The New Society: From a gap in kidswear to developing a global wholesale model and roadmap to own retail

Estefanía Grandío discusses production, logistics, design, suppliers, teams and sales as inseparable parts of the same conversation. For her, as the founder of The New Society, they are intrinsically linked.

During her second pregnancy in 2018, while living in Germany and working in the design department at Hugo Boss, the entrepreneur launched what initially began as a children's fashion brand. Today, it operates as an international structure with womenswear, a teen line, and a presence in over 600 points of sale through the wholesale channel.

In September, the brand will open its first concession in El Corte Inglés and is already looking towards its first retail opening in 2027.

Estefanía Grandío's professional journey maps out the different paces of the European industry. From Spanish fast fashion to British luxury, she has worked in large corporate structures where design, sourcing, logistics, sales and product inevitably intertwine. At Oysho, she was part of the management teams that analysed weekly sales, operations and commercial strategy. At Hugo Boss, she directed the creative area for women's luxury leisurewear from Germany. Later, she worked with Scalpers Woman, Etam and on various creative direction projects in parallel while The New Society began to grow.

Rather than romanticising that stage, Grandío describes it as an intensive school of business acumen. She speaks of endless meetings between departments, constant product analysis and a culture of continuous questioning that still influences how she runs the company today. “What stays with you is the need to question everything to keep growing. When you think you are doing everything right, that is when you get stuck.”

It was while preparing for motherhood that she began to notice a very specific gap in the children's market. She would go into multi-brand stores where she enjoyed mixing garments from different brands to get what she wanted. “I saw that there were brands that did sweatshirts very well, others knitwear, others a more romantic style, but very few offered a total look,” she explains. That was precisely the challenge she set herself when launching her brand.

"When you think you are doing everything right, that is when you get stuck..."

Her collections feature denim, knitwear, swimwear and outerwear alongside embroidered garments inspired by vintage references from old tablecloths, napkins and found fabrics. She confesses to collecting these “compulsively” and they later become collection details after she “plays” with them in her design room.

However, the focus of the conversation inevitably shifts to multi-brand retail. For Grandío, the survival of this channel remains fundamental for independent brands like hers, and there are very clear differences between markets. While the network of concept stores and children's multi-brand shops in the Netherlands remains strong, in Spain the channel barely exists. This is due to the growing weight of large vertical groups capable of absorbing market share, mainly thanks to price.

The company has not grown through its own retail, which it plans to venture into during the next financial year, but by relying on a network of agents and distributors operating on a market-by-market basis. It currently works with around 24 agents across its kids and womenswear lines, as well as distributors in regions like Asia and Canada. They help maintain contact with the more than 600 points of sale they currently work with, including Le Bon Marché; Galeries Lafayette; Smallable; MyTheresa; Luisa Via Roma and John Lewis. “They understand how each country works; which stores make sense; what product works and how to build customer loyalty. I could not do it all on my own.”

This operational control seems almost inseparable from its founder's personality. “I delegate, but I am on top of everything,” she admits with a laugh. “I cannot disconnect.” The internal structure, in fact, remains relatively small for the international volume the company handles. Around 20 people cover design, production, buying, logistics, wholesale, digital content and e-commerce.

In the Spanish market, the brand has had a long-standing collaboration with El Corte Inglés under the wholesale model. Next September 2026, it will inaugurate its first own concession in the department store.

The evolution into womenswear came about, she explains, in a less strategic way than it might seem. It was the customers themselves who started asking for adult versions of certain garments when the brand was still focused on kids. What began as a small “mini me” capsule, fuelled by a trend for mothers and daughters dressing alike, eventually grew into an independent line.

In parallel, the “teen” segment has become the fastest-growing category. It acts as a bridge between childhood and adulthood, reinforcing customer continuity within The New Society ecosystem.

The New Society's relationship with sustainability is built on its understanding of the product. Much of the brand's imagery revolves around natural fabrics, artisanal techniques and garments designed for everyday use with durability in mind. The company produces mainly in Portugal, works with European suppliers and prioritises organic, recycled or natural materials.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com