Thanks to our guest author, Hazel Garcia of Investment Zen, who has provided us with this infographic showing the cost breakdown of pricing of a shirt. Branding and marketing costs also need to be considered, and in the world of luxury, the markup for added value – the brand magic – will be substantial. Think about the last time you went shopping for a new shirt. What were…
TEDxLondon “Throw those curtains wide. One day like this a year will See me right,” we sing. Hugh Montgomery The Earth will survive But we, foolish humankind Have hit self-destruct. Emily Milan Rea Iron willed teenager Leaves behind a hundred no’s To find the one yes. Ndidi Okezie Teach First: achieving equality for children in education. Shapla Salique Britain-Bangladesh: Harmonium and guitar, Vocals, folk and…
Square. Slack. Sea. These words could soon mean a lot more to you than their literal meaning. They are all on Interbrand’s 2017 list of Breakthrough Brands, the companies that are rising head and shoulders above their peers and breaking through to the level where they are soon to become household names. The 40 companies that have made it onto the list have some factors…
Autumn is on its way and we’ve been harvesting a few of our recent news updates to share with you. We have the launch of a new group of colleges, a new fashion brand, a brochure for an international school and lots more to share from Grain HQ. In case you already have next year’s paper diary to hand, or more likely in your Apple…
Safia Minney, founder of uber-ethical fashion brand People Tree, recently held a small party for Kickstarter backers of her new book, Slave to Fashion. The evening was at Zandra Rhodes’ penthouse about the Fashion and Textile Museum. There was a wonderful atmosphere and I got to chat with quite a few fashion influencers and ethical fashion bloggers – an amazing evening!
UEL recently hosted a Roundtable on Fashion Entrepreneurship as part of their Fashion & Textile Symposium 2016. I was honoured to be invited as a member of the roundtable and pleased to see a healthy attendance of about a hundred students and lecturers, including the Dean of the School of Arts & Digital Industries, Professor Simon Robertshaw. The link between the four of us on the roundtable is…
Have you ever wondered why clothes are now a lot more affordable than before? Why more collections are constantly introduced to the market, breaking the previous two season per year pace? We all want nicer clothes for less, but how cheap can it get and who really pays the price for our clothing? Andrew Morgan’s new documentary The True Cost explores the devastating environmental and social effects of the…
Grain was recently invited to be featured as a Redbooth project management success story. The filming was great fun and it was a good opportunity to reflect on our growth and success. Christoph Geppert during the interview It all started more than a year ago when we were winning more projects, which were more complex and on a larger scale than previously. We were at a crossroads, deciding…
Actor Helen Anderson-Lee, Christoph, Madelyn and Hannah To keep all of us all focused, happy and creative at work, our directors Christoph and Madelyn regularly organise fun and inspirational activities like going to TEDx or the Alexander McQueen exhibition. The most recent team event, a bespoke Presentation Skills Workshop organised by Partners With You, took on more of a training focus and was actually the one I enjoyed most.…
Madelyn Postman leading the talk. It has been a great year for Grain from being invited to guest lecture at several universities to leading industry talks. Most recently, our Creative Director Madelyn Postman was invited to join local industrial design and ecommerce professionals to speak at the Industrial Innovation Seminar in Zhongshan, China. With more than 200 business leaders from the region attending, the seminar focused…
Having worked on so many luxury design and branding projects, we’re proud to call ourselves experts in luxury branding. When I was assigned to attend a luxury exhibition, I found myself truly inspired by how differently luxury is perceived now compared to in the past. Luxury undoubtedly has the potential to unlock dreams of being somewhere else or someone else. For hundreds of years, luxury…
Have you followed the latest season of Dragons’ Den on BBC? We’re massive fans of the show and were all excited to see our designer Rosalind Gregoire’s packaging project attracting investment from business tycoon Peter Jones. The UK is well stocked with exciting foods from all over Europe, Asia and the Americas, but the rich and diverse foods of Africa remain largely undiscovered. When Chika’s…
This summer, we had a spell of lovely weather and decided it was the perfect time for a company trip. With Alexander McQueen’s exhibition dominating the press for months, we decided to all go see it for our annual outing. Alexander McQueen’s works didn’t fail to surprise and amaze us. He’s the kind of genius that only comes around once in a generation. To me,…
The green movement is not new. In fact, in the last 30 years, it has become an integral part of many campaigns and indeed even companies’ strategies in the creative industry. Why is being green so vital to the success of a business? There are different reasons, but most importantly is that consumer behaviors have changed. Consumers, especially in the fashion and luxury industries, have…
Last month, our Creative Director Madelyn Postman was invited to give a lecture on Multi-Channel Luxury Branding at the University of West London’s Claude Littner Business School, which won praise from both attending students and lecturers. Since winning the Creative Industries Business of the Year award in the West London Business Awards 2013, we have decided to engage more with local businesses with the aim…