Dwelling somewhere between the higgledy piggldy chimney pots, smouldering Ford Escorts and grubby high-rise flats of Romford town (thats just outside London, don't you know), is the elegant home of Growl & Grandeur. Nestled up high in a dusty attic, lit only by the glow of a bright Mac screen, is a large drawing board. Here, til the early hours, each Growl & Grandeur product is painstakingly designed to give you, the stylish people of our planet, the finest quality apparel you so desperately crave.

But what does it mean, you ask? Growl & Grandeur is a simple name, yet one of curious contrast.

Growl (groul) n.
Low gruff menacing sound made by an animal.
[Origin from Old French grouller to grumble]

Grandeur (gran, djoor) n.
Standard of being magnificent. Nobility or greatness of character.
[Origin from Middle English; Old French grand]

A name developed out of a necessity to include the things most important to the brand & what it will achieve. A sense of pride, a slight bark at all things authority & a love of all things hound.

The force behind Growl & Grandeur is Colin Hood. Many rumours still persist surrounding the true origin of Colin Hood, urban myth states he began his journey towards world domination in the quaint little village of Dagenham. A place that proudly boasts to be the biggest council estate in Europe & is more cockney than a jellied eel.

Youth came & went in a blur of dusty pavement, dodging the Burberry-adorned Staffordshire bull terriers on a battered Raleigh Burner, complete with an empty Ribena carton wedged in the back fork to make that authentic Harley Davidson sound. In the time not spent grazing his knees or breaking his teeth, Colin honed his skills as a talented artist who wields a pencil like the demon barber's cut-throat. Obsessively drawing monsters, girls & cars or sometimes all three as a twisted imagining of a robot zombie hybrid in hot undies. To provide cover from his past and to maintain a semblance of normality, he now lives with his beloved & beautiful bride Katie & his tricksy troublesome cockapoo Florence (both, due to his unquenchable thirst for flame-haired laydees, are ginger).

In a foolish & misguided bid to gain acceptance in mainstream society, & somehow make good his earlier misdemeanors, he became an Art Director (a flouncy advertising term meaning Graphic Designer). After 10 years in the business, it became sharply apparent that the only real benefit to working in the advertising business is that people are oddly impressed when you say 'I work in advertising'. "Tis not enough", cried our hero, & thus, from a handful of notepads, chewed marker pens & endless research, Growl & Grandeur was conceived, baked, born & unleashed upon a cruel and desperate world. All for that most noble endeavor, to keep oneself from a proper day's work & an honest living. No sir, not he.

Much effort & time has gone into creating Growl & Grandeur & I can't express enough thanks to those who support it. You are all such warm-hearted and rather wonderful people. (Flo also says thank you, it keeps her in the premium doggy kibble to which she has become so unwaveringly accustomed)