advisor-page.liquid)
  • Floating widget: snippets/cb-advisor.liquid, rendered in layout/theme.liquid before body close
  • Both use PROXY_URL placeholder pointing to Cloudflare Worker (to be deployed by Mustapha)
  • Worker file: cloudflare-worker.js (downloaded this session)

SESSION LOG

Session 9 — 5 July 2026

  • Continued from previous session transcript
  • GMC cleanup completed: 818 inventory items set to countryCodeOfOrigin CN across 34 batches
  • Size variant ordering fixed: Air Uniform Jacket, Obsidian Split Division Jersey, Uniform Raw-Edge Denim Blouson
  • Draft theme: product title reduced to h4/1.05rem, static rating badge added (★4.8, right-aligned, after size guide)
  • Instagram: Les Deux Alpes reel caption + pinned comment drafted. Element Hardshell two-image post captioned and alt-texted. Comment reply drafted for Standard Capsule enquiry.
  • Brand brief (House Brief) drafted
  • CB Advisor floating widget built: snippets/cb-advisor.liquid, layout/theme.liquid updated
  • CB Advisor full page built: sections/cb-advisor-page.liquid, templates/page.cb-advisor.json, page gid://shopify/Page/127499698246
  • CB Project State page created (this document)
  • STANDING INSTRUCTION added to memory_user_edits: every session opens with conversation_search before writing a single word

Session 8 — 4 July 2026

  • GMC cleanup: ghost variants deleted (90 across 43 products), Oxidized Relic Zip Jacket URL fixed, Modular Capacity Short duplicate SKUs and barcodes fixed, HTML attributes stripped from 20 product descriptions
  • Instagram: Les Deux Alpes reel and Element Hardshell content strategy developed
  • Six content pillars formalised
  • One-page House Brief drafted and approved

Session 7 — 28 June 2026

  • SEO and compliance audit. Homepage copy overhaul. Shipping architecture rebuilt. Community invite panel built. Shipping incentive bar built. Hero scroll-cue chevron. Color swatch metaobjects (101). 82 products linked to shopify.color-pattern. robots.txt.liquid override.

Session 6 — 28 June 2026

  • Klaviyo post-purchase flow: CLTN15 discount code created, flow shell requires manual build. Community invite panel built and wired.

Session 5 — 22 June 2026

  • Store customer experience audit. Shipping zone rebuilt. Light Relic Slate Blazer set to Draft. Product page theme work: rating badge, title, variant picker.

Session 4 — 18 June 2026

  • Packaging finalised with Vicky. Hang tags, woven label, thank-you card specs locked. Sales-first funding strategy decided. Woven label sample approved.

Session 3 — 12 June 2026

  • Full brand build: Stripe UK, Xero, DHL, HyperSKU, GRIN, 84 products live, 4 collections, all policies written, 6 Instagram reels (Octane theme), cash flow projection.

Session 2 — 10 June 2026

  • Brand identity review. Production documents created. Pricing corrections. WhatsApp Vicky workflow established.

Session 1 — 1 June 2026

  • Instagram Shopping connected. Collections built. Size guide. Company incorporation. HyperSKU setup.

Session 0 — 26 May 2026

  • Brand concept. UK Ltd route. Platform selection. Product architecture. Go-to-market sequencing. CB concept crystallised.