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Learning a Little Bit More About Grana

seasons-salt-grana-review

Some History

A little over a year ago (last September to be exact) I sent an email to Grana, curious about this new-on-the-scene business, asking where their items were made. They were just more than a year old and appeared to be on track with Everlane, in terms of a disruptive price model, featuring direct-to-consumer sales. But I was curious if their ethics were similar too. They sent me some information about the company explaining their commitment to the highest quality fabrics, “safe worker conditions” and “proper environmental practices.” But it felt a little vague and wasn’t enough to satisfy my desire to know more about their manufacturing processes, specifically their factories, and which countries they manufacture in.

I watched Grana grow in popularity and expand their offerings, but I never felt ready to make a purchase from the company.

Fast-forward to this fall, and I still wasn’t sure what to make of this company. They seemed great, but I felt part of the picture was missing for me. They were too much of an unknown. That is, until recently when a person from Grana kindly offered to send me some clothes to review for Seasons + Salt. I figured this was my chance to finally get some of my questions answered. Before I even wanted to look at their lineup of clothing I wanted to know more about their manufacturing processes, and how they ensure ethics in their factories.

This time, I got more of what I was looking for.

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A Peek Behind the Curtain

In the time since I first reached out to them, they’ve updated their website to include some more information about their company ethos and relationships with their factories. But the best information came from the person I was in touch with at Grana. She pointed me in the direction of Grana’s recent #showmewhere campaign – where they sent four urban and travel Instagram photographers to five of their main factories. I wish these photographic essays focused a little bit more on the garment workers and where the pieces are made, but a sense of pride in product and how these fabrics are made is very clear. In my original email exchange with Grana, the person I talked to pointed out that the higher quality fabrics they work with lend themselves to greater integrity at those mills. This is because they have a reputation to uphold compared to cheaper fabric suppliers. A number of items appear to be cut and sewn on location, like the Japanese denim and the Peruvian Pima cotton. Other items like the Chinese Silk and Mongolian Cashmere are sewn in China.

Arguably you could say Grana is more transparent than Everlane because their garments are traced all the way back to the material sourcing for the fabric. I don’t know how many fabrics Everlane can say that about. But Everlane provides a lot more information about their factories than Grana does. I look forward to seeing where Grana goes in the future, and keeping an eye out as they hopefully continue to better educate us on where and how their items are made.

Review: Chinese Silk 

Silk Tank (Medium) in Off-White, Made in China, c/o Grana

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I will be totally honest here, I’ve never owned or worn silk in my life. This is a first for me. I always tend to shy away from it because it seems hard to care for. But I love the feel and drape of silk. I also thought cashmere was hard to care for, and I’ve been proven wrong. Maybe I’ll find a way to simply launder and wear silk. I’ll keep you posted.

This tank is soft and smooth (as silk, ha!) and hits my hip with an attractive dip in the back. The arm holes are not too constricting and not low enough to show bra either. But you can kind of see in the first picture, this shade of silk is a bit transparent. If I wanted to wear this tank solo I would probably have gotten a darker color, but I was looking for something to layer under a few of my favorite tops, and I think the silk tank does the job nicely.

[ Blouse, old | Black Denim, Paige | Sofia Noir Shoes, c/o Nisolo (Fit note: I sized up 1/2 size.) ]


Review: Peruvian Pima Cotton and Mongolian Cashmere

Pima Modal Slouchy Tee (Medium) in White, Made in Peru, c/o Grana
Cashmere Longline Cardigan (Medium) in Heather Gray, Made in China, c/o Grana

Believe it or not, I am a t-shirt junkie. High quality t-shirts are an important building block of my wardrobe. That’s what sent me straight into the arms of Everlane nearly three years ago. Checking out Grana’s options was a tad overwhelming to me because there are so many options. I knew I didn’t want something super low cut, and that I wanted to stick to my preferred loose-from-the body t-shirt look. The Pima Modal Slouchy Tee seemed the closest to that option.

The transparency factor on this tee is pretty good. I am wearing a darker-colored nude bra, and you can’t see it at all. Though it’s front-tucked here, the shirt actually goes down a little past my hips. It has some length without being super long. It is also loose, but still feels lean rather than boxy. After I washed and dried it, I noticed it did seem a tad shorter. And the best part: this Pima cotton is incredibly soft. It reminds me of my husband’s Army t-shirts which have been washed so many times they feel like the silkiest of fabrics on my skin. This shirt is the soft, broken-in tee you didn’t have to break in.

Jeans, Imogene + Willie | Oliver Oxfords, Nisolo ]

And the part you’ve been waiting for… the cashmere! As you know I’m a big fan of Everlane’s high-quality and well-priced cashmere, but I think they’ve almost met their match here with Grana. I say almost because I believe Everlane’s designs are a little more forward leaning and slightly edgier, while Grana’s styles are more classic or on par with what’s already being offered.

This longline cardigan is so soft and warm, I imagine it might be a bit like wearing cashmere pajamas. Now my beloved tee’s are a little more wearable during these coldest months of the year. This sweater is so warm! It seems just as soft and thick as my other cashmere sweaters. One little detail I love is the double-knit cuffs. This helps them stay extra structured, and I’m sure it’ll help them from stretching out too much over time. I tried to take a picture for you, but it was very hard to shoot a photo with my heavy camera with one hand!

This cardigan has a boxy shape, which I really like, and about 6-8″ slits on either side. The slits help the cardigan drape away from my body, which is nice when you’re wearing a garment this long. Nobody wants to feel like they’re walking around in a funnel. Another detail I really like about Grana is that they included a little ‘cashmere comb’ to help defuzz as needed. It has pumice-type material that pulls of pills. (See it at Elaine’s site here.) I tried it out on my daughter’s very pilly wool sweater, and it did wonders for it! I hope my sweater doesn’t pill too much, but if it does, I’ll definitely give their little comb a go.

That’s all the details I can think to review for you on Grana’s silk, Pima cotton and cashmere. Overall I’m really happy with what I’ve learned about the company, and pretty impressed with what they have to offer. If you’re interested in making a purchase from Grana, you can use my referral link to save 10% (and send me a $20 credit).

Thanks for reading this mammoth of a post!

Cheers,
Andrea

35 thoughts on “Learning a Little Bit More About Grana

      1. Thanks! I got a medium in the merino cardigan originally and was swimming in it (I usually wear medium in everlane)_…but I’m trying to decide if this one might be better in a medium since it’s thicker/possibly prone to shrinking a bit when I wash it.

  1. So happy you’ve done this! I also came across Grana last year, and have felt unsure about them. I think I’ll check them out. Since I read Grechen’s piece on Everlane’s not-so-transparent transparency, I’m giving companies a little bit of slack when they show that they’re truly trying to be ethical/sustainable.

    1. Stacy, that is so wise! I agree completely. It’s hard for these companies to be 100% perfect, but I truly believe overall they are bringing a positive impact to the marketplace.

  2. Thanks for posting this. I’ve been seeing Grana pop up a lot on the blogs I read but wanted to know more.

    Also, will you be reviewing those Nisolo Sofia shoes? I’m really curious about them but I have narrow heels and I can’t tell if they’re supposed to be snug on the heels or if they’re more like mules when you walk. Any comments you have about them would be great to read!

    1. Hi Karen!

      Yes, I will review them, but I want a chance to wear them around a bit first – which could be challenging because it’s snowy and icy right now! Mine fit snug on my heels, the shoes goes back far enough on the top of my foot that they don’t do any flipping or flopping if that makes sense. It’s like a secure slide. So far I find them to be really comfortable!

      1. Yeah, they don’t seem great for cold weather! But thanks for the info. I’m glad to hear they aren’t too loose and I might just be ready to pull the trigger on a pair of my own…

        1. Good luck Karen! I normally wear 9.5 in Nisolo, and I got these in a 10, just in case that helps. But in most shoes I typically wear a 10.

  3. I’m so glad you posted this. Grana has been showing up on my FB feed lately, and I really like their designs (the sunflower-colored silk is gorgeous). I had the same questions about their ethics/ manufacturing though, so I really appreciate you investigating further. I’m curious to see how they evolve as a business!

  4. Hi Andrea thanks for the link and I gotta say your outfit with white silk tank layered looks perfect! If you get a chance to review more Grana, maybe try their georgette satin silk items which are made from 22mm thread and feel even more luxe than their 16mm thread silk tanks. I think their v-neck camis, slip dress, cullottes, and bomber are all georgette satin.

  5. Very helpful post! I’ve been shopping from and posting about Grana products for a while, though I also had the same doubts about whether they were actually holding themselves out as being focused on ethical manufacturing (and whether, if they made such a commitment, it was true). It looks like they’ve become a touch more transparent about these things since the last time I looked up this info on their website several months ago.

    I own a lot of silk and don’t generally find it particularly difficult to care for. I tend to stick to handwashing it in cold water with detergent meant for delicate items, and I’ve been told to avoid not soaking it for longer than 30 minutes, though I don’t know from experience if that’s important, and most of my silk items do great that way.

    Cleaning stains out of silk items can, however, get complicated, in my experience. I still don’t have a good way of getting stains out of silk as my usual method of getting stains out of handwashed clothes (rubbing at the stain with special detergent, which may not be recommended for other fabrics either, but has tended to work on, say, cotton) can leave marks on silk. I often end up sending stained silk items to the dry-cleaner out of frustration.

  6. Hi Andrea, I have a few of the GRANA silk pieces and tried hand washing one of them for the first time and it turned out ok. I used the Laundress delicate wash on the racerback camisole and towel dried it flat. I didn’t notice any shrinkage (but the racerback style is loose-fitting so not as noticeable if it did). It did dry a little stiff but softens up easily with steaming and/or wear.

  7. Have you heard of Siizu? Alden at EcoCult just featured them. They are even more fashion forward than Everlane and tell you a lot more about raw materials sourcing. I love the look of their sweaters.

    But this Grana sweater looks lovely, too!

  8. I have the ‘oversized’ tank from Grana that I bought on their no-markup sale. Because it was cheap ($12!) I didn’t mind risking machine washing and am happy to report that a cold delicate wash, followed by a very brief low heat dry (so it doesn’t air dry all crunchy) worked out great. It may have shrunk a bit but I was actually happy about that since the armholes were really low before.

      1. I saw someone else recommend it on a thread somewhere or I wouldn’t have tried it. :) Also, I actually did want it to shrink a bit!

  9. The pieces are awesome… But on to something completely different!
    You just gave me a new life dream!?! I want to be one of those cool instagram types who travel to factories and tell the stories behind the brands!! OH my OH my.. Totally new goal here!

    Okay back to your post. I loved that you persistently asked for more information, I think that is so important!

    1. HA! I love it! Did you look at the photos? They are AMAZING. Gorgeous. Yes, it would be really cool to be that kind of story-teller!

  10. I haven’t seen a lot of reviews of Grana, and I’m so glad to see this! I’ve browsed their things a few times and find the pricing fair, but had no idea what the quality was really like. Thank you for your honest review! I love that cardigan – it looks so cozy and is the perfect piece to go with anything!

    1. Hi Savannah, the pieces I got seem really great quality. The silk top is thin, but I don’t have a lot to compare it to. It sounds like they have a secondary line of silk that is thicker. But pima cotton and the cashmere are wonderful.

  11. I’m really thinking of replacing my tattered lifestyle clothes with more ethical pieces. I feel like since cutting down on eating meat and living the minimal lifestyle, this is just the logical next step. I’m not sure if I’ve missed it, but can you do a post about the longevity of these ethical brands? Like sharing an average use and wash and how it holds up?

    As always, thank you for introducing me to new ethical options :)

    Sincerely, Tania

    1. Great question Tania!! Whenever I review items, I try to talk about how long I’ve owned them, and how they’ve held up. Obviously that doesn’t work here because I just got them. BUT, check out my Everlane t-shirt review, I touched on wear-quality there. I am a big fan of their t-shirts, and some I’ve been wearing for 2.5+ years!

  12. Please review the new Nisolos you have… The absence of user reviews on their site is so annoying! They claim true to size for the Sofia why did you size up?

    1. Hi Linda! I’ll definitely review them, but I want to wear them a little more first. Honestly, I sized up because they were out of the 9.5’s that I normally wear. Also, the person I was emailing with at Nisolo said some people had sized up for a better fit. Looking back I should have known, because in most shoes that are pointy, I seem to need to size up a half size. I got the 10’s and they fit great!

  13. I now have I think 4 silk Grana tanks (they are great for the office just as you’re wearing them, with a cardigan). I use Euclan and just soak them in the washing machine and then run the spin cycle and hang dry and I’ve never had an issue (steam them a little in the shower or with a steamer if wrinkly), and I have definitely sweated in them and the Euclan takes it out. I also have a few of their tees and I think they’re better than Everlane in some ways because they’re thicker and so will last longer (I always get those tiny holes in the belly area where I think they’ve worn against my belt buckle).

    Grana has also been great with my trying to order their black jeans… we’re on the third and I think final order which will be the right size. The black denim is beautifully thick and sturdy and I think will pass in my business casual office.

    1. Thanks for the tips Jen. I will definitely come back and reference this when I go to wash my tank. Sounds like you have nailed down your office ‘uniform’ expertly.

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