In this exclusive documentary series, Maxim Sion, fashion entrepreneur and Business Development Manager at Bleckmann, shares his experience of building a brand, Black and Gold, from the ground up – providing valuable insights into the practicalities of making your vision a reality. In this episode, he discusses how he made the decision to expand his product line and the challenges of managing international supply chains.
With their bracelets gaining traction in physical stores and online, and brand recognition growing throughout Belgium, Black and Gold was ready to diversify its product range. The next logical step was apparel, starting with T-shirts. Following a research and design phase, the team developed a graphical design based on the skull motif that had been so popular on their bracelets. They then partnered with a local clothing supplier to create their first line of T-shirts, testing three different styles with a Belgian retail partner.
The new T-shirts soon proved popular, and the team was able to expand them to around ten stores in Belgium. However, with extra steps added to the production process, the team saw an opportunity to improve the sourcing strategy. “The quality was not always perfect,” Maxim explains. “So that was our next step, to find a production facility within Portugal, China, Bangladesh, just to have better quality and create our own colours, our own yarns, our own designs.” The hunt for new suppliers to work with had begun.
Press play on episode 3 to learn more about Black and Gold’s supply chain challenges.
The journey towards supply chain optimisation
In October 2016, Maxim and his business partner travelled to China for two weeks to meet with potential production partners. This hands-on approach proved invaluable in terms of understanding manufacturing capabilities and building relationships with suppliers. The trip included visits to factories producing socks, watches, bracelets and clothing, exposing the team to a variety of new technologies and printing options.
However, the reality of international production presented some unexpected challenges. Language barriers complicated communication, and many factories were geared towards fast fashion rather than the high-quality products Black and Gold had in mind. It took around six months to achieve the desired embroidery standards and overall product quality. Meanwhile, the operational challenges were intensifying from a logistics perspective as the brand expanded its retail presence to around 30 stores.
Stay tuned for episode 5 of the series to learn how Maxim addressed key operational bottlenecks, freeing up the team to focus on shaping Black and Gold’s next growth phase. And, if you want to find out more about taking your brand to the next level, get in contact for a free consultation with one of our experts!
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Transcript
Maxim Sion:
Alongside that, we started thinking about whether it would be a good idea to create a T-shirt. We searched online for a graphic designer, created a few designs, and went to a local T-shirt shop to have them printed. That was really the first step.
We presented the T-shirts to the same initial store where we had started with the bracelets, and we convinced them to test three different T-shirt models. Once we scaled up to around ten stores with those three models, we started thinking about how to make the product more professional.
At that time, the T-shirts themselves were produced in Bangladesh and then printed in Belgium. The quality was not always consistent, which led us to the next step: finding a proper production facility. We looked into options in Portugal, China, and Bangladesh—wherever it was possible—to improve quality and create our own colors, yarns, and designs.
In October 2016, we traveled to China for two weeks, fully focused on the production of Black & Gold. At that moment, everything was moving very fast. Being physically present was much more effective than sending parcels back and forth. We discussed everything on-site and visited many different factories: sock factories, watch factories, bracelet factories, and clothing factories.
During that trip, we discovered new technologies and new printing options. It was a very valuable experience. In the beginning, however, it was difficult. There was a language barrier, and many of the production facilities were focused on fast fashion rather than high-end fashion. Our goal was to build a high-quality product.
You really see the difference between factories in terms of quality levels, and sometimes it takes time to train them. It took us about six months to reach the level of skill and embroidery quality that we were satisfied with.
At that time, we didn’t yet have a good system in place. Everything was handled manually, mostly on paper, which was not very efficient. We lost a lot of time searching for items and picking orders.
As our retail presence grew to around thirty stores, the workload became heavier. We were still doing this as a second job—it wasn’t our main occupation yet. Many nights, we were working until one or two o’clock in the morning, picking, packing, and preparing all the goods for delivery.
