In the final episode of our 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 on the practicalities of making your vision a reality. To conclude the series, he reflects on the key lessons from his experience and his transition into a new role helping other brands scale their growth.
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maxim and his business partner decided it was time to step back from the brand they had founded together, Black and Gold. “Letting go is always very difficult,” Maxim recalls. “We made that decision, but it was still a hard one. Of course, later on, it opened new doors, and we learned a lot during our journey.” Looking back on his trajectory, transforming Black and Gold from a passion project into a recognisable brand, Maxim has several practical tips for future fashion entrepreneurs.
Maxim’s top 5 lessons for fashion entrepreneurs
Lesson #1: Find a unique market entry point
“We started with bracelets. It was easy to get into the retail stores with it. I think if we had started with the clothing collection, everything would have been very difficult.”
Lesson #2: Create a multi-generational work environment
“What I would have done differently is not focus too much on young people in our company. I think it’s important to have a mix with more mature people, more experts.”
Lesson #3: Keep design and marketing closely aligned
“Design is creating a product with a plan behind it for which person it’s for. But if you don’t transfer this information to your marketing team, then you lose a lot of knowledge.”
Lesson #4: Balance e-commerce and physical channels
“If you’re 80% dependent on B2B, then it’s quite hard for your company to make the change to B2C. Make sure that you have a good balance [between the channels].”
Lesson #5: Scalability is crucial
“As a fashion company, it’s very important that you know your product is a scalable one, and you should also focus on scalability with the right partners.”
Accelerating growth for emerging fashion brands
Today, as Business Development Manager at Bleckman, Maxim applies his valuable learnings to help other fashion brand owners to level up their growth with dedicated fulfilment services. His insights were crucial in the development of our Bscale solution, which gives brands of all sizes plug-and-play access to enterprise-grade logistics and warehousing. He has also launched a new brand, Studio Anvers, enabling him to stay close to the operational needs of emerging brands. “I think the Black and Gold story has important lessons for other entrepreneurs,” Maxim concludes. “If you have a problem down the road, you can always open a new door and take the next step.”
Press play on episode 8 of this Beyond Threads documentary to get the full story and discover Maxim’s advice for fashion brand owners. And, if you want support to scale your own logistics operations, get in contact for a free consultation with a Bleckmann expert!
