Today we delve into the MMA Apparel industry with one of Canada’s newest and brightest suppliers, Derailed Industries. The owner of Derailed, Marc Wilson, gives us details on what goes on inside the game, how he got into the apparel business, recommendations for new companies and of course his favorite ring girl.
This won’t be the last time you hear from Marc Wilson. He will be coming back in the near future to bring us “Behind The Shirt with Marc Wilson” which is a get to know sort of feature for the MMA clothing scene.
Give us a little bit of your background (before derailed)
I’ve been an athlete my whole life. In fact, the only things that I ever thrived at when I was growing up was sports and art. School was just the place where I had to be in between practices, gym class and games.
When it was time to go to college I knew that you can’t go to college for sports (and I sure wasn’t good enough at science to do kinesiology…) so I chose the Art avenue and took Digital Media Arts (Majored in 3D Animation).
After college I found that I didn’t want to spend my time infront of a computer for 50 hours per week so I went back to what I knew and got into the Sports Nutition industry (I wish I had that science background then!). I worked in that industry for 6 years.I was offered an opportunity to start an MMA clothing line with my background in art and knowing people in that industry. I was able to gain great popularity of the brand, but unfortunately the investors could not hold up their end of the bargain. So I took that experience to work with successful brands. If you can’t beat ’em…
So with that background in art and having the clothing line, is there ever an itch to get back at that side of things?
Yes, and No. I have some things that I could put into play, but then I always think of maybe buying a brand that I like that already has a following. I look at a brand like Wreckage (www.wreckageclothing.com) a brand that, despite it’s size compared to some of our other brands we took on because they have some of the best designs I’ve seen in a long time. It may be a better investment to buy brand than start a new one… Except now Chad from Wreckage is going to be asking me to buy his company! In the near future though, you will see some brands with my fingerprints all over it.
How did the concept of derailed industries come about?
The concept for the company actually came from 2 directions. When I was working as an Independent Sales Rep myself, I was constantly being asked by the brands that I inquired to if I could take on the whole country as my territory. Never being the type of person to turn down an opportunity I took Canada on as a very large territory for 3 brands initially.
Secondly, when it became apparent that there were brands out there looking for representation in the country I started asking my accounts what brands they were having trouble getting into Canada, so I could offer a better service to the accounts as well as the brands.
It very quickly became something that required multiple sales reps and could no longer be handled by one person. After that, it was a matter of finding out what companies may need beyond sales and what those of us in the company are also good at. (Marketing, Social Media, Product Development, etc.)
You talk of brands wanting representation in Canada, what is the brand that your clients order the most of?
From us? I would say that that the “easiest” sale is Dirty Boxer. 4 out of 5 accounts that we work closely with order it, it isn’t always the largest orders but they are consistent. It is only a matter of time before they are a household name. Lojak has some nice sized orders, but they are new to North America so they are not as widespread yet. It really depends on what time of year and what the brands are working on.
Derailed Industries is the distribution side of things, have you ever thought of doing the store front side? Or are you not interested in that?
Well, we are more about wholesale. We distribute if we need to, but because of the reputation that “Distributors” get for high prices and poor service we usually work out the best way for all three parties: My accounts, The brand and then us. That is usually done through direct representation. It keeps costs low, profits high and no one is ever limited by “what is in stock”. If the company makes it, we sell it. If it is a season that hasn’t been sold yet, we will get it to you.
But yes, I have considered doing a storefront. Actually, in the near future we will expand into a boutique style office that will showcase the brands like a store. So store owners can browse like they were shopping. We will have an online store too. I also heard a rumor that one of our Sales Managers was in talks with one of our online accounts to open up a storefront between the two of them. As long as my Reps are doing their job, they can do whatever they like on the side. Especially if it is in the industry.
With the MMA industry exploding how do you decide which companies to carry and which to not?
Well, some are a little easier than others… But with new brands I always take a look at a lot of factors like: exposure, marketing, design, quality, accessibility, reputation, sales expectations, previous sales and the relationship with the owners. I also have a few accounts that have been with me for a long time who give me some retailer insight on the brand if they are selling the brands or have been looking for it. A lot of times, I usually have a good idea of what would work for us and for the brand. So far I have made some great decisions, I won’t mention risks I have turned down only to see that I made a great decision, but I would like to say “I told you so” to everyone who wondered why I picked up Punishment Athletics when it wasn’t doing as well as it has… Thanks Tito! You should see what they have going on leading up to and starting 2012.
Sometimes you just have to take the risk.
Obviously looking at your products you are not only pointing your arrow at the MMA industry, what else do you carry?
I actually started this as an Action Sports and Board Sports agency. However, with my background and the influence of a major brand that I had in the early stages, the MMA side of the business grew exponentially in a short time. Turns out a lot of MMA brands are looking for good representation.
We have re-focused an expansion on the Action Sports and Lifestyle recently and we are really excited about the brands we will be releasing starting now and into 2012. We are expanding on our Australian Import, Lojak Clothing (www.lojak.tv) for great new Fall/Winter designs in the Streetwear and MMA market after a great North American release in ’11. We’re especially excited about the best selling “Independent” Board Sports brand in the US – Fuel Clothing (www.fuelclothing.com) and a new announcement SEEN HERE FIRST – Mentom Eyewear (www.mentom.com) a brand new Lifestyle/Sport sunglasses company who is going to shake up the Polarized shades market. They’ve got some great athletes behind them too.
We’ve got a great portfolio of Action Sports and Lifestyle brands and it will be growing very quickly as well.
Being in the apparel game for as long as you have what one piece of advice could you give someone who is just starting out?
Be different. Don’t start a company like another brand because they are popular. It takes a lot of factors (and luck) for a company to become a massive success. I use Affliction as an example; When Affliction exploded, everyone wanted to make a brand like that because they wanted to make millions like Affliction does. Then we saw hundreds of copycats. Truth of the matter is, Affliction was popular because they were different and had an industry changing type of printing process after YEARS of work. Copying them doesn’t make YOU the next Affliction because it has already been done. Find something that makes you the next success story not a copy cat.
Let’s move away from the apparel questions
What is your favorite fight of all time?
It isn’t just one fight, but I would have to say the Trilogy of Chuck (Liddel) vs Randy (Couture). I can’t remember fights that I was more excited to watch than any of those. Also, that was before I was influenced by brand representation and possible sales implications.
Who is your favorite fighter?
GSP – No question.
Brittney Palmer or Arianny Celeste?
Brittney Palmer – Every night… I mean, Every Time.
If there is anything else you would like to tell us now is your chance.
Like I mentioned before about being different, the reason for our recent success is that we are also doing things against the grain. So make sure to check out www.derailedindustries.com to see what we do and what makes us who we are.
If you are a retailer, find out what brands that we can bring to you at the best prices. If you are a brand looking for representation get an idea of what we offer and how we do it. If you are a consumer we have an affiliate program coming, but in the meantime visit www.dominantground.com for a discount of 10% off all purchases at Dominant Ground (Use Coupon Code: derailed)
Sign up for our mailing list at www.derailedindustries.com for a chance to win a LOJAK CLOTHING prize pack.
Marc Wilson
