Pay's: creativity has no maps
Raúl and Víctor are the directors and founders of Pay's, a brand that has distinguished itself for its colorful and innovative use of knitted fabric. The team is made up of the two of them, in addition to Benji, in Sales, Beto, in Administration and Juan in the Communication part. In October 2014 they launched their first pieces, a small production of a collection of around 15 pieces. Last week they officially launched their latest collection, Dreams , which already positions them as one of the most original and fun fashion proposals in Mexico.
180º: Who are you and how did you get into this?
Víctor: We are both from Guanajuato, I came to live in Mexico two years ago. My career has nothing to do with this, I have a degree in Tourism. Here I met Raúl and he started working at Pay's. How we came to do this was funny, we had this part very close which is my family's weaving factory. My grandfather had a thread factory and from there the uncles and my father moved on to looms.
Raúl: I was here in Mexico City and I do art direction, I did advertising then, but I had always had my projects. At some point I took out a tennis line, but it had never really filled me up much. And when I learned what Molo's (Víctor) family was doing, I told him: we have to do something, the product definitely has a lot of potential and with a good branding strategy we can achieve something very cool. And we just did that, we began to land ideas of what we wanted to express. We wanted to express unisexuality, that there were no boundaries, we wanted people to express themselves when they dressed and not be afraid to wear things that made them feel happy or creative. That was our initiative. From those premises we developed the first collection, 1984 , which had very good feedback from people and we continued with the next collection, which was On Fire , where we involved artists. Now Dreams is about to be released , which premieres on July 14, and from what we have released in preview we have had a very good response.
180º: What inspires Pay's?
V: I think we have a part that is very retro-inspired, from the cuts, baggy eighties and nineties type sweaters.
A: I think it's a total mix . One of our flags is that of there are no borders, no maps , therefore it is very multicultural. We have ponchos that are very Mexican, with African patterns , seventies cuts, also eighties patterns . We raise that flag of no maps . It is a mix of cultures, cuts, music, the things we like and that is the result, a mix without borders.
180º: What is your creative process like?
A: We combine our tastes a lot and contribute totally 50/50. Traveling is very useful to us, we are fans of festivals. Our inspiration is everyday life and the street. We believe that what we do is what the public like us wanted to use and there was not. We wondered why there wasn't something we could use at a festival and tried to fill that gap. I believe that the strongest inspiration is the public, what they need, and what happens in the city.
180º: How is your teamwork?
V: There is a part that is creativity that is governed more by Raúl. He has all this talent. My part is production, my family's factory and that. Yes, parts of the work are delegated, that has made us function as a company. Everyone does their own thing and we all have communication.
A: It's a super cool fusion, and even though I generate, because I'm a designer, the graphic part, Molo always lands me or gives me suggestions. He has a lot of commercial point of view, that merger has made that formula work. In the end I also get involved in the sales strategies and Víctor in the design part. We also like to involve the team, Benji and Beto play a very important part because although they have a different branch, the company does not function without them, they also get involved in design, reviewing the clothing and so on.
V: There are many details that sometimes we cannot notice and the team makes us realize them.
180º: How to mix the creative part with the organizational part?
A: You have to be super open and interested. For example, I hate the administration, I don't know anything. However, I have to be in the meetings because it is super necessary to know what is being sold, what the main product is, and that helps me define the aesthetic standards that I have to be focusing on. It is a fusion of the team, even if you don't like it you have to be involved in everything.
180º: What has it been like for you to open a path in creativity in Mexican design? What is needed?
V: Well, I think that more than anything you have to take risks. Raúl and I were very afraid before that they wouldn't buy the things, because they are too colorful and all.
A: And there are all our savings. We reinvest everything, so there is fear and stress. But that's the main thing, take risks and not be afraid of losing. That's where it starts. Then follows perseverance, creativity, union. You also have to be able to interpret what your generation wants. It's a lot of intuition and analyzing the market.
V: And apart from that, after two years on the road, we know more about the public. Before we thought that our audience was very small and now we know that it is not. There are from mothers who use pies for their children, to ladies who like them, to friends at festivals. It is a very large world that empathizes with the brand, a world of people who are not afraid to express themselves and believe that fashion is for everyone.
180º: What has been the biggest challenge you have faced?
V: I think being able to take Pay's outside of Mexico, which is our main objective right now.
A: It is very complicated, it requires everything from the economic part to the government support part, which are things in which we have no experience. And the team part, of being constant and having impeccable logistics. It has cost us a lot to consolidate and be functional, so that they do not believe that we are good forever . We're doing it, we're going to have a small brand launch in Berlin.
180º: Tell us a little about the future of Pay's.
A: First we are dedicating ourselves to consolidating ourselves well, we have to strengthen ourselves: have a good website, consolidate the showroom. There are already plans to diversify the product.
V: We want to expand, most likely an introduction to the home line will be released this year: rugs, cushions, bedspreads. Things that totally go with knitting.
A: We want to reach a total lifestyle , from ponchos and sweaters, to pajamas and curtains. Let's give all the pieces of the puzzle. From now on we are no longer going to make collections, but rather we are going to launch detonated products, we are going to release a little product all year round. We are no longer going to have temporality so marked.
180º: If the new collection had a soundtrack, what would it be?
A: I think we both already know who he is. In reality it is a mixture of our tastes, it is an expression of us. I think it's mixed between Grimes, Hip Hop and experimental electronic music.
V: I was thinking a lot about Grimes, if we specifically think about something like a soundtrack, it would be something like her music. But it could also be something from Queen, something old.
A: Also experimental and even futuristic things. It could also be some Latin music, because of the color expression. Although our product has no borders, it is unmistakably Latin and colorful and explosive, just like us.
180º: If you could describe Pay's in 5 words
V and R: Creativity, universal, fun, unisex and colorful.
A: We also like the word friendly . We always, from the name, sought to make the brand very noble.
180º: By the way, where did the name come from?
A: Out of nowhere. We wanted something unrelated, easy.
V: That it could be understood in any language and could be fun, different.
How did you get to 180º Shop?
V: It was very soon after starting that we reached 180 DEGREES. It was the first store in which we started selling.
A: That's why we are so fond of it, because it was the first store, before we only sold in showrooms and online, and in December after starting we decided to look for a store, we passed by and met Bernardo and that's it.
V: To date it has been our favorite store. They look for us directly, they already know that Pay's is going to be at 180º SHOP.
A: And every time they ask us, where do you sell? It is our first reference because it is also the most central.