Gandys’ founders Rob and Paul Forkan had an alternative and unique education given to them by their parents who signed them out of school to travel the world and have an upbringing like no other. Whilst on this journey they were encouraged from a young age to help less privileged children through volunteering and by getting ‘hands on experience’ in a number of projects in the developing world as they travelled.

Tragically, this life adventure was cut short when the brothers were orphaned at the ages of 15 and 17 in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami whilst travelling through Sri Lanka. Suddenly and unexpectedly finding themselves as the heads of the family, their journey back to the UK was an arduous journey across the country to the airport. They travelled in the clothes they had gone to bed in, without any of their possessions and surrounded by the destruction left by the Tsunami, all whilst having their youngest siblings aged 8 and 11 in tow. This was the

beginning of a dramatically different phase in their lives and the start of a readjustment to a new way of living back in Britain.

Once safely back in the UK the children resumed a more ‘mainstream’ education, but their lives were shaped forever by their experiences travelling in the developing world and the values that their parents had instilled in them. This led to an idea, which became a driving force in their lives, crystallised in a simple three-word statement, ‘Orphans for Orphans’, an initiative to help less fortunate children around the world. This amazing story has captured the imagination of the public, their fascination to learn more about the two brothers who were orphaned in the Tsunami, has resulted in media coverage both in the UK and overseas. This Christmas, as the tenth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, the full story will be told with the UK/worldwide release of “Tsunami Kids”, a biography charting the brothers’ life story to date.

In order for the ‘Orphans for Orphans’ idea to become a reality, money is needed to be raised to help fund the building of orphanages in the developed world. With this as a goal, Gandys Fashion was founded in 2012; a lifestyle brand that would create a range of premium flip flops to be sold through an online portal created by the brothers. The idea was to build a business that, through its commercial activities, donates a share of profits to the Gandys Foundation, an organisation that the brothers set up to channel charitable funds to their orphanage projects. Rob and Paul’s alternative education now served them well, with no prior knowledge of the footwear business they used their considerable combined initiative to make their first designs, develop their branding, find a factory in China - doing everything to get the business up and running.

The very first sale of a pair of Gandys flip flops was from their Facebook page in

OUR JOURNEY

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After all we have

seen in life we felt we needed

to create something special.

/ Rob and Paul /

03

/ Vogue /

Not youraverage flip-flop

label

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Gandys’ ability to generate significant quality PR opportunities has been one of the driving forces behind its recent rapid development. Rob and Paul have managed to generate media interest that is the envy of many larger and better established brands. Gandys’ success to date and its even bigger potential to become a well-known global brand is driven by its unique and inspirational story, one that can’t be manufactured or replicated.

Retailers, celebrities, journalists, prominent business people and, critically, consumers are intrigued and through their engagement the Gandys story is shared with an ever larger audience. Consumers relate in an emotional way, keen to join the community that the brothers are creating and often very happy to spread the word about the Gandys brand through direct

and indirect interaction. This connection to the brand is expressed in the engagement levels on social media and perhaps more touchingly in the unsolicited monetary donations large and small that are regularly received at Gandys HQ, often accompanied by handwritten notes with stories as to how the money has been raised to help The Gandys Foundation.

The brothers’ energy and creativity is at the heart of the brand and their day to day involvement and engagement will continue to evolve as the brand creates further PR opportunities through the development of new products, expanded geographies and new social initiatives. This brand heat continues to generate interest from high quality commercial businesses who want to collaborate with the brand and help it in

its endeavours and reaching its goals.

The brothers could spend every minute of every day on a PR opportunity due to the number of “pegs” that are available which include; their story, young entrepreneurs, upcoming fashion icons, the high profile of the company, the Gandys Foundation, the opening of the children’s homes, the cool product that everyone can wear, inspiring the next generation of children to overcome adversity through positive actions. The addition of a more experienced management team under the current team will allow the brothers to spend more time on high profile PR opportunities to promote the product and brand.

Please find below a highlight of just some of the Gandys marketing to date:

GANDYS MARKET PROFILE / PR

The Gandys brand and Rob and Paul’s unique story and background has generated interest from the mainstream press, including most of the UK national daily newspapers and the London press including The Daily Mail, Sunday Express, the Metro and the Evening Standard. A number of these publications have featured them on their front pages or as multi page spreads. In addition, some of the best known style titles have also featured the brand and products including Vogue, Tatler, GQ, Cosmopolitan and Grazia.

In addition, during the summer of 2013 thanks to outdoor advertisers, Clear Channel, Gandys were given a complimentary London Underground campaign, providing great brand exposure.

INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL PRESS

Rob and Paul have been featured on many national TV channels, most notably the BBC and Sky on several occasions and many local and international TV stations and radio stations. They famously had a 5 minute slot during the 6 and 10 o’clock news on the BBC during the night of the Scottish referendum when most of the UK was

watching. They turn up for every appearance in their trademark Gandys flip flops and whilst this is not always welcomed by some of the more serious current affairs and business programmes, they have promoted the Gandys brand at every opportunity and it always becomes a talking point!

RADIO / TV COVERAGE

Britain’s biggest support Gandys

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Not many people get the backing of some of the most influential men in Britain. Prince William and Harry, Mayor Boris Johnson, Sir Richard Brandson and One Direction :)

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Rob, Paul, and David Cameron

Febuary 6th 2014 £2.45 No. 456532

WIN

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Gandys have seen the floors of Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing St next the White House...

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Morbi dapibus diam tellus, eget maximus lectus vehicula ac. Sed mattis lacinia mi id fermentum. Curabitur sit amet leo a nibh sollicitudin lobortis. Donec luctus eros in porta tempus. Morbi vitae tempor turpis. Proin blandit, nulla ut interdum porta, eros magna tincidunt ante, ultricies sagittis leo nisi eget eros. Pellentesque euismod diam in lacus condimentum, eget fermentum lacus luctus. Proin vitae libero posuere, rutrum dui quis, posuere justo.orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam laoreet lacus sed tincidunt sagittis. Curabitur sit amet rutrum diam. Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum at nibh a ipsum fringilla conval-lis. Nullam at nulla ut justo condimentum rhoncus. Morbi ullamcorper, orci ac molestie tempor, leo tellus condimentum nunc, sed cursus lacus sem ut lorem. Quisque quis arcu nec erat hendrerit scelerisque nec nec quam. Integer blandit ut sapien non condi-mentum. Suspendisse laoreet nulla gravida consequat rhoncus. In ac enim lectus.

Morbi dapibus diam tellus, eget maximus lectus vehicula ac. Sed mattis lacinia mi id fermentum. Curabitur sit amet leo a nibh sollicitudin lobortis. Donec luctus eros in porta tempus. Morbi vitae tempor turpis. Proin blandit, nulla ut interdum porta, eros magna tincidunt ante, ultricies sagittis leo nisi eget eros. Pellentesque euismod diam in lacus condimentum, eget fermentum lacus luctus. Proin vitae libero posuere,

orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam laoreet lacus sed tincidunt sagittis. Curabitur sit amet rutrum diam. Nulla facilisi. Vestibulum at nibh a ipsum fringilla convallis. Nullam at nulla ut justo

Boris Johnson Opening of Gandys HQ - 2014

Boris Johnson Gandy HQ, Richard Branson

Creating a legacy in our parents name

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CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Building more than just a brand

The Gandys brand has been adopted by a broad spectrum of key influencers, their support made all the more powerful as to date this has not been achieved through product placement or any paid-for promotion. Celebrity support to date includes pop stars One Direction and Jessie J, actresses Jessica Alba and Michelle Keegan, TV chef Jamie Oliver and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and many others showing their support for the brand and a liking of the product. This continues to generate further publicity through social media posts from the celebrities themselves as well as wider press coverage in the style magazines and daily newspapers.

A Community

of Celebs Helping

Created for Change

Values like no other

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GANDYS FIRST KIDS CAMPUS

The brothers founded Gandys with a mission to create a lasting legacy that would honour and pay tribute to their parents. They are currently working on the open-ing of the first Gandys children’s home in time to com-memorate the tenth anniversary. Some more detail of this is covered in The Gandys Foundation section later.

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Rob and Paul Forkan’s story was very

moving and I was humbled by their ability

to turn a personal tragedy into something

so positive. They are inspiring young

entrepreneurs, starting out in business but

also trying to transform the lives of children

in need. We’re happy to be supporting

them and I love that Necker Island now has

a flip flop named after it!

/ Sir Richard Branson /

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARYThe tenth anniversary of the 26th December Tsunami will obviously be a poignant occasion for the brothers, the Gandys brand and many people across the world. The largest natural disaster to occur in recorded history; over 230,000 people were lost on that fateful day. The disaster literally shook the world and virtually everyone over the age of twenty remem-bers where they were and what they were doing on that inauspicious day.

Rob and Paul are marking the occasion by releasing a biogra-phy, “Tsunami Kids”, so they can relate their story in detail to their audience around the world. To be issued as an eBook, as well as in soft back and hardback, the book is already being listed by Waterstones, one of the UK’s leading specialist book retailers. It is anticipated that the rights will be sold overseas and this will fuel a wider interest in the brothers’ story and their association with the Gandys brand.

INTERNATIONAL FLIP FLOP DAY

Early on in their short history, Gandys came up with the International Flip Flop Day marketing initiative, to be held in June every year. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies was an early supporter and adopted the idea on his Caribbean resort of Necker Island in its first year in 2013. On the day all of Virgin Groups employees wore their red Necker Gandys and took pictures which were tweeted and posted online. In the 2014 campaign, many other celebrities, companies and individuals rallied behind Gandys and showed their support in the media and PR channels including online.

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PRODUCTS & DESIGN

Great design is at the heart of the Gandys brand; it is something the brothers really pride themselves on and is already an established pillar of their brand DNA.

Gandys designs have already been recognised as best in class, winning in the Best Accessory Designer category at the 2013 WGSB Global Fashion Awards.

Designs are created through inspiration and Gandys ensure that there is brand relevance and values incorporated into every pair, e.g. travel, London (classic

Liberty collection) and nature (rope design, butterflies etc).

The Gandys Logo was thoughtfully designed and has a unique story behind it:

• The Kingfisher represents the favourite beer of the brothers’ father

• The Footprints represent the favourite poem of the brothers’ mother, “Footprints in the Sand”

• The Butterfly represents the book that Rob read that Christmas holiday ten years ago called

Papillon, French for Butterfly

• The Pineapple and Mangos in the logo represent a lady the brothers named ‘Big Mamma’ who would bring them fruit on the beach everyday whilst they were travelling with their family

• The Parrot in the logo represents the day the brothers were in a taxi and a bird flew through the window and his beak went into to Paul’s leg (luckily the bird survived the encounter!)

DESIGN AWARDSGlobal Fashion Award 2013:

• WGSN Global Fashion Award for Preciosa Footware & Accessories Design Team

• Best Website if the Year by the goodwebguide.co.uk

• HP Smart Business Award for Social Media

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Designed in London, Inspired By Travel,

Fuelled by Giving Back

/ Gandys /

/ Gandys /

Building more than

just a brand