Walpole has announced the UK luxury labels that are part of its Brands of Tomorrow programme for this year. The “carefully selected early-stage brands” will benefit from “a year-long programme of workshops and mentoring to help develop their business skills and set them on a path to growth”.

The “unique mentoring programme” that’s now in its 17th year involves “some of the UK’s most experienced luxury executives, editors and founders who provide one-to-one coaching, sharing their knowledge and expertise with the chosen brands”

The 12 brands cover a wide range of categories, including foods and furniture. But in the fashion and beauty sector, there’s gender-fluid Monc Eyewear that says it’s “on a mission to reframe the eyewear industry by designing sunglasses and spectacles which put quality, provenance and sustainability in the same breath of importance as their aesthetic”.

Another label is Otiumberg, a B Corp certified jewellery brand established in 2016 by London-based sisters Christie and Rosanna Wollenberg. The collection is a “personal reflection in jewellery; an ode to understatement and effortless style focused on a timeless perspective and subtle detailing… in the purest artisan tradition”.

Next, Shore is a design brand “innovating in the fields of ergonomic rugs, soft furnishings, and footwear made from handwoven high-performance materials”. Founded in 2015, each piece is handmade in-house in the London studio.

Meanwhile, hairstylist Larry King is known for his work with Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair. Together with his wife Laura King, they launched Larry King Hair Care in 2018 with a range of multi-functional haircare products “that they developed behind the scenes and applied to his clients”.

And Gigi & Olive is an “ultimate luxury destination for the modern bride”. It launched in September 2019 as a one-stop destination for both experiences and products unique to the company. It includes both its own branded items and “curated products from female-founded like-minded brands”.

This year’s mentors include Harrods MD Michael Ward and its Senior Director Beauty, Fine Jewellery, Watches and Home, Annalise Fard; Miller Harris CEO Jon Graham; and Nick Keyte, who’s Chief Product and Brand Officer, Charles Tyrwhitt, among others.

Walpole said the programme “continues to support the success and growth of the British luxury industry by passing on skills, experience and practical knowledge to ensure the continued dynamism and prosperity of the sector. It creates mutually beneficial relationships between established and up-and-coming luxury brands and individuals, which not only ensures a pipeline of new British brands, but keeps driving the innovation and entrepreneurship at the heart of one of the UK’s fastest growing business sectors”.