Stockholmfashiondays.com - Interview

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"A shoe should look like a shoe”, says Alexis Holm – one of the founders of Gram, the upcoming Swedish shoe label. Gram is one of the companies nominated to become Rookies&Players company of the year 2007.

It was after some initial experimenting that Alexis realised that a shoe should look like a shoe. After this epiphany it became easier to try and create the unique look that is Gram by using different fabrics and materials, this instead of trying to do crazy things with the actual shoe.

Anna Stenvi and Alexis is the couple behind Gram. Anna has a London background where she studied fashion marketing at London College of Fashion, and worked for Tiger of Sweden. After that it was time to come to Stockholm where she worked for H&M. Alexis has done several different fashion courses and also worked as a buyer for Tiger in Sweden.

Alexis Holm shows Gram is not only shoes. Picture with regards to Gram “Since design is actually a very small part of a design company, maybe 5%, it is very useful to have worked in a large company”, says Anna. She explains that the industry is so much about knowledge and contacts so that if you don’t have them it becomes really hard to start up a new company. A couple of years in companies like H&M and Tiger gives a good base for the future, learning about the industry and how things work.

Gram was founded while they were still working full time. With time it became impossible to combine the two and they decided to work full time with their company. “It would have been impossible to do this if we weren’t a couple, another partner would have killed you for talking so much about shoes and everything else”, says Anna, about working with someone that is also your partner in private life.

Example from the spring/summer collection. Picture with regards to Gram. On the question, why shoes? Alexis explains that he likes shoes and it has been a bit of inflation in clothes labels so it is more interesting to work with shoes. This season they did produce a number of sweaters though, as a way to do something different and experiment a bit with new products. The focus will always be shoes though.

Though they obviously want to grow, it is their absolute will to keep the company reasonably small and flexible so they can still be involved with their customers, go to the trade shows and keep the personal touch that they have now. “It is always fun to go to the shops that sell our shoes and have a chat with them”, says Anna.

Example from the spring/summer collection. Picture with regards to Gram. Though it would be quite easy for them to grow in Sweden they have chosen not too. “We are in a very good position in Sweden now where we can actually say no to more shops. We don’t want to become too big in a small market like Sweden, but stay unique”, say Alexis. Instead of growing more in Sweden they work hard on the international market where they can sell more volume without becoming too mainstream. Quality is important and even if they only sell in one shop in a country, they make sure it is the best one.

Anna - in one of the a/w sweaters. Picture with regards to Gram. The nomination for Rookies&Players company 2007 has not had that much of an impact on the sales yet, though it has rendered some publicity, especially in Germany which follows Swedish fashion closely. Anna points out that it has been nice to get a better connection with Moderådet (fashion council); since it was a part of the industry they did not really feel much of a connection with before.

That Swedish fashion is up and coming right now is something they can really tell when out in the world. “When we are at trade shows we are always asked questions about who the next new hot Swedish designer is”, Alexis says. “Swedish fashion is really in right now and the more of us coming out there the better it is”.

With the attention and success that Gram seems to have right now it would be strange if it is not Gram itself that will be the new big star in the Swedish fashion sky.