A 4-month diary of a designer mentorship

10 September 2025

​On the agenda:

• Markup prices
• Equity investment
• Bootstrapping

Throughout the year, there are a handful of masterclasses between the mentors and mentees of the Track Fashion scheme, each focused on a single overarching business element. Until now, the creative aspect has been in the limelight; the part most creatives, like Mattia, feel a natural affinity towards. As time progresses, these aspects take on more and more shape, which means it’s time to get down to business. “Without a clear idea and breakdown of financial resources, you might as well stop, or not begin at all.”

Part of today’s agenda is markup prices – the amount by which a product’s price is increased to achieve profitability. For fashion, a markup of 2 (bare minimum) to 2.4 is customary; this is the markup from production cost to wholesale pricing, the price paid from retailer to designer.

After four hours of diagrams, stats, and numbers, the room feels remarkably different from before. Faces give away the hard-hitting reality: in this industry, a personal investment of a couple of thousand euros won’t cut it. To have any chance of success, realistically, at least 120,000 to 150,000 euros must be factored in, according to the speaker of today’s session. These are no small numbers being thrown at the mentees, nor the mentors for that matter. Without a financial backer, how and where is one supposed to find such money? It underscores the belief that fashion is only for the select few, both from a customer’s and a designer’s POV.

​And turning to a bank also proves less straightforward than assumed, too. In most cases, a cash flow of six seasons is required, supplemented by a financial contribution by the designer of 25% to 30% of the total amount. Only then will financial institutions consider a loan. Few are in such a privileged position, Mattia included. This is when ‘bootstrapping’ is mentioned: funding without a formal loan or investor but through personal savings, presales, crowdfunding, or grants. For Mattia, it is his freelance gigs that grant him cash flow and freedom. This is how he wants to move forward: further establishing his brand with freelance consultancy on the side. Truth be known, freelancing is the whole ball game; without it, the first wouldn’t even be up for consideration.

13 October 2025

On the agenda:

• Sales agent 
• Visionboard
• Labeling
• Showroom

Over the last month, doubt ruthlessly kicked in, and the question of whether it was best to stop arose more than once. However, Mattia is decisive; he has come too far to call quits now. Even without the personal investment discussed last time, he is willing to jump.

We get up to speed on where Mattia is currently at. At the end of September, he sat down with Kiyo (Ishizuka) of NORTHLIBERTY INC., a Japanese sales and brand consultancy agency (clients include Raf Simons, JACQUEMUS, Y/PROJECT, and Marina Yee). Rafaël’s general advice when working with an agency? Not to give in at all times. Dare to stand your ground, especially as an independent designer. A prime example of his mentoring role: contextualising what might be said and how to implement it without detracting from the distinctive features forming the backbone of Mattia’s initial vision. There will, of course, always be an element of truth, such as certain fabrics perhaps being a touch overtly luxurious. The collection could indeed do with some more character, as noted by Kiyo.

Mattia’s vision starts and ends with his assembling technique using tape as the binding factor, no cut and sew. A know-how that is frequently – and practically exclusively – applied in outerwear. Mattia’s idea is to use this technique for tailoring, envisioned as a curated menswear line with around ten different styles in a handful of fabrics. Restriction as a design concept slowly grew on Mattia. To find that one thing that people will know and remember you for. Soon enough, the focus became jackets (the garment which convinced Anne Kurris of his talent).

Next up are labels, and with that, the brand name: Mattia Van Severen. For those unfamiliar, Van Severen is a resounding name in Belgian design and architecture. However, Mattia’s motive had nothing to do with the renowned quality of his family’s name. He did, however, take into account his envisioned clientele. With sharp lines and a purified aesthetic, he could see how this collection held the potential to appeal to creatives in architecture and design. In that sense, it reinforced his inclination towards choosing his full name (even when there are some strong arguments against it). Labels are often underestimated, considered a detail. But if you ask Rafaël, they can make or break a brand’s credibility.

Tricky in its own right are care labels, as so much needs to be disclosed, from material composition to washing instructions. Mattia’s mind is set on screen-printing so as not to take away from the line pattern unfolding on the inside. The graphic traces of the tape are a label in and of themselves, a trademark. Better to go for something more understated, as so much of the inside will already do the talking. Especially when considering the hanger appeal – how to make something look equally good on a rack as on a body.

Lastly, there is the Paris showroom. For Mattia, the biggest question remains if he wants to be part of the shared one or prefers a space of his own. But it is already quite late, Rafaël notes, who is already in the thick of booking a space for June. He puts down an ultimatum: either find a space by the end of this month or opt for the one by Kiyo. And then the doorbell rings: “That will be my fabric…”

15 December 2025

On the agenda:

• Run-through linesheet 
• Labeling
• Collection title
• Showroom presentation 
• Visual content

Today, we’re starting with the jacket at the heart of the collection. As Mattia found the initial Japanese survival cloth-like fabric inadequate for the fit, it was remade in a different one, ensuring it would still make the final edit. After attentively examining the prototype, Rafaël goes on to counter Mattia’s disapproval of the fabric, in which he sees nothing wrong. Warming to his mentor’s positive feedback, Mattia starts to see that it is perhaps not as bad as he had deemed. Due to past experiences at certain houses, where nothing would ever be good enough when things first arrived, Mattia admittedly developed a mindset of ‘premature discontent’, meaning he almost immediately disapproves, so to speak. But as it turns out, often, he is just too harsh on himself. The upside: another piece to add to the collection. The unfortunate side: the high shipping rate. Whereas he could have bundled it with other items that were sent back for either slight alterations or to go into definite production (as would be the case here), he will now have to send it on separately, meaning twice the cost. But this too is part of the process, learning from such ‘ill judgements’.

For this jacket, 50 meters at €19/meter was bought. Rafaël’s golden rule: only buy what you need, do not be tempted to ‘stock up’ as this can come back to bite you. Another catch is when you pick colours not listed on the sample card, a minimum order of 50 metres will be required. Rafaël also emphasises the importance of recurring fabrics, not only for visual purposes, but also financially. Some of Mattia’s fabrics are exclusive to a particular style, but here he opted for ‘stock service’ – much to the relief of Rafaël. These are fabrics that are supposedly out of stock, but in reality, it just means you have to wait around the two-week mark for them to come back in, instead of the standard three months. Plus, no requirement for a minimum of metres. Perfect for those one-offs in a collection, without damaging finances too much.

Mattia explains how, after laying eyes on the ‘failed’ prototype of the first jacket, followed by some difficulties with his carpenter jacket, stress set in. Hence, the extensive lineup of shirts. Too many, Rafaël concludes; three would do just fine. The white is to stay. Although on second thought, it isn’t quite thin enough to be a shirt and not thick enough to wear layered in winter. A black wool would be far more interesting; almost a vest/jacket in its own right. Mattia’s only doubt is that he wants a visual counterbalance for the white of that first jacket. On hold for now.

With the linesheet done and dusted, labelling is back on the table. Having made up his mind on the final design, the only update here is that his holidays will be spent hand-sewing. Not because the manufacturers can’t do so, but the labels are only to arrive near the end of December, which is too late. So, manual labour it will be.

The highly anticipated update: Kiyo. The deal was sealed in person during a Flanders DC trip to Korea, attended by both Rafaël and Mattia. In terms of the showroom, in the end, Mattia decided it might not be so bad to take Kiyo up on his offer of the shared space. As NORTHLIBERTY INC. doesn’t provide support for independent initiatives, Mattia would have had to handle all this too, on top of finalising his collection, which he soon realised wasn’t realistic.

Left on the agenda: 

• Title

Mattia landed on “Nine Jackets, a Shirt and Pants”, inspired by LA-based artist Ed Ruscha’s book Twentysix Gasoline Stations. The sheer banality of such a literal description, combined with the architectural element, perfectly encapsulates Mattia’s vision. 

• Presentation 

Galvanised steel tripod stands with a wooden rod as a rail; eventually, everything will be steel. To tie everything in nicely, Mattia thought it best to stick to a similar materiality as the showroom. Rafaël argues that it might actually be nice to offset the cold concrete flooring with something a bit warmer, like wood. As the rods won’t take up much space, this will be an in situ decision.  

• Visual content

With the shoot planned on the 17th of January, the timeline is tight. The envisioned aesthetic: ‘nerdy architect yet very handsome’. Models who purposefully look slightly overworked, a bit worn out and tired. The pure product shots, Mattia will likely shoot himself, deliberately intended to be quite ‘dry’; a cleaner, architecture-like footage. How to approach Instagram remains a bit of a mind field for now: does he make a new profile, but what about his current following then, or does he keep posting on his existing one, and if so, does he delete everything and start from scratch?

Five weeks from now, the mentoring track will have wrapped up, and Mattia will be on the brink of his Paris Fashion Week debut. Best wishes are exchanged ahead of the new year before we each head our own way, counting down until the 22nd of January. 

20 January 2026

Roughly a week away from the launch, the collection is as good as it can be. No real stress there. Mattia will tinker with the images some more and check the price list one final time with Rafaël. His main advice is to sufficiently consider the psychological side of pricing an item, pushing back ever so slightly to land on €2,390 instead of €2,400 for a particular item. Other than that, the hectic times are behind him. But with the rush of the collection gone, he suddenly has time to overthink all those things he didn’t have the brain capacity for until now; all those ‘small-but-maybe-not-so-small-after-all’ things, such as PR, that he put to the back of his mind. Maybe he should have done more, or at least started earlier. Rafaël, still missing out on certain clients himself – even ones he knows personally – urges Mattia not to worry too much. Ultimately, doing business comes down to being wise with your ‘losses’. And so, better not to have the PR plan he ideally would have wanted than not to have a good showroom or collection.

Mattia sounds out if there is anything to go by in terms of the buyers’ body language. For example, when something is tried on, or when the order book is brought up, are those good indicators? But if years of experience have taught Rafaël one thing: nothing is assured until the actual order comes in. All the more reason to be strict with order deadlines. Around ten days is recommended. The later, the higher the chance buyers might go for another label in the end. Some final words of advice:

• The order minimum is now clearly stated on the linesheet. Those numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt; in the end, a lot of it comes down to who you are dealing with (type of store, part of the world, etc.). So make sure this doesn’t put people off. 
• Maybe don’t start your linesheet with the sales conditions. Although very clear, this too can put people off. 

Mattia, naturally, feels pretty nervous about the idea of launching his work into the world; the hard-hitting reality once the creative part has materialised. In some way, Rafaël is sorry to see how young talent has to consider so many things these days. Back when he started, things were done more by gutfeeling and on a whim. No one had a solid business plan. Having these things sorted is important, especially considering the current state of retail, but the price paid is often that of creative freedom. Because of this, Rafaël acknowledges the value of mentoring. 

With two days to go, Mattia and Rafaël proudly look back on the past year. More than mere mentor and mentee, they have grown together, both professionally and personally. They will meet again, sooner rather than later. Starting in Paris.  

The Mentoring Track Fashion is a collaboration between Flanders DC and the City of Antwerp aimed at empowering young creative talents by connecting them with seasoned industry experts. The open call runs until 9 February 9 2026. More info here