van gat in kindermode naar een wereldwijd wholesale-model en een roadmap naar eigen retail

Estefanía Grandío speaks during an event in Amsterdam about production, logistics, design, suppliers, teams and sales as inseparable parts of the same conversation. For her, the founder of The New Society, this is self-evident.

During her second pregnancy in 2018, while living in Germany and working in the design department of Hugo Boss, the entrepreneur launched her brand. What started as a children’s fashion brand is today an international organization with women’s fashion, a teen line and a presence in more than six hundred points of sale via the wholesale channel.

In September they will open their first corner at Spanish department store El Corte Inglés and are focusing on their first retail opening in 2027.

Grandio’s professional career paints a complete picture of the different speeds within the European fashion industry. From Spanish fast fashion to British luxury, via large corporate structures where design, sourcing, logistics, sales and product inevitably come together. At Oysho she was part of the management teams that analyzed sales, operations and commercial strategy on a weekly basis. At Hugo Boss she led the creative department for luxury leisure wear for women from Germany. This was followed by Scalpers Woman, Etam and various creative directorial projects, while The New Society began to grow.

Grandío does not describe that period as romantic, but as an intensive training in business acumen. She talks about endless meetings between departments, constant product analysis and a culture of constant questioning that still influences her leadership style today. “What stays with you is the need to question everything to keep growing. As soon as you think you’re doing everything right, you stagnate.”

While preparing for motherhood, she discovered a specific lack in the children’s fashion market. She visited multi-brand stores where she enjoyed combining garments from different brands to create the look she wanted. “I saw brands that were really good in sweatshirts, others in knitwear, and others in a more romantic style, but few offered a complete look,” she explains. That became exactly the challenge she set herself when launching her brand.

Her collections combine denim, knitwear, swimwear and outerwear with embroidered garments. These are inspired by vintage references such as old tablecloths, napkins and found fabrics, which she says she collects ‘compulsively’. After some ‘playing’ in her design studio, these finds are processed into collection details.

However, the conversation inevitably shifts to multi-brand retail. For Grandío, the survival of this channel is essential for independent brands like hers, and there are clear differences between markets. While the network of concept stores and multi-brand stores for children remains strong in the Netherlands, this channel hardly exists in Spain. This is due to the growing influence of large vertical groups that are gaining market share, mainly through their pricing.

The company has not grown through its own retail, a step they plan for the coming year, but through a network of agents and distributors who operate per market. They currently work with approximately 24 agents for the children’s and women’s lines, in addition to distributors in regions such as Asia and Canada. They help maintain contact with more than six hundred points of sale, including Le Bon Marché, Galeries Lafayette, Smallable, MyTheresa, Luisa Via Roma and John Lewis. “They understand how each country works, which stores are relevant, which product is popular and how you can retain customers. I couldn’t do all that alone.”

This operational control seems inextricably linked to the personality of the founder. “I delegate, but I am on top of everything,” she admits, laughing. “I can’t let it go.” Indeed, the internal structure is relatively small for the company’s international volume. About twenty people are responsible for design, production, purchasing, logistics, wholesale, digital content and e-commerce.

In the Spanish market, the brand has a long-term wholesale partnership with El Corte Inglés. They will open their first own corner in the department store next September 2026.

The evolution towards women’s fashion, she explains, was less strategic than it seems. It was the customers themselves who asked for adult versions of certain clothing items when the brand was still aimed at children. What started as a small ‘mini-me’ capsule, fueled by the trend of mothers and daughters wearing the same clothes, grew into an independent line.

At the same time, the ‘teen’ segment has become the fastest growing category. It acts as a bridge between childhood and adulthood and strengthens customer loyalty within The New Society ecosystem.

The New Society’s relationship with sustainability is based on their product vision. A large part of the brand identity revolves around natural fabrics, artisanal techniques and sustainable garments for everyday use. The company produces mainly in Portugal, works with European suppliers and prefers organic, recycled or natural materials.