The Granny Takes a Trip relaunch is so much more than rose-tinted nostalgia

Nostalgia is so hot right now. Back in February, Jonathan Anderson sent a gaggle of models down his London Fashion Week runway, each one of them sporting a silvery set and curl reminiscent of your grandma’s trip to the salon. “We are nearly more excited about the idea of nostalgia than we have ever been. Which is not a bad thing. Maybe it’s quite exciting?” offered the Irish designer, after his show. On the other side of the city, Kazna Asker invited the world into a faithful recreation of her grandmother’s living room, tables scattered with chai tea and models dressed in abaya-tracksuit hybrids, ones that invoked her childhood in a Muslim community of Yorkshire. “Yemeni culture – or maybe it’s just an immigrant culture in Sheffield – is built on nostalgia and the importance of storytelling,” she said after her AW24 presentation. And over at Paris Fashion Week, Maria Grazia Chiuri made the decision to revive Dior’s famed Miss Dior line from the 1960s, looking back at an era which revolutionised how women dress and rehashing it for the modern age.

Now, we can add one more name to the list. Granny Takes a Trip, the iconic swinging 60s London store, is getting a 2024 online relaunch. Originally founded by tailor John Pearse, graphic designer Nigel Waymouth and fashion collector Sheila Cohen, the store took up real estate on the then-unfashionable end of the King’s Road, known as World’s End. In 1966 Waymouth and Cohen, who were in a relationship at the time, needed a way to organise Cohen’s increasingly large collection of antique clothing, so founded Granny to flog all her unwanted bits. As well as this, it was also founded on the principle that boutiques at the time were becoming increasingly similar and selling the same things, so the trio wanted to offer one-of-a-kind pieces only, a demand they recognised from within their creative community. Though the store was sold to the fashion entrepreneur Freddie Hornik in 1969, and eventually shut down in 1974, the spirit of Granny lived on for generations, becoming a byword for not only a singular and retail space, but an ingenious creative philosophy in itself.

In the conversation below, we chat to Granny’s brand new CEO Marlot te Kiefte about why now is the right time to relaunch the brand, how they’ll retain the label’s 60s spirit, and the creative ideas behind their newly dropped campaign.

Hi Marlot – first of all, why is now the right time to relaunch the brand?

Marlot te Kiefte: The first question I asked myself when I was approached with this opportunity was ‘does the world need another fashion brand today?’ And the answer is no, unless you decide to be rigorous and use the opportunity to create something from scratch that can make a difference and present a new way of doing things. Not just building a brand, but designing the actual company system.

Like the original store did in the 60s?

Marlot te Kiefte: Their unique combination of heritage and innovation was so ahead of its time and is somehow really quite relevant in this present day. To me, what we are presenting is not a revival, it’s a modern manifestation of the original Granny’s spirit – challenging the way clothes are made, worn and sold, and the brand’s impact on culture and communities.

How was the process of launching the brand - did you have to get anyone’s blessing to do so?

Marlot te Kiefte: When researching the original store, I started to understand more about the ethos and approach the original founders took. It was really important for us to speak to Nigel Waymouth and John Pearse, to not only better understand how they worked, but also to share my ideas for the new Granny. Nigel in particular was relieved we weren’t trying to create anything too directly referential to what they did in the 60s, instead creating something different that actually makes sense in the present context but still infused with the spirit of the original Granny Takes a Trip.

Once I joined, it was important for me to start by designing the company’s system. It is well known that the fashion industry has a waste problem, so building on the legacy of the original Granny Takes a Trip, I wanted to develop a way of working – sourcing, designing, producing and selling – that truly has circularity at its core. That is, we use what already exists, bringing a new life and value to something ‘old’.

“Nigel [Waymouth] in particular was relieved we weren’t trying to create anything too directly referential to what they did in the 60s… but still infused with the spirit of the original Granny Takes a Trip” – Marlot te Kiefte

In what other ways will the 2024 store retain the free 60s spirit of its predecessor?

Marlot te Kiefte: Just as the original store – and the swinging 60s itself – was born out of a post-Depression dreary uniformity, we also see the need to return to self-expression in its purest form, which is what we are trying to speak to with this reincarnation.

Granny Takes a Trip was really about breaking away from the norm or standard practices, finding creativity within limitations – a local vision with a global impact. It wasn’t just about the clothes, it was powered collaboration and an exchange of ideas and perspective and centred on true community. It’s so important that we bring that ethos into what we are building today.

You’ve also established a new visual language for the relaunch – what was the idea behind the new logo for instance?

Marlot te Kiefte: When approaching the design, we wanted a visual identity that communicated the brand heritage, its new offer, and a circular, sustainable ethos. It had to have an inherent duality – old meeting new. Granny is still proud of her roots and celebrates that with subtle visual nods to the culture and history, but she still lives in a new age. So, we opted for an unapologetically referential logotype that sits in a modern context – just ‘Granny’. And obviously we had to keep the mushroom as it’s so iconic to the original store and its legacy.

And the new campaign images?

Marlot te Kiefte: This first campaign was really about laying the foundations of the new Granny by blending the codes of the 60s and 70s store, and specifically looking at the characters that were around the brand at that time: Marc Bolan, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Elton John.

When researching the original Granny Takes a Trip we’d pulled together several archive images that really spoke to the essence of what we were trying to create and a few of them are referenced in our images. The interior images are shot in an imaginary Granny house filled with prints and textures – the wallpaper almost clashes with the print on the garments. Mixed in are images with a simpler background in Granny colours of red and white. We wanted to present an eclectic mix of images that all still speak the same language.

I noticed that other non-affiliated stores around the world use the Granny name – how do you feel about this part of the store’s legacy?

Marlot te Kiefte: The shop has such a strong resounding legacy across the world, it’s no surprise that there are stores paying homage to that. We are doing something different, so it’s neither in competition or direct conflict with them.

And finally, what are the guiding principles of the new Granny?

Marlot te Kiefte: We want to build and elevate a circular style culture that drives creative expression and excellence, changing the way people consume and engage with fashion – style isn’t confined to ownership. Circularity is at the core of what we do: from our circular approach to design working exclusively with second-life materials and a consideration of end of life/the next life of the garments we produce; to the circular service system that allows customers to either rent pieces, or buy them with a repair and takeback service attached.

Head to granny.london to see the brand new Granny Takes A Trip campaign and collection.