From the latest issue of Wait just landed in the best Italian shops we also publish online the beautiful interview with Mattia Mor, founder of the brand Blomor, who told us the story, from birth, to the dazzling commercial success until final maturity.
A lot of ideas and a good story also on surprising new clothing collections where it is crossed with the technology.
When you talk to Mattia and feel the enthusiasm with which he tells you his whole story, you become truly realize, as all this, the birth of a brand from scratch that has become one of the top selling brands of Italian streewear, not a project born at a table with the simple goal of making money. This is a dream, cultivated since childhood and carried on with an unwavering passion, a determination conducted with an almost touching optimism, and that should give us pause. And who can teach us a lot. This is the story of Mattia, man and entrepreneur. Italian.
TELL HOW THE BRAND WAS BORN, ITS HISTORY.
Blomor born as my dream boy. I was in high school and already knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Making t-shirts was the closest thing to me and that fascinated me and at 16 I started drawing on the diary logos and lettering, the style connected to the world surf that had exploded in Italy in the mid 90s. In ’98 was officially Blomor, printing about 200 t-shirts with graphics from the world of surfing and selling them to high school classmates, together with my friend Alberto Carmagnani with which we launched the initial project. In 2000, however, I decided not to go ahead, I moved to Milan, studying at university, I focus on other things, Blomor put it in a drawer. Then in 2004 I decided to start again, this time alone and with apparently simple idea but anyone had not thought of, or put on the t-shirt the names of the most important cocktails, Mojito, Spritz, Cuba Libre, Negroni and many more . The success was immediate, unexpected and growing!
WHY THIS NAME?
I wanted a name that did not have a precise meaning, and so I joined Mor, my last name, at Blo, the word we used to greet friends in high school, mangling the “surfing” Aloha.
COULD YOU IMAGINE AT A CERTAIN POINT THAT INCREDIBLE SUCCESS?
Of course I could not imagine it, but I’ve always been so ambitious and determined that I always saw what was happening as natural. I have had a number of incredible strokes of luck, but it is the beauty of doing business believing strongly in what you do, if the determination is huge and the maximum commitment to begin a series of events that are apparently lucky ones who can determine success. It ‘s something that I really believe, even in times of trouble, that inevitably there are and there will be for everyone. And then, thank you for defining it incredible success, but for the moment I would say that it was just a nice story started from zero. The incredible achievements in fashion and in the enterprise, are quite different !!
WHEN YOU UNDERSTOOD THAT WAS COMING THE TURNING ON THE BRAND?
It ‘s been a succession of steps more and more successful, since the invention of the t-shirt of cocktails, their promotion in fiction I Cesaroni who gave extraordinary publicity, the ingenious invention of Iucu ‘Cappuccio & Brioche’, the licenses with Algida, Bacardi, Bic, Penthouse, finally the launch of the incredible iPod sweatshirts. Were all important steps, I can not identify a turning point. Perhaps the first Pitti, in January 2008, when we presented the hood sweatshirts Cappuccio & Brioches, it was really a time when we realized that we were having success and that we could always have more than inventing something new, original and different from the other.
WHY A STUDENT OF BOCCONI, GRADUATE WITH 100 AND PRAISE, WHICH COULD DO EVERYTHING AND MORE, HAS DECIDED TO DO THE ENTREPRENEUR IN FASHION? THIS IS AN EVENT OR A CALLING?
Usually the question “Why?” I have to answer “Why not?”, But without wanting to be so concise you would say it was a completely natural thing. It was what I wanted to do and I felt deeply, was the “dream” that I wanted to pursue and I did. I have worked in 2006, while Blomor already existed in two strategic consulting firm, Value Partners and Bain & Co., two excellent places, indefinite, paid very well and with excellent career prospects and earnings. But it was not what I wanted to do, I arrived at 8 pm and I wanted to stop working, I was doing nights in the office without passion, but since I started seriously with Blomor I never worked less than 12-13 hours a day, every weekend at least 2 or 3 nights a week, but I’ve always done with great passion and joy. It ‘s the good fortune to do the job that you love and do it chasing the dream of when you were younger.
AFTER THE BEGINNING, THE BOOM AROUND 2005 I HAVE THE FEELING THAT THE BRAND HAS SUFFERED A DROP IN TIED TO THE CRISIS. BUT INSTEAD I SEE AGAIN TODAY IN LARGE GROWTH. WHILE MANY INDEPENDENT ITALIAN BRAND HAS BEEN SWEPT AWAY FROM THE MARKET, BLOMOR GROWS AND RE-LAUNCHES. WHAT IS THE SECRET?
We always try to be innovative, creative and to amaze our audience, which knows that Blomor can find ideas, innovation, ingenuity, but always with great self-irony.
WHAT IS THE MOVE THAT FROM THE ENTEPRENEUR SIDE YOU WOULDN’T DO AGAIN AND THE ONE THAT, MAYBE CONSIDERED AT THE BEGINNING A LITTLE ‘CRAZY’ YOU WOULD DO AGAIN?
Entrepreneurially I think that I should delegate more, but I’ve always been very centralized. I would do it instead of all the miles I’ve done, alone and with so much hope, to visit shops, agents, to propose Blomor to Italy when I still had not that a briefcase with 7 t-shirt. I remember those moments with tenderness, but are moments when I built the beginning of the path.
TELL US THE MEETING AND WORKING WITH IUCU, CHARACTER, ARTIST, ORIGINAL AND ECLECTIC THAT WAIT KNOWS VERY WELL.
Iucu was undoubtedly the most important meeting that I’ve done. I met him in 2007, when Blomor was still just a collection of cocktails. He introduced us to a mutual friend, he told me, exact words “I know what you do, you have been good but the things you do make me sick, if you’d like to redo them for free”
I, instead of offending me and send him to hell, I appreciated the candor and I met, we liked, he spent six months free for me, and from then on we went ahead. Iucu was the one who gave a creative way to Blomor, inventing all the more original things that have come out of our brand, making innovation and irony a trademark. I definitely had merit entrepreneurial and business, but without the creativity of Iucu, Blomor would not have gotten what he got neither would last so long.
TELL THE NEXT COLLECTION. WHAT WE EXPECT? First of all, I want to clarify that the collection that we presented and on which we focus are threefold: Blomor, Badmor and Bandiera. Blomor is our collection pop, which relies increasingly on innovation, originality, creativity. It consists of capsules with different images, each with its own specific force, an inspiration to motocross, one inspired by the world of hip hop, one linked to the surf and of course the most important part is that the technology in partnership with Hi Fun the real reason for innovation and originality of this collection. Badmor is our brand fashion / rock, completely made in Italy, who dresses a woman and a man attracted to a strong taste, lovers of the world of the night. A collection based on cuts, mixed media, all guided by the stylistic inventions black & white, as fashion is demanding more and more this season. Bandiera is our last child who is making us dream. Born with a clear idea, namely that the market lacks beachwear for men. Who makes them, it seems to make them more and more in a banal and too classic, without a hint of creativity, in Italy and in the world. Starting from this assumption we decided to combine the extraordinary ability and graphic art Iucu with an innovative idea, never attempted by anyone selling the first custom quilted, stitched lozenges. The target is more mature and classic compared to Blomor but our imprinting is always the same, to be innovative, to get first, to be loved for originality. Orders are proving us right. In the summer of 2015 Bandiera swimwear will be in the best places in the Mediterranean and worn by the most beautiful people, where beauty does not mean wealth, glam aesthetic or (perish the thought), but I mean the spirit of creativity, innovation, be leaders and not followers . And then there’s one last surprise project, which we do in the ad preview: we’re launching a capsule collection of shoes. We will leave on sale in August and September with a collection Blomor and Bandiera Footwear with two models, one with laces and a slip-on, with our most beautiful digitally printed graphics to accompany perfectly Blomor clothing of the most colorful and Bandiera boardshorts and the polo shirt with his shoe in combination. As you can see we have of irons in the fire, I have to really try to rein in the creativity of Iucu, Ilaria and Massimo.
TELL ME ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP WITH HI FUN, AND THE MERGER BETWEEN FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY.
More and more come from the USA echoes of investments in smart fabrics of Apple and Google. We went over and we’re doing it first. We launched on the market (coming out this September) the first musical sweatshirts, shaped iPod. It ‘a sweatshirt with a pocket-shaped iPod on your stomach within which there is a cable with a button that adjusts the features of your smartphone. This cable is connected to the hood, inside which there are speakers that provide an excellent level of sound (removable to wash the garment). By clicking on the play embroidered into the pocket on the belly you can operate the music from your smartphone or answer the phone. For the first time the guy who wears a hooded sweatshirt becomes a living iPod! It ‘a great invention, that even in our laps in Asia and the United States has had an incredible success, and we very much aim for the coming seasons. This is just one of the items developed in partnership with Hi Fun, which provides us with the technology. The package consists of the glove phone, which allows you to call using your thumb and little finger through a glove, hat music that allows you to listen to music and phone directly from the wool, and other innovative items of this type. I am very pleased with this partnership, beyond the sales results, because with Guido Falck of Hi Fun we quickly found a great tune that has linked enjoyed our two companies and will allow us to increase even more the proposed technological innovations in the next few years, so I can say that this is just the beginning of a journey. As you understand, I love the creative industries, especially if they are Italian, born from nothing and with great innovation capacity, and in this we marry perfectly with Hi Fun.
WHAT IS THE PRODUCT THAT GAVE YOU GREATER SATISFACTION IS ON WHICH YOU EXPECT A LOT FROM NEXT? Well, certainly at this time all the technology package is what gave us the greatest satisfaction and that can give us even more in the future. The fashion as rags tied to the trend, we do not care. We are interested excite people by offering different things in front of which people can only think “WOW !!” and the wearable technology allows us to achieve this in full effect, from Italy to Hong Kong, from Korea to California.
I HAVE SEEN THE NEW WOMAN AT PITTI PE 2015 AND HE HAS AMAZED. GLAMOUR, ELEGANT, AVANT-GARDE. LET’S FACE IT, FOR STREET-WEAR BRAND AND STREET FASHION TODAY’S WOMAN IS DIFFICULT TO ‘FRAME’. TODAY’S WOMAN FOR MOST BUY FROM ZARA, H & M AND COMPANY AND THEN MAYBE INTEGRATES LUXURY ACCESSORIES OR HIGH-LEVEL. HOW YOU HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE THE WOMAN IN 2015?
Badmor, which is very focused on the woman and you stunned, we decided to throw our way. And ‘the creativity of Massimo Giuntoli and Ilaria Piluscio that led to this. They envisioned their ideal woman, with a strong and precise, they have chosen and blended garments and fabrics without looking at anyone, just by following their creativity. It ‘came out of that stunning result of which you speak. Women in the shop are very intelligent, they understand what they can buy from Zara & Co and what they can find from Prada & Co. But if what they find in Badmor have not seen anywhere else, find it in the store right and with the right price, buy it gladly, and so will, you’ll see.
SO THAT THE BRAND IS STARTING A BIG JOB TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. TELL THAT YOU ARE TAKING THIS DIRECTION.
Despite the serious crisis that has immobilized Italy for years and that creates the laments, even justified, that pervade our industry, we are in the most extraordinary moment in the history of capitalism. We have before us the 3 billion people who are coming out of poverty and are becoming middle class and who see Italy as the bearer of value in terms of quality, taste, beauty, no one else has. Is to them that we need to address. Our horizon is to be the world, not the Italian province. We have begun a path that in the second half of 2014 will bring us to sell in 19 countries: Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Russia, UK, USA, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Dubai, Saudi Arabia. We are enormously proud of this and my main job is just to open up new markets, because it is there that we find the key to future growth. We just have to remember to give him what he expect from Italy: creativity, innovation, and quality.
I KNOW THAT YOU ARE VERY ENGAGED IN POLITICS. DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE YOU IN THE FUTURE POLITICAL SCENE LE LIMESTONE?
Take a role of an elected politician. How would you feel COMMIT TO YOUR ENERGY TO GIVE A DONATION TO ITALY?
The policy, is not my job, it’s my biggest passion. Policy-making for me is to be at the service of the people, make decisions that have huge effects on people’s lives. I do not deny that in the future I would like to devote more to politics, but it is not one thing on the agenda. If I had to commit my time and my energy as a politician are mainly two things that I would devote: 1 The development of small business and start-ups to make Italy what can be, which is the world center of the enterprise innovative, using creative skills and crafts that historically has in every field, not just in fashion. 2 The development of tourism as a strategic resource and industrial for the revival of our country, because a curse that Italy has half the tourists in France and continues to not intercept the incredible worldwide growth of tourism flows with the resources it has available. I ride often to Italy and I often move me, in the corners and in the villages most diverse. We are sitting on a huge oil field and do not use it fully, our oil is Beauty.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE CLOTH OF A YOUNG MAN WHO WANTS TO JOIN IN FASHION BRAND AND HAS FINE IDEAS. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM? WOULD YOU ADVISE HIM BETTER NOT TO TRY?
As the Italian situation is difficult, no matter how risky this market, i will never stop him ! I would say only that we must have ideas, but the ideas are only 10%. Then counts the ability to set up the project, organize it, sell it. All this, however, with a commitment and a fierce determination, and with the knowledge that launch their own venture is one of the most beautiful things that can happen because it means working to pursue a dream. And when it works to chase your dream jobs twice, works more motivated, do not feel the fatigue and the results will come much more easily and quickly.
FINALLY SEE HOW THE FUTURE OF FASHION AND THE STREETWEAR IN ITALY IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS? DO YOU THINK THAT WE SURVIVE THE GLOBAL CRISIS AND GROW?
If we look at the world as an opportunity we’ll make it all right. If we understand that China and Asia are not places of competition but are billions of people who are waiting for our creativity we will succeed. If we can collaborate between people, whether we will overcome the myopia of our fathers or older brothers and will not look at our backyard but we will put together the forces and expertise to go together to conquer these new markets we will succeed. Fashion and streetwear in particular will change again as I have always changed and rightly so, is the beauty of this area. But who will be innovative and will not be afraid to propose new things will survive and even improve even further its global position. We must believe and put into action what you believe though. I personally believe, and I go ahead and do so either insane what I dreamed of when I was 17 and I continue to dream.
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