MONDETTA
Most famously known for its 1990s flag shirts and more recently for celebrity- endorsed athleisure apparel, Mondetta has successfully managed to adapt to changing times and trends for 35 years.
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local charities such as Harvest Manitoba. “We came here penniless and Manitoba has been good to us,” Modha says. Like many famous Winnipeggers, the Modha brothers and their pals Raj and Amit Bahl — also brothers and East African immigrants – hunkered down to create their business in the depths of a winter snowstorm. It was 1986 when they coined the name Mondetta, meaning “small world,” and by the time summer rolled around they were selling T-shirts and other items at a cart along the boardwalk at Grand Beach. Shortly afterward, a German license plate on the front of a Volkswagen Jetta inspired Modha to create a T-shirt with a flag and call letters on it — and a global fashion phenomenon was born. “We hit a perfect timing with social fashion,” Modha says of the late 1980s.
“Licensed product was becoming huge. While people were wearing the NHL logos on their chests, we were basically doing it with the flags. The company took off at that time and we were very young and we really had no idea about the apparel business.” After many years of international success, licensed clothing started trending downward. So Mondetta pivoted, turning its focus to compliance at a time when companies like The Gap were facing labour controversy overseas. It also recalibrated the business into three divisions: a private label, their own branded business and a special makeup where they do their own brand for larger entities such as Costco or Walmart. In 2001, Modha was approached by a friend who ran The Running Room stores and who saw demand for active wear following the breakaway success of
B.C.’s Lululemon. Enter MPG. With solid designs and the compliance to back them up, the active wear line beloved by celebs like dancer Julianne Hough (who has her own MPG collection) also packs value — which is especially important these days, Modha says. “Coming out of this pandemic, people are more concerned about balancing budgets.” While MPG is an ideal fit for the COVID era (who isn’t wearing leggings and T-shirts every day?), Modha is already looking ahead. “People are sick and tired of sitting around in their sweats,” he says. That’s why MPG is shifting its focus forward to technical workwear — a blend of comfort and style for when people re-enter the workforce. There’s a word what they did there: Oh yes — pivot. ■
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SPRING 2021
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