Williams-Sonoma launches another brand

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/8/2012 3:10:42 PM

San Francisco - In time for the holiday season, Williams-Sonoma Inc. is launching a new direct-to-customer brand, Mark and Graham, which specializes in personalized gifts and accessories.

Mark and Graham offers products personalized with a choice of more than 50 custom monograms and creative type treatments.

The new markandgraham.com site offers a range of products that can be personalized and/or monogrammed. In home textiles, that list includes table and kitchen linens, throws, decorative pillows, bath and guest towels, aprons, robes, wine bags, and baby linens like bibs. The brand also includes a direct mail catalog.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. president and ceo Laura Alber said with Mark and Graham, "our goal is to create a destination for beautiful, high-quality, thoughtful gifts that are personalized by the artful use of typography."

The Mark and Graham brand was originally conceived in San Francisco by a small team, led by svp of strategy and business development for Williams-Sonoma Inc., Marta Benson, and in collaboration with graphic designer Jennifer Morla. The concept came from "the need to offer quality, modern and thoughtful gift options with a personal sentiment to make the gifting experience unique and memorable," the company said.

As Benson explained, "For a brand to resonate with people, it has to have meaning and a sense of purpose. At Mark and Graham our mission is to help you celebrate the people in your life and to make gift giving personable and fun. The name ‘Mark and Graham' is a play on words about creating one's own mark or monogram. We want to share our passion for typography and design, and give customers the tools to create beautiful gifts."