From Kendall Jenner to Gigi Hadid, how Frame gained superfans by not being your typical fashion brand
- Jens Grede and Erik Torstensson have proved adept at making products that fickle millennials actually want to buy
- The brand has eight stores in North America, with four more opening by the end of the year, and has amassed an enviable list of retailers
When they founded fashion label Frame in 2012, Swedish pair Jens Grede and Erik Torstensson didn’t let their lack of experience as traditional designers deter them from their goal of establishing a brand that catered to the cool girls around them.
“We had always worked for other brands and created an image for them, so there was an urge for us to do something where we could control all the touchpoints. And, of course, our work in the fashion industry helped us a lot to get access to a certain level of talent – but I think it’s fair to say that starting a brand was very different from what we had done before.”
As the co-founders of Wednesday Agency Group, which they eventually left, Grede and Torstensson – two of the most successful creative directors working in the luxury industry – worked with brands such as Louis Vuitton and were instrumental in developing the widely copied visual identity of online retailer Mr Porter. They also founded two of the most successful indie magazines of the last decade: Man About Town and Industrie.
The two tastemakers represent what being a designer entails in the 21st century.