In 2010 I applied for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards.
Launched in 2006, their mission is to shine a light on women impact entrepreneurs and provide them with the necessary financial, social and human capital support to grow their business and build their leadership skills.
I submitted an application form, including our financial history, our highs, our lows, our business plan, and made the shortlist of three to represent Europe at the 2011 edition of the awards. In the judging and awards week I met impact entrepreneurs from all over the world, first in Paris, then in Deauville, where the awards took place. It was a frenetic week of learning, presenting, networking, calling back to the UK to work with Elvis on fine tuning my presentation for the Jury and staying on top of Elvis & Kresse's day-to-day needs.
I won - I cried - and then started to realise just what it all meant. Cartier was not in this for the event, but for the impact, for the women. All the women. Win or lose everyone becomes a fellow. The support that continued to flow was truly incredible. The network continued to grow. We hosted events at our former HQ - the Mill - and I became a Juror for Europe and then a Head Juror, serving for 5 years. I couldn't say no to the chance to meet, year after year, some of the most outstanding and inspirational women in entrepreneurship.
And now here we are in 2025, 15 years after my application. This year, instead of running the awards, Cartier has gone back through all of the entrepreneurs it has supported since 2006 and chosen nine to honour with Impact Awards. They narrowed the search to three specific categories, which you can find below. And I would love for you to learn more about each of the Awardees. In May we will all travel to Osaka, to have the chance to learn and celebrate together with the wider Cartier Women's Initiative community. In the meantime - please meet these eight incredible women!
Kristin Kagetsu, Tracy O'Rourke, and me!
Namita Banka, Caitlin Dolkart, and Yvette Ishimwe
Rama Kayyali, Jackie Stenson, and Mariam Torosyan
These nine Impact Awardees will be celebrated during the Cartier Women’s Initiative
Impact Awards Ceremony to be held on May 22nd, 2025, in Osaka, as part of the
Inauguration of the Women’s Pavilion at World Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Each of the nine awardees will receive a $100,000 grant along with increased media visibility and participation in a dedicated 1-year Impact Fellowship. This program offers Impact Awardees the opportunity to enhance their impact measurement skills, refine their impact metrics and practices, deepen their leadership capabilities, and improve time management through a specialised productivity and task prioritisation course. This year, the CWI is partnering with several new program partners, making this edition a truly unique and enriching experience for its former fellows.
This is a truly magical time on the farm - although the daffodils are now fading everything else is waking up.
The buds have largely burst on the vines, tiny popcorn like nodules that dot the length of each vine essentially 'pop' and pinky tipped green leaves start to peak through and gradually unfurl. One particular variety of white bursts early and the green leaves are all out already. This is wonderful, but it means we will sleep uneasily when late frosts are lurking in the valley.
What does it sound like? Birds (our favourite is the Barn Owl), and bees (this one in the marjoram). I suppose that most people come here to appreciate the absence of sound; our urbanite friends love to sleep here, and I am always so keen to get back to where I can think peacefully, in the glorious darkness.
The trees are almost all in bud, leaf, or flower. We planted around 3000 of them in early 2022 and so many of them were twigs. Lets be honest, some of them were glorified living toothpicks. Then we had the drought... so their first year was less about growth and more about survival. Have a look at this Scots Pine... it is now taller than me!
We are also starting to see the incredibly colourful impact of our commitment to biodiversity. The pond edges are bright yellow with marsh marigold and the pasture that blankets our vineyard is full of tiny little flowers. One of my favourites is the hairy violet - up close it looks like a tiny little orchid.
What else can I tell you? It just smells 'awake'. Healthy soil has a comforting hug like smell and the pollen has its own perfume too - it would be great to be a dog and really have a good nose around.
Pioneering sustainable luxury goods business now in its 20th year. Fantastic working atmosphere, great team and a huge growth opportunity for the right candidate.
Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to build a purpose led brand in a growing market, manage and build a small team?
We’re looking for an experienced marketer who has successfully built brands in fashion or lifestyle and is ready to elevate Elvis & Kresse.
You are both strategic and hands-on, balancing big-picture brand building with day-to-day execution.
The role will report directly to the founders and will be responsible for building and implementing all aspects of our marketing strategy in order to achieve our ambitious goals.
This is a full-service brand management and marketing execution role, designing and implementing an ongoing marketing plan to deliver on ambitious sales targets. The role is supported by two internal team members and several external consultants, who require coordination and management. There is scope to grow the team if revenue goals are met.
You will be proactive and able to work independently as well as coordinate and manage input from team members and external staff. Coordination, communication and planning skills are essential in addition to basic copywriting and online media experience. You will be prepared to ‘muck in’ - in time we expect to expand the team further but in this growth phase it is ‘all hands on deck’.
With input from the founders, you will be responsible for the Elvis & Kresse marketing strategy, plan and implementation, and be its brand manager. This includes:
The ideal candidate will have relevant experience and a proven track record. They will be able to juggle many projects, both tactical and strategic, and be numerate with a complete understanding of the wider business picture and their contribution towards this. Excellent communication skills are essential to ensure stakeholder buy-in. This is a fantastic opportunity for a self-motivated person keen to continue to learn, manage a budget and eventually their own team.
Please send cover letter and CV to: kresse@elvisandkresse.com
The terminology around any kind of green claim is often unspecific and opaque. It might sound good, it might tick a box, but what does it really mean? When a brand claims that they are eco-friendly or sustainable, what do they mean? Do they mean that they are slightly better than the worst in their industry? Or do they mean they are absolutely the gold standard? Very interestingly, the European Green Claims Directive is setting out to change all this, and it should make everything a lot simpler. It is legislation designed to ensure that green claims are clear, consistent, and substantiated. It is this last word that I like the most. Hopefully what 'substantiated' means is that any brand saying they are sustainable will have to follow up (within 1-2 clicks) with precisely what they mean. They will have to show proof.
I think the Directive will work as the consequences are high - fines of up to 4% of company turnover! As most fashion brands sell in the EU, this impacts everyone. We have a couple of years to get our collective acts together.
In the meantime, let me give you some definitions of common terms - precisely the kinds of words that so many companies are using (some correctly, and some with very little genuine understanding of what they mean).
By the way - lots of brands, including us, use these terms regularly. Why? Because you are searching for them. Lots of people want to buy products that are better for the planet, and if we don't use these terms you won't be able to find us on any of the browsers (like Google, Ecosia, Bing etc.). They are literally search engine signposts. Hopefully, when the legislation beds in, these sign-posts will more accurately lead you to companies that are genuinely doing the work, rather than those that say they do, or think they do.
Now this is perhaps the most overused. But it is really important. I think the best way to understand it is by understanding its opposite (see below). To be sustainable means that it has to be able to keep going, for the long term, and it must be defensible. The sun is sustainable (it is set to burn out in 5 billion years but that is pretty long term). Our use of fossil fuels, to the detriment of future generations, is not.
Perhaps one of my favourite definitions, and the best way to understand sustainability is often through its inverse. Unable to be maintained in the long term or indefensible*. I love that last word, indefensible. Most people know when something is wrong and yet the bulk of economic activity is based on extraction and exploitation, which is unsustainable. This is the challenge of our time, revolutionising the economy. The economy makes money and creates jobs, but largely by putting future generations at risk. Elvis & Kresse is in many ways a living experiment; it is how we are trying to circle this square, or solve this problem.
The art of transforming a low value waste into a new item of higher value. Upcycling traditionally does not involve a chemical or mechanically destructive process, rather it relies on the creative reuse and reinvention of materials, celebrating what they are and fulfilling their highest potential. This is what we do.
If something is recycled, it means it has been made again from materials that were previously in use. Glass is a great example of a material that can be recycled, it can be smashed, melted down and made again and this can happen forever. Plastic can be recycled too, but we know that it really isn't being recycled at anywhere near its production and consumption rates and its quality does degrade through time. Recycling is great but Reducing and Reusing are better, they are higher up in the hierarchy of 'eco-friendliness'. Ideally we shouldn't produce any materials that can't be reused, recycled, or returned to nature through biodegradation or composting. But! In order to have a 'sustainable' system like this we have to reduce the materials flowing through it and we absolutely have to stop producing materials that can't be recycled. You will often see labels that say, 'made with recyclable materials', this just means that it CAN be recycled, not that it has been... so not quite as good. Other labels will say 'contains recycled content', which is also confusing unless followed up by specifics like which materials and what percentage. When I see a label like 'made from recycled cotton', I get very nervous, as often this means it also contains recycled polymers; this is then a Frankenfabric which we currently have no scaled way to deal with and it makes recycling and/or composting impossible.
This is a very loose term and I don't like it. It doesn't have a specific enough meaning. However, it should be an objective. We should all be thinking about how every aspect of our lives can be better for the environment, or more eco-friendly. Eating a local, seasonal diet that is plant heavy is more eco-friendly than living in the UK and living on a diet of California strawberries, Florida Orange Juice and Argentinian Steaks. Reusing and refilling your own water bottle with tap water is more eco-friendly than buying single use plastic bottled water. You can get into the weeds on this one, especially when you start looking at life cycle analysis and full carbon accounting and this is why loose terms like this are tricky, it means you have to do your own research.
Understanding every aspect and ingredient associated with making a product, using a product, and even the death of that product! The LCA of your coffee mug would involve studying the environmental impact of digging up the clay, forming, painting and firing the mug, transporting it to you, how many times you use and wash it, how you wash it and when it has smashed beyond repair, what you do with it.
This is adding up all the CO2 associated with a product or process. If you go back to your mug, it involves all of the carbon embedded in every step or process of the LCA. Some products will have a carbon label, saying how much CO2 it took to get it to you. Others will say that they are carbon neutral, which means that the carbon associated with that good has been accounted for and 'paid for'. How do you pay for carbon? Well, you can offset it, this could be by planting an amount of trees to make up for the carbon you have spent. You can inset it, by making sure that planting those trees or some other form of carbon sequestration took place during the making of the mug. You can also do everything to eliminate carbon, and actually rethink how you make, so that more carbon is removed from the atmosphere because of choosing and using your mug (this is what Elvis & Kresse is trying to do with the farm).
This is something I never believe without double checking. Some companies argue that anything that exists on earth - whether synthesized by human activity, or toxic, or endangered - can be called 'natural'. As a start, in my books if it has been man-made, it isn't natural. This is a term that always requires further research.
Natural materials are ones that are grown, and without intervention, can be returned to a natural state (biodegradable). Wood is natural, cotton is natural, wool is natural. I am personally a huge proponent of these, but not if they are 'unsustainably' grown. There is a big difference between regenerative organic cotton and chemically intensively grown cotton that is heavily irrigated.
This word can have a couple of meanings, based on context. All natural materials, things that grow, are organic. Trees are organic, people are organic. However, in the context of fashion, to me, organic should only be used if something is certified which means that it has been grown in the absence of synthetic chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers). In the UK we have the Soil Association; products that carry this label are certified as organic and the farms that they are derived from are certified. Now, this can also get tricky. What if you start with organic cotton, but then you use inorganic screen printing? Read labels, ask questions - curiosity is something to nurture!
Containing no animal or animal derived materials. Eggs are not vegan, honey is not vegan, dairy products are not vegan, leather is not vegan. In the fashion world we have a lot of debate about natural materials vs plastic materials (nylon, polyester etc.) Overwhelmingly fashion is polymer based and this is a problem. These clothes are generally not recycled, they are overwhelmingly dumped, and we have no solution to the pollution they cause during their life (the shedding of microplastics) and when they die. So although polyester is vegan, this doesn't in any way make it 'sustainable'. No fossil fuel derived fashion meets even the basic premise of sustainability, as they are based on non-renewable resources and 'can't be maintained in the long term'.
This means that a material can be recycled. Virgin materials (new materials) like glass, aluminium and cardboard are all 'recyclable' but it is up to YOU to make that happen. The hard work comes next.
I am going to tackle these together as they are related, but slightly different. Both terms require that micro-organisms can break something down, over time, into water, CO2, and biomass. Biodegradable just means this will happen over an unspecified time frame in unspecified conditions whereas compostable generally means under specific conditions and in a specific time frame. I urge all of you to study and start composting. We have huge compost piles at the farm and the speed depends on how well the piles are designed (layering of different types of material is key), moisture levels and temperature. It is generally easier to compost when it is warmer and wetter. There are certifications for 'compostable' which might specify no residue after 90 days, or might require certain temperatures or conditions. There is also an OK Compost certification which means that the material in question should be easy to compost at home, without any fancy equipment. Here is one of our compost piles at the farm:
This means that something can be fixed. There is a really amazing movement around The Right to Repair. Ideally all complex goods like refrigerators and laptops should be repairable, and repairable at a good price. We repair at cost for life - this is important because it is always better to keep something in service rather than replace it.
This is a design practice that focuses on minimizing waste. It is something that we do here! How? Our fire-hose pieces are made up of panels, the panels are the width of hoses... this means we have significantly reduced offcuts. We also use both the inside and outside surface of the hose, the outside has the ridges, the inside has the dimples, you can see this in action on our tote.
We are a certified living wage employer. This means we pay, as a minimum, wages that have been evaluated by a third party to ensure that those earning these wages can have a good quality of life. We pay these not just at our HQ but also in our manufacturing, and that is unique. There are many living wage companies that have long, complicated supply chains and the further you go from the HQ the less likely a living wage will be.
This is a term that refers to the goal of a circular economy, where all things are recycled or composted, and there is no material that is linear (taken, made, wasted). Crucially, a circular economy has to be powered by renewable energy. We can't fuel a circular system with a linear fuel! In the circular utopia that Elvis & Kresse is after capital is also circular - this is why we donate 50% of our profits to charity. Money should also flow and not be concentrated.
There is no single definition, but for us it means doing more. In practical terms it means that you give more than you take, you sequester more carbon than you emit, you generate more (renewable) energy than you consume, you treat more water than you use, you foster more biodiversity than you corrupt and you create more than you destroy.
This is everywhere!!!!! A lot of companies do one little green thing and it is all they talk about, it is their way of rinsing off all of the unsustainable things that they do by getting their customers and wider public to focus on that one little green or good thing. It is an attempt to absolve, to confuse. Always keep in the back of your mind this quote (which we love so much we turned it into a poster and it is up on the wall of our workshop).
This is a relatively new and nuanced term. A lot of companies that wanted to become more eco-friendly tried a few things and then announced them and then got so much negative scrutiny for everything they were still doing imperfectly that they have now gone dark. Green hushing has happened because there was so much greenwashing and press scrutiny that many businesses are now either not willing to try, or not willing to talk about what they are trying, for fear of negative feedback.
* Oxford English Dictionary
It is quite hard to really pin down sustainable fashion. It shouldn't be, but the term is so overused, largely by companies with one or two great initiatives that are otherwise operating unsustainably. Here is how we would break it down, and there is a hierarchy, starting with #1, which is the best. We will cover a host of sustainable practices that you can find across the fashion industry, everything from waste reduction to upcycling, to eco-friendly production.
The most environmentally friendly item of clothing that exists, is something you already own and wear and will continue to wear and repair for years and years. I have a pair of boots that I have been wearing since I was 15. They are 30 years old. I have no idea how many times I have worn them but it has to be in the thousands. They have been resoled once, and repaired twice. They work hard for me, and I am loyal to them!
Second best is second hand - if you want to refresh then swap, share, or buy second hand from sites like eBay or Vinted. This means you get some variety, without buying new. My rule is to always operate on a one out, one in model. I only buy 'new' second hand jeans when I have worn/farmed my way through a pair. I love jeans made before elastane was in everything... so sometimes I have to really hunt to find a pair that is that old, but still in great condition. This is Elvis in some very vintage Levi's...
Now, I think upcycling is very close to pre-loved, perhaps even a tie. I am only placing it in the third spot as upcycling involved the remanufacture of materials that already exist, which generally requires some cutting, trimming and sewing. So it is just this use of energy (which may not be renewable) that makes me put upcycling 3rd. Elvis & Kresse is an upcycling brand, we take materials that were on their way to landfill and give them a long and happy 2nd life - like our recycled fire hose products.
Key to upcycling is increasing the value of the materials you work with. If you turn used clothing into rags, for cleaning or car door insulation, then you are still reusing materials, but you are downcycling them. One of the chief environmental benefits of upcycling in fashion is the displaced carbon. When you aren't relying on new materials you avoid all of the embodied carbon that would have been used producing those materials. We have calculated that Elvis & Kresse, in our 20 years of production (to 2025) have diverted 461,889 tonnes of carbon which is equal to 3,301,565,403km of driving (according to https://www.openco2.net/).
These companies really have their act together. Their goods may be made from recycled or new fibres BUT every aspect of their sourcing, manufacture and distribution has prioritised making a positive environmental and social contribution. This means using certified raw materials like organic cotton or mulesing* free + high welfare wool. It means no toxic dyes and really, no polymers (they are derived from fossil fuels and shed as microplastics through the life of a garment and what happens when they die? More microplastics). It means paying living wages from the farm to the factory to retail. It means renewable heat and electricity are being used for production, distribution and beyond. It means reducing your water use and never putting polluted water back into the environment. It means thinking about the next life of the garment, and what impact it has during its life. It should be 100% recyclable or biodegradable (easy for the natural world to reabsorb it into new plant or animal life). Right now we have no real way of separating natural materials from polymers at scale (so I avoid Frankenfiber** blends like polycottons) It doesn't mean selling through Amazon warehouses. It should be easy to repair. It should be built to last. It should stand for something. Brands that are on this 360 pathway will have certifications. Here are some to look out for:
My dream is fashion that is fossil fuel free. Hopefully the biosynthetic replacements that are getting a lot of press will eventually take over. Think of this category as including everything from #4 but allow for polymers. I am genuinely very down on any kind of plastic, our use of it is totally out of control. There has been a lot of prominent press around peer reviewed scientific studies which have found microplastics in our brains, blood, kidneys etc. The evidence is in - we have totally lost control of plastics.
This category of brands are not doing much, but they have made a start. Perhaps they are increasing their recycled cotton content, or they have adopted one of the certifications above, or they have a small eco/ethical collection that they are hoping will help them transition in the future. The vast majority of brands are in this category.
Very few brands are doing nothing. However, some are manufacturing - at such a pace and volume - and with such disregard to people and planet, that we would be better off without them. The fast fashion behemoths are ALL in this category. It doesn't matter if you use recycled nylon if your supply chain is rife with modern slavery. Although the vast majority of brands are in category 6, unfortunately it is probably true that the majority of the volume is actually in category 7.
Thank you to Saturday Night Live for this Shein/Temu Parody that captures the problem
Hopefully this will help you to make better choices and buy less. Also, I really want to inspire you to relentlessly ask questions. We love questions; we love it when people drop into the workshop to see everything that we are doing. Brands that don't like questions, that won't let you visit, and rely on opaque or vague claims? They don't deserve your support. I would put Shein in this category - both Shein and Temu were called before a UK parliamentary committee and failed to answer quite simple questions. From 1:28 if you are keen on some highlights!
*Mulesing is a really awful practise, it consists of cutting strips of skin from the rear end of sheep, typically lambs, so that they don't grow wool there. It is done to prevent fly strike.
**Frankenfiber - I think I may have coined this term? It is when we create a textile that has no potential for recycling or composting. It might in the future, but it doesn't right now.
Written by Kresse!
It is wild enough to write a year in review... but what about 20?
We collected our first fire-hose in 2005, and the adventure began slowly, but stubbornly. The hoses posed so many impractical problems and challenges that even belt making left us with claw like hands and definitely no idea that we would still be here, more than 300 tonnes later.
Have their been lows? Absolutely. But nothing like the highs. Donating over £428,000.00, building the team, hosting hundreds of young people for work experience or apprenticeships, partnering with the Burberry Foundation, speaking all over the world, winning all kinds of awards, Meeting the Queen, restoring Tonge Mill, finding the farm, planting our vines... we have celebrated every kilo rescued and every pound that we donated.
One thing I know is that you can't sustain anything for 20 years without love. Love isn't limited to each other, or fire-hose, or our team and stakeholders, the farm, every organism from the micro to the macro that makes it tick, or even the potential of a completely circular, regenerative and kind economy. Love has no limit. Love, optimism and sense of purpose have sustained Elvis & Kresse. You know that phrase, 'if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well'? I think for us the bigger question is to really make sure what you mean by 'worth doing'. Without the rescue, without the transformation, without the donation? There would be no business. There is no worth or value in a business if it isn't on a regenerative pathway.
I think about key decisions that we made, very early on, which have made us who we are.
Over the years we have unequivocally proven that:
And for the next 20? First things first, we are going to ask for help for the first time, but not in a traditional way. We are incredibly focussed on what we need to do and no matter how we look at it, we can't do it alone.
Plans?
We could raise money more conventionally, but we need actual hands on help, supporters and collaborators... effectively the Farm needs Friends. We think we have a good model for this, so if you are keen to learn more, stay tuned or drop Kresse an email, kresse@elvisandkresse.com
There will be lots of 20 year updates, news and events too.
Happy 2025 everyone!
Life at the farm is full - if we aren't in the workshop we are in the vineyard and if you can't find us on site then invariably we are out working with collaborators or giving lectures or learning from other regenerative farmers. Running a small business has always been a full-time pursuit, farming is full-time + overtime, all the time.
There is little time to reflect, until just now, when we close up shop for Christmas and the whole team is off until after New Year.
Of course we have been rescuing materials and building up our donations but as you know, we do so much more! Here are a few of the highlights!
And then a few hints for next year.
Finding your perfect piece isn't always easy, especially when you know that everything we make is a one-of-a-kind.
This is obviously a wonderful part of using rescued materials, but it can lead to some trepidation.
Well, we are here to help. You can come in and make your selection in person, which is the ideal solution. Here is someone choosing her perfect Yelllow Fire-Hose Tote!
We are open Monday to Friday and open from 8:30am-5pm. We can also be open at other times by appointment, just get in touch and we can help. Do note that we will be closed from the 24th of December at noon, until the 2nd of January.
However, if you can't make it to the farm you can call, we can take and send photos or videos, and we can size anything up... Just email us at support@elvisandkresse.com or call 01795 892 184.
One of the reasons that we donate 50% of our profits to charity is that we think giving is inherently good. It makes everyone feel good, it helps to build community among stakeholders, it means that money also flows instead of concentrating in one place...
As you know we donate 50% of our profits to charity - every piece you purchase supports The Fire Fighters Charity and Barefoot College International.
And giving doesn't have to be about money - it can be advice, a hug, an introduction, a shared meal, a darned sock.
So in this season of giving we would love for you to share your best story of giving! Was it a gift? A favour? What impact did it have? The more life-changing the better. We want to help you celebrate the wonderful people who really know how to give. They are the real influencers. They are the heroes.
Another way we can give? We can support businesses that we love by sharing them with you:
Toast Ale - They are, like us, both a Social Enterprise and a Certified B Corp, they have pioneered making beer from waste bread and we make their tap handles!
Cook Food - Food made like you would at home, but frozen and ready to save you when you don't have time! One of the founding UK B Corps and seriously inspiring when it comes to how they build and manage their team.
Divine Chocolate - Kresse's favourite chocolate, fairtrade, a social enterprise, a B Corp and the only chocolate brand that is co-owned by its cocoa farmers.
Wuka - They replace plastic-riddled disposable pads & tampons with the world’s most comfortable and sustainable period underwear, they also give free pairs to those in need!
Chateau Maris - We met these guys at a B Corp event in Amsterdam and we were buddies from that moment on! Their wine is organic, inspiring and always available at our farm!
Maison Mirabeau - This is a wine-making team so committed to regenerative viticulture that they helped found the Regenerative Viticulture Association - and they make our go to Rose.
Gaze Burvill - read more about this amazing furniture company and our collaboration!
Seep - If you have been to the farm you will have seen our wetland system... these compostable washing up sponges are fantastic and mean no microplastics!
Change Please - Change Please is an award-winning social enterprise tackling homelessness through the power of great tasting coffee. 100% of profits help people experiencing homelessness through their Barista Training Programme.
Mr. Organic - Great for store cupboard classics like beans and pesto, all organic, and a B Corp too!
Bruichladdich - Just fantastic whiskey, a B Corp, and one that shares our pursuit of regenerative agriculture.
Edward Bulmer - Edward is a true pioneer in genuinely ecological paint. And they are a B Corp too!
Last night I was off to London, to attend the annual Social Enterprise Awards. The Roundhouse in Camden was a fantastic place to celebrate the work of businesses that don't have purpose as a bolt-on, or after thought. Doing good and making the world better - whether they are dentists, digital experts, bakers, housing providers or bag makers like us - is at their very core, in every ounce of DNA.
So imagine what it was like for me, in a room of my heroes, to be given an Honorary Fellowship. If you want to learn more, you can find all the details here.
With Susan Aktemel and the lovely Sarah Burns in the background!
This is not something I take lightly, or only with gratitude. The recognition is truly lovely but I don't just feel warm and fuzzy about it. This community has achieved so much, but there is more to do. For me, this is a weighty and wonderful responsibility.
Bring on the next 20 years!
Oh - and I was sitting at a fantastic table with fellow Honorary Fellows Susan Aktemel and Patrick Grant, friend and instigator Peter Holbrook, and also these two wonderful Social Enterprise supporters who were great dinner companions and hopefully won't mind this cheeky snap.
With Michael Sheen and Chris Addison!
SEUK asked me for a quote... here it is:
"When we first started Elvis & Kresse I had no idea that it would be my entry into an incredible community of dedicated, stubbornly optimistic changemakers; people who stare capitalism in the face every day and say 'there is a better way to do this, where we all win'. And then they do it. Being a part of this community is constantly an honour, an education and also the best kind of obligation."
Something completely crazy happened last night. Kresse went up to London, to the National Portrait Gallery, to take a picture of herself, next to this picture.... and you can go and see it to - open from 29 November 2024 - 2 March 2025.
Image by Zoë Law
How did this happen? Photographer, Zoë Law, met Noel Gallagher at a Manchester City football game and asked if she could take his picture. This photo launched a much wider project which launched on November 28th at the National Portrait Gallery.
Zoë Law’s Legends series celebrates over one hundred individuals from the worlds of art, fashion, business and entertainment. From World Cup-winning footballer, Sir Bobby Charlton, to the co-founder of UK Black Pride, Lady Phyll, this free display invites visitors to immerse themselves in new portraits of renowned figures and discover unsung heroes.
We had an amazing day at Zoë's studio, she is very relaxed, fun and also efficient. She took quite a few pictures which we will share from time to time but this next one is my favourite. This one isn't in the exhibition but I am pretty sure that this image explains pretty clearly why we have been able to remain in business, together, for almost 20 years.
Find out more about the series and display by visiting the Zoe Law LEGENDS website.
