Alumni
Apparel Industry Management Grad's Brand Melin Sold at 100 Retailers
Apparel Industry Management Graduate, Brian McDonell, is the co-founder and president of Melin, the premium headwear brand sold at top retailers including Bloomingdale's, Ron Robinson, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned at FIDM? Some of my favorite and most valuable lessons from FIDM were: fabric testing for different performance characteristics; sewing classes on how to scoop out material in patterns to make them fit better; grading classes on how to eliminate waste in cutting material patterns; international business on duties imports and exports; organizational and behavioral management on how to build and get the most out of your team.
Why has it been important to you to return to FIDM as a guest speaker? I am a huge believer in learning from others' stories and mistakes in an effort to reduce the wasted time and money of the students needing to repeat my mistakes. I always admired brand owners and enjoyed their stories and hope they, the FIDM Students, enjoy mine.
How has Melin grown since first launching in 2013? 100 percent year over year for six years running.
Do you have any high-profile fans or customers you'd like to mention? We have a lot of rad humans who support us from Ryan Sheckler and Shane Bonifay to Daniel Ricciardo and Aaron Rodgers.
What are some new products/lines you can tell us about? We build “Better Headwear for Better Adventures” and our newest innovation releases Summer ‘19, called “melin Hydro,” and is built with the most water-friendly materializations and techniques we can find to make all of your summer water adventures more fun. melin Hydro is designed to keep you out longer and the campaign is “Chase the Sun."
How many retailers are you in now? About 200 doors and about 100 retailers. We focus our distribution to best in class only, are growing with Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue and really value our own melinbrand.com DTC channel and experience.
Where do you see the brand going from here? A huge focus on best in class, innovative purpose built headwear to really add value to our favorite outdoor passions.
Categories: Apparel Industry Management Alumni
