In this exclusive documentary series, Maxim Sion, fashion entrepreneur and Business Development Manager at Bleckmann, shares his experience of building a brand from the ground up – providing valuable insights into the practicalities of making your vision a reality. In this episode, he recounts the pivotal moment when a routine meeting with a potential retail partner transformed into a life-changing investment opportunity.
June 2016 marked the biggest turning point in Black and Gold’s journey at that point of brand’s existence. What began as a standard pitch meeting with a buyer from a retail chain store quickly evolved into something neither Maxim nor his partner had anticipated. After presenting their collection and vision for the brand, the retailer not only offered to trial their products in two stores but also made an unexpected offer.
“During that conversation, we had a twist in the story, because he was proposing to invest in our company,” Maxim recalls. “He had two facilities in China and Bangladesh to do production, and was already the owner of several fashion brands.” After carefully considering the implications of the move, Maxim and his business partner Nicolas decided to accept. This would give the team the push they needed to turn their side-hustle into a full-time job, bringing a range of new challenges and opportunities.
Press play on part 4 to learn how the investment allowed Black and Gold to scale up.
Taking the plunge: The next phase of growth
With the investment secured, both founders were able to quit their day jobs and focus entirely on building Black and Gold. This came as a surprise to some outside the company, who had watched it grow from a small side project to a serious venture practically overnight. “Some friends and family didn’t understand what was happening, because the company went from quite small to growing very quickly,” Maxim explains. But these doubts didn’t put the brakes on the team’s growth ambitions.
Look out for the next episode to learn about the operational challenges that came with the brand’s rapid growth and how Black and Gold navigated the complexities of scaling their vision. 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:
The biggest turning point we had was in June 2016. At that time, we were searching for new shops, and we reached a point where we had a meeting with a retail chain store. We showed them our collection, the new products we had, and our brand story. He really liked it and gave us the opportunity to test the brand in two stores.
However, during that conversation, there was a twist in the story. He started proposing an investment in our company. He owned two production facilities in China and Bangladesh and was already the owner of several fashion brands. Coming out of that conversation, we were quite surprised and started thinking that this could really change the brand, because at that moment we were still working on it part-time.
I remember when we left the meeting, we were thinking, “This is not normal.” We didn’t expect it at all. It was really nice, because I was working at a bank at the time, and we didn’t have direct plans to quit our jobs. But after that conversation, everything started moving much faster. It became easier to create what we wanted to achieve.
Some friends and family didn’t really understand what was happening, because the company went from being very small to growing very quickly. We both quit our jobs, which was strange for some friends—they were just starting their first jobs, while we already had a new office and new cars. Everything was happening very fast.
In the beginning, we were a bit skeptical. Of course, they already had fashion brands and production facilities, which was a big part of what they could bring to us. They helped us set up proper production facilities, brought expertise into the company, and provided a loan that made it possible to start production in their factories.
Our main focus was influencer marketing. At that time, it was very popular—today it still is, but back then it was easier to work with people. That became our first marketing campaign, and it was successful. We also did nice collaborations with different beach clubs in Belgium.
With our marketing, we focused a lot on younger people, but at the same time we were actively selling in retail stores. In those stores where we were distributed, we noticed that all kinds of people were buying the brand. That was surprising for us. Our initial idea to focus mainly on younger consumers started to change when we saw who was actually buying the product.
The company took shape very quickly. It was productive, and it felt really good to experience that flow, both professionally and personally. Many doors opened for us at that moment because we were building something bigger. That was a very nice personal feeling.
