Innovative Design in the Fashion Market With Max Perez
Hey, e-commerce friends. Today I'm very excited to have Max Perez on the show. Max basically invented a James Bond suit, literally. It has nanotechnology inside. It's a zero maintenance suit using nanotechnology. It has the benefits of being odor free, wrinkle proof and liquid proof. It requires less cleaning, There's no ironing, and a lot of more benefits. So, today I'm very pleased to talk to Max. Max is also a mentor to some of our mutual friends in our network, where he's mentoring e-commerce entrepreneurs. And Max, please allow me to be your student today. I would love to learn a little bit more about your background, your mindset and your approach to e-commerce, especially your approach to design when it comes to suits.If you want to connect with Max, we have a Facebook group. Max will be also part of that group. And this is only for e-commerce owners so feel free to join us.
Max Perez: A Brief Intro
So, my background. I'm originally from Canada, Montreal. I started studying graphic design before I made my way to China. My family has run a trading company in China for over 30 years. My dad saw the future of China 30 years ago, came down here, opened a company, brought my two older brothers, who are much older than me, 20 plus years, and brought them here to join the family business. I started off in garment fashion trading. My uncle has a big clothing brand in Canada, as well. This is something that our whole family has been doing for a while. My grandmother, by the way, she was a seamstress, making some luxury clothing back in the day.But anyhow, when I started studying graphic design in Canada, my brothers pushed me to come to China. They told me that China's the future and I should definitely come check it out, and perhaps consider studying here. So I got here at 17 years old. I had done one semester in university in Canada, and at that point I started studying Chinese, and I excelled at that and actually was offered a job right out of school as a creative assistant for a big PR firm. That's how my professional career started, even though in the back of my mind I always wanted to get into fashion. But I was young, the money was great, it was an opportunity, so I took it.So, I worked with this company. I grew up in the ranks, working there for five years. Within the second year, I was promoted to creative director. I, by the way, taught myself everything about web design, graphic design, as well as some sales and marketing, all self-taught and grew really quickly in the company, the creative director on the second year.And within the fourth year, I became one of the managing directors for one of our departments, managing things like visuals, and so on, for some big clients we had; for example, Bacardi Group. We were working with alcohol brands, furniture brands, and so on. I was managing part of the events, the visual creation, etc. That lasted a total of five years. Towards the fifth year, I decided that that was it. I had gained enough experience, and I really wanted to start my own business in fashion.At that point, I had a friend who actually was interested in partnering up. He offered to give me equity. He had a lot of money, and he believed in the idea that I had, and wanted to give me equity. I approached my family at that point saying, "Can you guys help me to bring the product to life?" since that was their expertise. And my family spun on me and said, "Don't take money from that guy. Let's partner up, us, and let's start this business as a family business. And we'll help you out for the procurement, the supply chain, all that kind of stuff. And you can focus on design and marketing." And in the end, that's the route I took. We signed an agreement, my brothers and I.And at that point, I actually went to fashion school. I wanted to really do this the right way, my brothers as well. So I enrolled in a school called IFA; it's a university from Paris that had a subsidiary in Shanghai.
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