Identical twins Byron and Dexter Peart, 42, are dreamers, that much is clear.
They had a vision from very early on, age 12, perhaps, when they were growing up in Ottawa. They wanted to build something in fashion. By the mid-1990s, already working in the trade in Montreal, they had their name: Want.
The dream took form when they launched a line of luxury leather goods, Want Les Essentiels de la Vie, in 2007. They envisioned a global lifestyle brand.
Now, seven years after they launched Les Essentiels, the line is carried in about 100 of the best stores in the world — Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and Opening Ceremony in New York, Colette in Paris, Liberty and Selfridges in London, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong and on it goes.
“We’ve made Montreal our hub, but our market is the world,” Dexter said.
They have the vision and the vocabulary to sell the dream.
“We start with the why question. What do we stand for? Why does what we do need to exist? It’s in the ‘essential’ part of the brand name,’’ Byron said.
And Dexter, on what people want when they buy: “People are looking for something that brings them closer to home.”
It all began in 2000, centred on that name, Want, with the opening of the Want Agency, which distributes Scandinavian clothing lines in Canada and the U.S.
In 2011, they went into retail, opening Want Apothecary in Westmount, which is to double in size in spring, and have since opened locations in Vancouver and Toronto.
And this fall, they took the major step of launching women’s handbags, garnering coverage in Vogue. They also do men’s shoes and gloves, as well as the “man” bags, and computer and gadget cases they started with.
There have been multiple mentions and features, in GQ, the New York Times’ T magazine, Style.com, Vanity Fair and Mr. Porter, among others. They have done collaborations with Mr. Porter, The Sartorialist and J. Crew.
They have been honoured by Toronto’s Design Exchange and won the inaugural accessory designer of the year award from CAFA (Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards). And they were named this year to the BoF 500, a list of fashion’s influencers compiled by the influential Business of Fashion web magazine.
And no, they could not have done it alone, they readily acknowledge.
The Pearts have longtime partners in Mark Edwards Apparel Inc., once a traditional garment company, which does private label manufacturing for major retail stores as well as importing and retailing. Last year, the company, now owned by Mark Wiltzer and his wife, Jacqueline Gelber, moved into its own 60,000-square-foot building in an industrial area just south of the Metropolitan, a few stone’s throws away from their longtime Chabanel St. offices.
The Wiltzer name may not appear on the award plaques or in much of the media coverage, but they are very much part of the picture.
“We don’t just back them,’’ Wiltzer said, adding the group provides administration, financing, logistics, and “you name it.”
“So it allows Byron and Dexter to focus on what they do best, which is developing product and selling at market.
“They do what we can’t do — the creative, the branding, the inspirational,” Wiltzer said.
The partnership is a key element in the building of a global brand, from Montreal or anywhere. Among the other elements: vision, patience, marketing and PR from Dexter’s wife, and perhaps the quiet time to work the back end of the business in Montreal.
On a visit to Montreal headquarters, where the Pearts share a cool clean office on the executive row, they talked about their success so far, and the next chapters.
Going global
“We had an audacity in 2007. We absolutely believed that we had the capacity to build a global brand, right here from Montreal,’’ Dexter said.
Dexter points out that Want Les Essentiels is the top emerging accessories brand at Barneys, with 55 per cent growth this year, one of very few figures the brothers will release.
“Globally, we’ve made ourselves a brand that counts,’’ he said.
Another figure: North America makes up 65 per cent of their business, and Japan about 20 per cent. A few other figures: about 100 people work for the company, 60 of them for Mark Edwards, 30 for Want and 10 who overlap.
Byron mentions news about Japan. Dexter says: “Maria tells you when you have news.”
Dexter’s wife, Maria Vavarikos Peart, is owner of the Zoi public relations agency, and, naturally, reps her husband’s brand, with gusto.
Byron continues. Just back from Japan, the Pearts have signed a distribution deal with Tomorrowland, partners in Japan for Isabel Marant, Dries Van Noten and Acne, among others.
“We have a partner who is going to help us build the brand on the other side of the world.”
“Our market is the world,” said Dexter. “We’ve never tried to present ourselves as just good enough for Montreal or Canada.”
Montreal as hub
The front end of the business is in New York, with a showroom in west Chelsea, opened in 2002 for the Want Agency. That’s primarily where the Want line is sold, as well as at the Pitti Uomo menswear trade show in Florence and at Paris fashion weeks.
“Being from Montreal, being from Canada, we’re very grounded, very rooted here, but we have a borderless vision for our brand and our business,” Byron said.
“Being in Montreal allows us to stay centred on the vision of the business with fewer distractions.”
While they are doing “tremendously” well in the Canadian market, Dexter said, the market here is not big enough to support the brand.
Still, the Canadian consumer is probably closest to their target, with a European mentality, wanting less but of higher quality and value, and intelligent about his purchases, he added.
“You don’t have to — in this day and age — come from one of the key hubs to do something of greatness, goodness or something of importance,” Dexter said.
Dexter said he was inspired by the Swedish brand Acne, which they used to distribute as part of the Want Agency. It was “able to build something from nothing, with an extremely clear and strong point of view, with drive and vision, to find a place in the market where no one else was speaking.”
Early on, we learned that if we approached the market with anything, it had to be different, he said.
“Because we’re from Montreal, there’s an opportunity there. We’re a bit different.”
Meanwhile, the brothers are excited about the expanded space for Want Apothecary on Sherbrooke St. W.
“We’re taking it to a whole new level,” Byron said. “We see retail as an incubator to get close to the customer.”
The owners at the opening of the Want Apothecary in 2011: Dexter Peart, Jacqueline Gelber, Mark Wiltzer and Byron Peart. The shop will double in size in spring. (THE GAZETTE / Robert J. Galbraith).
Leather goods for men from Want Les Essentiels de la Vie at Montreal headquarters. (Pierre Obendrauf / MONTREAL GAZETTE)
The City Shoulder Bag from Want Les Essentiels de la Vie, a line of luxury leather goods from Montreal twins Byron and Dexter Peart. Women’s bags were launched this fall. It sells for $600. COURTESY WANT LES ESSENTIELS DE LA VIE
The vision
The Scandinavian esthetic of clean, simple modern design is the guiding principle for Want, both for the import agency and the leather goods line.
Byron says he thinks a lot about how to make life easier.
“That’s how we approach everything, from the design of a shoe or a bag. It’s the about the ease and functionality. And the esthetic is very important to us,” Byron said.
“It’s a boutique brand. It’s a brand for a discerning customer,” he said, the analogy being Want vs. a giant like Louis Vuitton, for instance, and a tiny gem of a hotel vs. a landmark Four Seasons or Ritz.
The products are expensive, though not at the stratospheric heights of luxury, topping out at about $1,500 for a briefcase or handbag. The leather is sourced in Italy and France; the bags are made in China, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
“Quality matters, design matters,” Byron said.
Added Dexter: “The story matters.”
The Piper backpack, $1,095, from Want Les Essentiels de la Vie, a line of luxury leather goods from Montreal twins Byron and Dexter Peart. COURTESY WANT LES ESSENTIELS DE LA VIE
The challenges
The Pearts are looking to the long term and count some challenges ahead.
“We haven’t fully been able to tell our story. That’s the next stage in our brand-building, to really build something that’s going to last for a long time, that’s larger than Byron and me, or Byron and Mark and me,’’ Dexter said.
There’s more they can do, he adds, naming social media, product categories, merchandising, more value proposition.
“We have so much branding to do in our own country, Canada,’’ Byron added.
The waited to launch women’s bags, thinking perhaps the field was too crowded, or they didn’t think the had something new to bring to the table, Byron said.
But then, he adds: “Our purpose? We’re the little ones that could.”
The background
Mark Wiltzer’s father, Eddie Wiltzer, is a veteran of the garment trade, having spent 28 years with Algo, once one of the largest dress companies in North America. In 1996, the Wiltzers struck out on their own. Six years ago, the couple bought out Wiltzer senior, who still has an office on the premises, as does Uncle Morty, who used the run the warehouse.
The Wiltzers started working with Dexter at the start. “We got along fabulously. We made beautiful music together,” Mark said. Dexter was with the Miss Sixty-Energie import division, which they no longer have.
Around 2000, Byron had an Old Montreal boutique, Want Stil, specializing in Scandinavian design. He thought those clean, Scandinavian clothes, not available in North America at the time, could have a broader audience.
So when Wiltzer asked Dexter what was next, Byron joined the company and they started distributing those lines.
Wiltzer, who has a James Perse boutique in Westmount, later suggested another store nearby. The next thing he knew, there was a concept store, Want Apothecary.
“From the little seed — they created this world,” Wiltzer said.
Wiltzer is just as reluctant as the brothers to provide figures. He does say they all see eye-to-eye, have to the same world view, and “the same appetite, or non-appetite” for risk.
And they are patient, building the blocks of the business slowly but surely, Dexter added.
There is 14,000 square feet of room to grow in the new building.
Asked at the outset of the interview if they had achieved their vision of a global brand, the brothers gave nuanced answers, with no clear yes or no.
Dexter put the question to Wiltzer: “If we ever say yes, slap us!” Wiltzer joked.
efriede@montrealgazette.com
Twitter.com/evitastyle