END. & GRAND COLLECTION’S EXCLUSIVE FUNDRAISING TEES

Grand Collection was established in New York in 2016 with skate running deep through its DNA; the label’s founder, Ben Oleynik, has spent over a decade deeply immersed in the city’s skate scene, channelling that into everything Grand Collection creates. But Grand Collection is not your typical skate brand, separating itself through a commitment to philanthropy and making change within communities. Grand holds annual food drivers and fundraisers in New York through Ben’s desire for “the brand to do more than just make clothes”, something which was born out of moving to New York and seeing “how big of an issue food insecurity is". Food is donated and reaches the community via local organisations that Grand heavily believes in, like the Bowery Mission, which has been serving New Yorkers in need since 1879.

In light of that, the label partners with END. to extend their holiday food drive to London, creating a duo of exclusive tees with all proceeds going to City Harvest London: an emergency food charity delivering over 1.1 million meals to 350+ charities. On discussing how the partnership between Grand and END. was formed, Ben said “we spoke about the Grand food drive in New York, and eventually how we could bring it to London, given all the economic troubles there right now”. It’s these connections that are crucial to Grand and its drive to create tangible differences for people — “It’s really meaningful for established retailers like END. to get behind smaller brands like Grand and support the community with initiatives like this. With END., we’re able to immediately expand the reach of the fundraiser and that means helping more people”.

Grand Collection’s design sensibility represents the DNA  of skateboarding cast through an elevated lens, with Ben stating “our design language is pure and minimal”. There’s a strong emphasis on quality and wearability, with Ben asking “what do we need to skate in, travel in, work in, chill in?” when creating garments. It’s these design principles that inform the two tees within the collection — one in black, one in white — with each one cut from pure cotton and embroidered with “London” in cursive font as an homage to the capital city across the chest.