How Luke Grana became a celebrity-endorsed sensation

Luke Grana tells #legend how his online fashion store, Grana, became a celebrity-endorsed sensation.

Grana is famously an e-commerce site, but you have The Fitting Room in Sheung Wan and arrange pop-ups. How do customers interact with the two modes? 

Our try offline, buy online concept works really well with existing customers who want to see, feel and try our modern essentials. Same-day delivery or in-showroom pickup is a convenient option for them, considering the pace of life in Hong Kong.

The learning curve must have been steep. Do you have any advice for people looking to branch out and start their own companies?

I’m still learning but the key lessons from my previous business ventures are to have a proof of concept for the business, a solid business plan and get out there to meet angel investors.

What’s the most useful advice you’ve been given?

Don’t lose sight of the original vision. Sometimes you have to stand your ground to achieve your goal. For me, that goal is making quality accessible to everyone by lowering the price point of luxury as an online, direct-to- consumer brand.

You source your fabrics and hold pop-ups everywhere from Sydney to San Francisco. What’s your favourite travel destination?

Bali, Canggu. I try to sneak in quick trips over the weekend to explore islands around Asia, to unwind and surf. Hong Kong is so close to everything, so why not?

What are your must-have travel accessories?

My Bose earphones, Common Projects shoes and I can’t go without my journal.

How have you, as a leader, changed over the past three years?

When I was starting up, I was hungry to get this idea off the ground and took more risks because I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.It was hands-on, too – from merchandising, customer service, packing orders with hand- written notes. I did everything. We went fromthree employees to more than 75 in 2 1/2 years. Now that we’ve grown, I feel a bit more calm, because the focus is just on leadership, strategy and scalability.

How are you keeping your business skills sharp and staying ahead of the curve?

It’s about constantly reading and learning from magazines, autobiographies, podcasts, other chief executives and enrolling in short online courses to up-skill.

Celebrities are embracing your clothing.Did you expect that? How does it feel?

It’s fantastic and a bit surreal to see celebrities [including Jessica Alba] wearing our clothes, embracing the brand and our values. It’s a big motivator for the team and customers to see celebrities wearing the products that we make.

As the company grows, is there an ethos or an attitude about Grana you won’t lose?

Our mission is to make high quality accessible to everyone by taking a direct-to-consumer approach as our business model, having a lean supply chain and staying honest with our pricing. It’s important to make quality possible in all aspects of life, in everything we do.

What’s your daily schedule like?

My day usually involves a gym session at 7am,a coffee and then the meetings begin. Sometimes they’re back-to-back until 8pm, discussing strategy, meeting investors, signing- off new products and designs, marketing campaigns and finance updates.

What are you obsessed with right now?

New York. We’re planning to open a flagship showroom in Soho over the next quarter and I’m really excited to see it open.

What are you reading?

The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.

How do you unwind?

Surfing. It’s my form of meditation. Being out in the sea and getting on a wave is just a great feeling.

This featured originally ran as ‘Young Boss’ in in the October 2017 print issue of #legend.