Last week Elvis & I sat down (remotely unfortunately!) with the indomitable Holly Tucker, founder of Holly & Co.

We have known Holly for what seems like forever... Elvis & Kresse was one of the first small brands to go live on her first big venture, Not On The High Street and we are now very excited to be joining Holly & Co, a wonderful marketplace celebrating the most creative small businesses in the UK.

Holly has a regular podcast where she interviews founders and innovators, her research is absolutely first rate and what can I say, so far she is the only person who has been able to get Elvis to put on the headphones and record.

It was a great chat, we hope you enjoy it. It is definitely worth waiting until the end where we read letters written to our younger selves and Elvis manages to remind me once again just how very lucky I am. 

Q&A

1. What topics did Holly Tucker and the founders discuss during their conversation? They discussed a range of topics including entrepreneurship, small business challenges, marketplaces, innovation, creative industries, and the importance of community support.
2. How does Holly & Co differentiate itself from other marketplaces celebrating small businesses? Holly & Co stands out from other marketplaces by its focus on celebrating creative small businesses in the UK, its curated selection of unique products, its commitment to supporting independent makers, and its vibrant community engagement initiatives.
3. What insights or advice did the founders share in the letters they read to their younger selves? Elvis & Kresse shared valuable insights and advice to their younger selves, touching on topics such as resilience, perseverance, learning from failures, seizing opportunities, and the importance of staying true to one's values and passion.

I will never quite forget the first time we were told, by an august incumbent luxury brand that we were 'not a Maison', we were 'not a House'. It was meant to put us in our place, we were too small, we were not really luxury, etcetera etcetera.

We could have a lot of discussions about what a House might be, and who gets to define it... but why? We have always followed what we know to be good and true and radically on the side of a shared healthy future for the planet and its people. 

Which means no, we are not a Maison. We are a Farm.

We are a FARM. 

What does this MEAN?

We put the earth first, we put soil first, we put future generations first. This is how we make our decisions, this is how we design, this is how we manufacture and communicate and live.

What does this LOOK LIKE?

• We don't have a supply chain, we have a symbiotic ecosystem of partners, some provide us with their waste (like the London Fire Brigade), others receive our donations (like The Fire Fighters Charity).
• We manufacture our own products across two sites where everyone is paid a Living Wage. We don't subcontract to a factory where we have no idea or control over how people are treated or compensated.
• We bought a farm and relocated here to restore a degraded ecosystem and put everything that we do at E&K quite literally at the heart of a farm.
• Our HQ is a straw bale building with a glulam timber frame, these materials have locked in local carbon and ensure that we are extremely efficient.
• We have a solar panel system with batteries and an MVHR, and in just our first year with this system we are almost entirely self-sufficient.
• We use heat pumps, and not fossil fuels for heat
• We planted a vineyard and more than 3000 trees in our first year here and have never ploughed or used pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers - we are operating by entirely regenerative principals. We aren't 'part' regenerative or regenerative when it is convenient. We will be storing carbon in our own soil and trees... we aren't offsetting.
• We constructed a wetland system to gather and store rainwater and also to treat our own waste and waste water, turning something our water companies think is a problem into a source of nutrients for carefully selected flowers, reeds and trees.
• Our humanure? That is separated out and in partnership with worms and time becomes vermicast - a natural fertilizer, the original black gold.
• We build our own compost from local wastes like food waste, ruminant manure and wood chip. In the same way that Elvis & Kresse is working on the circular flow of materials and capital, the farm works by cycling nutrients back into the soil with compost and compost tea (also brewed on-site).
• Our whole aim for the farm is to build soil health. Healthy soils produce nutrient dense foods, retain more water (drought resistance), and sequester more carbon.

Want to learn MORE?

• Come and see us - we offer all kinds of workshops and experiences.

And just to be clear - our farm is also our home. We live here, our Vineyard manager and his family live here, and we have a cottage so that you can come and stay here.... why be a House when you can be a Home, a Farm, an ecosystem that is being restored to abundant biodiversity. It is time to think beyond outdated definitions, which are restrictive and reductive. If we want to do more, and be better, we have to think bigger.

Thank You!

Another wonderful year to be grateful for... We appreciate your support and can't wait to start again in 2024, refreshed and ready to rescue more wonderful materials.

Merry Christmas from the whole Elvis & Kresse team!

Last orders for Christmas? If you are in the UK we can still take orders until 11am on Friday the 22nd, you will have to choose Special Delivery and be in until 1pm on the 23rd, ready to accept your parcel?

Missed the Deadline? We highly recommend our Gift Cards, or our Workshops. These can be gifted virtually, via email, so no deadlines!

Workshop Closing: The workshop will be closed from noon on December 22nd until the 2nd of January. All orders placed during this time will be shipped on the 2nd.

There are a lot of quotes about giving... 

'It is better to give than to receive' springs to mind, and this one is definitely true but perhaps our favourite is from John Bunyan:

This one is special to us - over the years we have had many people question our donations, most prominently the Financial Times, who thought it was imprudent to donate 50%. How could a business make this kind of commitment and thrive? What about the shareholders? What about growth?

Well, here we are, almost 19 years later and it seems that we were right. What is really ludicrous is the idea that a solely profit motivated business is in any way laudable or aspirational. 

Giving isn't madness... it is at the heart of our success. It fills our rescued pieces with a deeper meaning, it makes them the gifts that keep on giving. 

Anyway... musings about the failure of capitalism aside, today is the day we make our annual donation to the Fire Fighters Charity. We have donated £44,698.33 this year to the FFC and that brings our total donations to date to £428,908.93. We have a wonderful long-term partnership with the FFC, and couldn't be more proud of how closely we work, and how much fun we have had rescuing and transforming hoses and raising funds. 

Here is a lovely letter from the CEO of the Fire Fighters Charity, Dr. Jill Tolfrey:

We are still open because of these donations, this commitment to generosity has made the story of Elvis & Kresse worth telling and sharing which is why we continue to find happy new custodians for our bags and belts and wallets. 

If you would like to learn more about what this donation does, we can share that it covers a huge range of both mental and physical health support; everything from group therapy sessions, to a 24 hour support hotline, emergency care packages, and residential physical therapy. If you would like to have your spirits lifted, please read through some of the beneficiary stories from the Fire Fighters Charity. 

We hope you all enjoy this season of giving, and thank you again for all your support.

This magazine is one we have come to know over the last few years. Why do we like it: 

1. C&TH is the first glossy in the world to attain B Corp certification. 
2. The magazines purpose is to celebrate the brands who are going above and beyond with respect to their social and environmental performance.
3. They understand that 'sustainability must be desirable, playful and fun, which can sometimes get lost in the story.'  

This is why they decided to launch our first ever Sustainability Awards, in conjunction with Journey to Zero, which is an annual live event exploring the vital connection between luxury and sustainability. 

With Lucy Cleland, Founder of Country & Town House

It was a total delight to be invited to these inaugural awards where we found, to our surprise, that we were nominated as the most Sustainable Accessory Brand in the same category with Anya Hindmarch and Mulberry. The lovely breakfast was enough of an honour, so imagine our delight to win!

Thank you C&TH! 

You can learn all about these awards here.

We have just made our annual donation to Barefoot College International. 50% of the profits from our rescued leather are donated to Barefoot, and we are very proud to announce a donation of £15,600.00. We have been working with them for several years, sponsoring women to train as solar engineers. You can learn about how this training can transform communities by reading some of our previous posts but also find out more about Barefoot's Solar Program by heading over to their website.

 Why accept less from a handbag? Why not demand more? If you can think of anything else that we could be doing let us know. Come on down the farm and let's talk.

Interesting question! Particularly for us, as we have been labelled or introduced so many times as a 'sustainable luxury pioneer'. But what does it really mean? 

Let's start with 'sustainable'. It is such a shame that this word has become overused and part of the standard greenwash playbook. It shouldn't be a word that loses meaning as it is actually quite precise.

Sustainability is sometimes easier to understand by its opposite. To be unsustainable means that something is either:

1. Not able to be maintained at the current level or in the long term; or
2. Indefensible

I have to say that indefensible is my favourite. There are so many things that we humans make, that we do, that we simply know are indefensible. For example, modern slavery is indefensible, but it is rife in the fashion sector. And then there are the plethora of things that we just can't keep doing in the long run; the vast majority of the goods and services that flow through our current economy are unsustainable. Perhaps they are derived from fossil fuels (think of viscose, or nylon), perhaps they use an inordinate amount of water or chemistry to be grown or processed, perhaps they are designed to be worn once or made with such poor material or craftsmanship that they simply won't last. For us, you have to make every business or design decision based on whether or not it is going to make the world better for other people’s grandchildren. This guarantees sustainability. How? Well, we would have to still be able to do it, largely in the same way, in perpetuity. Our materials and techniques can't rely on diminishing resources. Also, we have to be able to defend our decisions to future generations. We would have to be able to look them in the eye and say we did our best, or more importantly to paraphrase Maya Angelou 'we did our best until we knew better, and then we did better'. 

Being sustainable is tricky, but not impossible. And realistically, it isn't enough. Biodiversity loss and climate change demand more, we can't just maintain or defend things, we now actively have to improve them. Which is why our focus now is on regeneration (another word that is quickly being gobbled up by greenwashers).

Now luxury is harder to define, but I love how a mentor of ours, Maria Eugenia Giron, put it in her book on Sustainable Luxury (a book we feature in!).

"Luxury is beautiful, refined, innovative and essential."

This is certainly a tall order but it is what we absolutely aim for in every single piece. The first two requirements, beauty and refinement are kind of obvious. Of course you have to be both of these and although beauty is in the eye of the beholder craftsmanship (how we read refinement) speaks for itself. Maria Eugenia's final two requirements are less obvious, but really important for us, and certainly what separates true luxury from the rest of the pack.

Innovation is actually absent from much of modern luxury - using the same materials, techniques, manufacturing processes and designs as the rest of your industry just isn't innovative. Pioneering the use of a novel material? That is innovation. Relocating to a farm in order to generate more clean water than you use? That is innovation. Donating 50% of your profits to charity? That too, is innovation. 

And essential... this really is the stand out term. A luxury piece should really be something that you rely on, a cornerstone of your wardrobe, something that you use rather than occasionally admire. And I think we have achieved this too. Proof? How about this feedback from Emmy Nominated Composer, Mark Crawford:

"I’ve worn that belt pretty much every single day since 2018. Best belt ever."

Sustainable luxury is a journey, one we don't think anyone will really ever arrive at either because you can always learn and improve.  All I can promise you is that we will never be satisfied with what we have done, we will always be aiming to 'do better'.

Elvis & Kresse just won the 2023 Marie Claire Sustainability Award!

We were the best accessories brand and given the competition and the judging panel this one is a real honour. I think our favourite part of the process was watching the awards (they were virtual to avoid a travel footprint). It was really lovely to learn about all of the brands who participated. They are all solving environmental problems creatively and joyfully.

Everything we do is inspired by the challenges we face, socially and environmentally. We are always trying to squeeze absolutely every ounce of goodness from the decisions we make, the products we design and how we produce, communicate and distribute. There isn't enough time for anything less than our best and it really is lovely to be recognised as making some serious progress.

According to Marie Claire, this is why we won:

As a certified Social Enterprise and B Corp, Elvis & Kresse is dedicated to redefining luxury. It has donated more than £350,000 to charitable partners – including The Fire Fighters Charity and Barefoot College International – saved 307.6 tonnes of materials that would otherwise have gone to landfill, and established eco-conscious manufacturing sites. Simply put: it's making things better.

"A great concept and solid initiatives from a small business that was born sustainably. Very credible," says Amy Nelson-Bennett, Managing Director of Positive Luxury, and our Sustainability Awards judge." 

If you want to keep up-to-date with everything we do, please sign up to our newsletter here.

Bring Your Team!

Over the last few months we have been opening up the workshop to offer the wider world a little bit of the Elvis & Kresse magic... we have hosted all kinds of groups from business, community and academia. And whether they are here for inspiration or escape we are happy to help.

We can arrange workshop and farm tours, host discussions on many topics from the broken fashion system to regenerative agriculture. We are a live experiment of what a business can be when it decides to be good and continues to push that goal over decades. 

We can tailor any kind of experience from making to farming, anything you like really! Send us an email, support@elvisandkresse.com

  

Feedback from our last group!

"The feedback from everyone has really been amazing Kresse, it far outdid everyone’s expectations (We had held back the full details of the day until we were on the way to you, so it was a surprise to most!) The whole team said they came away feeling really inspired. The passion, knowledge, and dedication you and Elvis have really shone through and was super motivating. All the work taking place on New Barns Farm is just incredible – I’ve had multiple comments on how high you have set the bar for our team days out, and I couldn’t agree more, it will be a tough one to follow!

Please also pass on our appreciation to the amazing catering team! Again, rave reviews from all; it was the perfect spread and truly delicious! 

Hope to stay in touch, I can’t wait to see the results of the fabulous work you guys are doing.. and hopefully try the wine one day!"

Wasted Kitchen

Here is a quick snap of the incredible catering from our last event by Wasted Kitchen, who use locally sourced food that would otherwise be discarded.

What is Fire-Hose?

When we started rescuing hoses back in 2005 we found that the material we fell in love, nitrile rubber, with was also naturally vegan, and that by not using animal derived glues or lining materials we could offer a completely vegan collection while also staying true to our mission - rescuing materials and donating 50% of profits to charity. All of this is as true today as it was in the beginning. 

Not only is our fire-hose collection vegan but so is everything heroing reclaimed printing blankets. The off-set printing industry uses a printing blanket to transfer ink from the roller onto the paper. If the blanket is damaged or wears out it can no longer be trusted to dot your i's or cross your t's . We rescue these blankets, clean them up, re-engineer them and create a second life for a vintage material.

      

If you are keen to exclusively browse our vegan collection, just click here!

Q&A

1. What specific products are included in the fire-hose collection and how are they repurposed? The fire-hose collection comprises various items such as bags, accessories, and goods. These products are crafted from recycled fire hoses made of nitrile rubber. Through a meticulous process, these hoses are cleaned, transformed into a usable textile, then repurposed into durable and stylish items, contributing to sustainability and eco-conscious fashion.
2. How does the process of rescuing, cleaning, and re-engineering printing blankets into new products work? Printing blankets used in the offset printing industry are rescued, cleaned, and re-engineered to extend their lifecycle. These blankets, which transfer ink from rollers to paper, undergo thorough cleaning and refurbishment to ensure their reliability and functionality. Once rejuvenated, they are transformed into new products, offering a second life to this vintage material.
3. Are there any specific charities or causes that the profits from the sales of the fire-hose collection and reclaimed printing blankets support? The profits generated from the sales of the fire-hose collection and reclaimed printing blankets contribute to charitable causes related to the hose and aligned with the brand's mission. Since the very beginning 50% of the profits from the fire-hose range have been donated to The Fire Fighters Charity. Additional charity partners focus on environmental conservation, humanitarian aid, community development, and other philanthropic endeavours, reflecting our commitment to the environment, social responsibility and giving back to society.