Wrapper’s delight

Colford is a new, London-based gift-wrapping service focused in equal measure on beautiful presentation and sustainable innovations

Art and Design 17 Jul 2023

We all know that, when it comes to giving presents, it’s the thought that counts. Yet how many of us have considered the importance of their presentation – literally thinking outside the box?

Close friends Imogen Beresford and Nathan Cole have long shared an appreciation for beautifully presented gifts, comparing their Christmas wrapping schemes for many years. Now they’ve joined forces to co-found Colford, a luxury wrapping studio that’s elevating gift-giving by combining sophisticated designs with sustainable practices and materials.

Colford co-founders, Imogen Beresford and Nathan Cole

The brand’s procurement adheres to strict criteria based on ISO Standards and UN Sustainable Development Goals. All its paper materials are FSC-certified, some of its wrapping paper made, for instance, out of used coffee cups and spent grain left over from the brewing industry.

And striving for a fully circular economy, the brand is transforming these resources into gifts that keep on giving. While the materials it uses are either fully biodegradable or recyclable, some are even designed to positively affect the environment after use, such as recycled paper embedded with seeds and grasses that can subsequently be planted.

Beresford commented, ‘There’s so much to do in the move towards a more sustainable future and we want to play our part while contributing to the reinvigoration of the British paper, tissue and ribbon-manufacturing industries. There’s no excuse for not being mindful when sourcing gift wrapping and our USP lies in making it easy for clients to make more accountable choices.’

Cole adds, ‘Working closely with an amazing roster of carefully researched, pioneering suppliers, we’re excited to offer a new way for clients to tell their individual stories through gifting moments with meaning.’

The brand grants its clients access to its extensive network of artists and designers, who can present aesthetic options tailored to their briefs. Personalisation extends to calligraphy, foiling, embossing, illustrations, digital artworks and accessories like ribbons and stickers.

Once the design route has been agreed, clients can send gifts to Colford’s studio, where they are wrapped, after which they can be delivered back to the client or directly to the recipient.

The delivery services are versatile, with suitable options for everything from gifting at corporate events and weddings to birthdays and more casual occasions. And the artistry on offer is so skilled that designs can even be tailored to the locations where the gifts will be received. Gifts packaged by Colford made appearances at two recent events, for instance, with wrappings based, in one case, on the architecture of The Connaught hotel, and, in the other, on the interior of the Electric Cinema in White City.

Behind the brand’s ethos is also an understanding of the significance that exchanging gifts has in people’s lives. It often marks the most important celebrations, attested by the fact Colford recently made boxes for 200 wedding favours at Cole’s wedding. Indeed, gifts express the fondness and appreciation people have for one another, emblems of such friendship and love as brought about the very establishment of Colford, a portmanteau, if you hadn’t noticed, of its co-founders’ names.

colford.co.uk