Brandon Svarc; is a founder who decided to do the exact opposite of what his competitors were offering in order to succeed. Naked and Famous Denim is a high-quality denim brand that is not like any other pair of jeans out there. Made out of only the best fabrics and priced at a point where you get your money’s worth. Today’s fashion industry is focused on glamour and celebrities rather than quality. Naked and Famous Denim’s primary focus is quality.
We are proud to have funded this business and once it became successful, founder Brandon Svarc joined the PME committee in order to help other entrepreneurs like himself. We had a chance to speak with Brandon and he shared with us his success story but also gives us insight into what he has noticed while being part of the PME committee. He shares with us some tips and advice he has learned along the way.
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What made you start naked and famous denim?
I started Naked and Famous Denim because I wanted to start a brand that was the opposite of all the other denim brands on the market. I realized all high-end denim was based on corrupted values and was highly overpriced for the quality of them. My main motivation was to create the best possible jeans on the market.
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How does your denim brand differentiate from other brands?
Our denim differentiates from other brands through our product values. When I started this business in 2008, my competitors were all Hollywood or celebrity-endorsed brands. What they sell are glamour and million-dollar ads, what I sell is quality. It is simple: no ads, no stresses/rips, no product giveaways, and no celebrity endorsement. We are focused very much on the product and quality, that’s it. We stick to a concept my grandfather taught me, making better quality products than your competitors for a better price.
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How did you come up with this idea? Why Japan?
My family has been in this industry for 70 years. So, this has always been a part of me. When I was born, my father even made a line of jeans in my name. However, I was still tackling something I didn’t have much experience in. My concept was simple, to make the best product I can sell at the most expensive stores but sell them at the opening price points of those stores. I set a goal and went from there. The first goal I set was to sell at Barneys and we accomplished that in our first season of selling. After that, we continued selling there for 16 more seasons in a row.
In order to make the best possible product on the market I did a lot of research. I knew I wanted to make them locally in Canada because I wanted to support the local market. Next, I needed to find where the best denim fabric is. After countless research, I found it in Japan. When I found the Japanese denim and saw how much they obsess over it I knew this is what I needed. With the amount of detail and innovation that went into the material, stitching, and washing, I knew this was it. My goal was to find the best fabric, and make it in Canada, for the lowest price, with no ads, no celebrities just keep it simple.
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What were some of the most challenging obstacles that you had when building your business and how did you overcome them?
Sales were one of the biggest challenges I had when I started out. I had no sales experience. Even though my family was in the clothing industry they still never really targeted what I was going for. This was a big challenge when I wanted to sell in every high-end store with no experience or pre-existing contacts. However, this didn’t stop me from going door to door to every store asking them to sell my brand. By going door to door to different stores, this helped me learn and practice and eventually I became really good at it. I had a lot of people turn me down and even throw me out of their stores but I didn’t give up. Eventually, I had those same people who kicked me out of their stores call me back to ask to sell my brand.
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What kind of risks did you need to take as a founder in order to be where you are today?
There are a lot of different risks that every entrepreneur needs to take in order to be successful. Not using ads or following the conventional path that most people in the fashion industry take was a risk but I wasn’t too worried. There are a lot of competitors on the market I was going after, however, I knew if I made the best quality product then the rest would follow.
Most people who work with corporations don’t have the constant anxiety of will my company go out of business. Usually, there is a level of security in those employed positions. As a founder, you don’t have this sort of safety net that is offered when you work for a company. That’s a risk you need to be willing to take. I constantly had this anxiety about if my business will actually make it and if people will buy my product or if this was all for nothing. That’s a risk I was willing to take because I believed in my product and was passionate about what I was selling.
6. If you can give one piece of advice or a golden rule for an entrepreneur starting out what would it be?
One piece of advice I like to share with young founders is something that was told to me. When the time came to sell to high-end stores in Ontario, I set out to find someone with pre-existing knowledge and contacts about the Ontario market. I did not have much experience and I knew I needed to find someone to sell my denim for me. I finally found the perfect person, whom I contacted and arranged a meeting with. After pitching my denim brand to him, he was amazed by my product. However, he declined to sell my denim for me. He declined because he said the best person who can sell my product was me.
No one else has the passion and product knowledge for your own product other than you. You need to sell your product yourself. That’s what I like to tell young entrepreneurs. Even if you have no sales experience or contacts you need to take a chance on yourself because nobody knows the product better than you.
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As a board member, you’ve seen many entrepreneurs pitch their ideas. What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when pitching?
The biggest mistake I’ve seen founders make when pitching is over-selling it. Some overestimate their financials and that doesn’t go well with the board. Obviously, these numbers are based on assumption and it’s good to dream big. However, if you’re going to over-exaggerate your numbers you need to be ready to defend those numbers with facts. Be realistic.
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Naked and Famous denim is a PME-funded business and you are a board member, what kind of advantages has PME provided to your company along with others you see come in?
Of course, the loan itself can help with the pre-seed funding to get things running. By being a board member, I’ve seen how willing everyone is to make connections for the founder. Even if they don’t get the funding, we will still try to help them in every way possible by connecting them with the right people. Everyone will look through their network in the Jewish community and put them together. We really want everyone to succeed and it’s not just about giving them the money to help them to do that.
Every founder should take note of the passion and dedication that Brandon Svarc exemplifies. He believed in what he was selling and had faith in his product. He had a straightforward, simple concept and executed that successfully. Passion is key when you’re a founder because if you really believe in what you’re doing then everything else will come. His jeans are now sold across numerous stores across the globe.
PME’s goal is to help every entrepreneur that comes in to succeed. It’s not just about giving them the financial tools but also mentoring them and putting them on the right path to succeed.
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