Max Tan, MAX.TAN
“Embrace your style, not just your body,” says Max Tan, founder and designer behind one of Singapore’s most loved cult labels, MAX.TAN.
With a philosophy of maximising minimalism, his collections involve exploring the nuance of simple ideas. Max loves working with self-imposed limitations, which he tells us keeps the focus on the quirky cuts that play with volume, shape, functionality, sizing, and construction.
We visited him at his studio to learn more.
Max, let’s talk sizing. We’ve all encountered sizing problems in one way or another. What was one that hit the hardest for you?
When it comes to my personal dressing, the hardest problem I face with sizing is the neckline! I'm a medium but I buy XL or XXL because I love my clothes oversized and roomy. However, I still prefer my neckline to be snug, which is where the problem comes in since the neckline is always too big for me in my desired sizes.
Your label has a size range that extends from 34 to 42, which is not very common among local brands. What made you decide to have such a considerable range?
The size range is entirely a business decision. I want my brand to have an international appeal and market. The only way to do that is to have a range of sizes. I initially started with EU 38-42 to cater to Scandinavian women who tend to be taller and have a broader frame. This range also appealed to men who wanted to wear my androgynous creations but weren’t able to fit into the 34-38 sizes since the length and proportions simply didn’t work. Creating 40-42 sizes and increasing the grading specifications helped me tackle this problem.
“I want my brand to have an international appeal and market. The only way to do that is to have a range of sizes.”
I only started making clothing in sizes 34-36 once the demand for the brand started to grow in Singapore and Asia.
Did you encounter any difficulties when you decided to cater to the Asian market?
It wasn’t that difficult, but something I had and still have been struggling with is educating general consumers from Asia that they can actually wear MAX.TAN’s clothes. The general misconception is that the clothes are only meant for models or tall women, but in reality, a lot of the designs are very versatile. It takes a discerning woman to understand this.
Many brands, especially small and independent ones, do not carry extended sizing across all designs for various reasons, such as a lack of feasibility in terms of production volume. How do you overcome these issues?
There will always be a surplus in stock distribution, but we’re able to minimise overstock by focusing on wholesale and staying away from a retail model. We produce based on our buyers’ orders and add on about 30% of that for our own retail.
From a layperson’s perspective, catering to different sizes may simply mean making smaller or larger. But from a designer’s perspective, are there things about designing for smaller or larger sizes that people don’t usually consider?
Definitely — as they always say, do not let the clothes wear you! Women with a smaller frame tend to choose my drapey pieces that fall and follow their body while women who wear 38-42 do not like that. By keeping nuances like that in mind, I get to create interesting cuts that create spaces between the wearer and the garment.
Designer Conversations is an interview series done in collaboration with Public Culture, an editorial experience studio that believes in connection over communication. This feature was photographed by Christopher Wong for Boutique Fairs Singapore and Public Culture.