Exclusive Interview With MPG Sport Founder at ActivewearUSA.com!

Avi Woolman (Founder of ActivewearUSA.com) sat down and spoke with Ash Modha, CEO of the high performance activewear line MPG Sport, to discuss behind the scenes at MPG and the inspiration behind the MPG brand.

Hi Ash, lets get started, what was the inspiration behind MPG Sport?

MPG Sport Cache

The inspiration originally stemmed from the athleticism, grace and fluidity of motion embodied by ballet and contemporary dancers. My wife is a ballet dancer with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company in Seattle. She and her colleagues were always complaining about the lack of work-out gear that would suit their needs, specifically clothing that would move with them, not against, provide breathability, be moisture wicking and of course be durable to last through both strenuous work-outs and frequent wash cycles. The dancers became our focus group, as it were, to help us fine-tune our designs and constructions. Since then, we’ve expanded our reach to include a wide variety of different individuals in pursuit of athletic excellence whether they’re yogis and yoginis, cross trainers, runners, cyclists or practice taekwondo.

How did you start your company?

MPG Sport Capture Shorts

Our company Mondetta Clothing, was founded 25 years ago by myself, my brother and our two friends, who were also brothers. I was only 16 at the time and still in high school while the rest of the guys were just starting university. We started off and found early success with a flag concept that exploded in the North American fashion industry. MPG started about 6 years ago as an evolution of our Mondetta Sport division, which was a casual sportswear line. Mondetta was working on some private label garments for a major North American activewear label when we realized we could fuse the fashion forward principles, meticulous attention to detail and usage of high quality fabrication that have defined our company since its inception towards creating our own line of performance driven apparel. Thus was born Mondetta Peformance Gear.

Why activewear, why not wedding dresses ?

MPG Sport Charm

Well, on the Mondetta side of the company we still continue to produce high-quality casual wear, casual sportswear and outerwear. Activewear, like I mentioned, just seemed like a natural progression for the company after some forays into the market for other clients. We knew we had something special when we saw those first samples and haven’t looked back since.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating your line?

MPG Sport Harmony

For each line, we like to think beyond the actual product. We travel extensively to Asia, Europe, across North America to glean inspiration from a myriad of different sources. By radically shifting the way we look at everything around us, from shoes, to hotels, to automobiles, to art, we look to innovative leaders in design and culture to create product that is above and beyond what we consider the norm. And our approach isn’t limited only to design, we tinker and adjust all aspects of the product from fabrications to notions such as zipper pulls to stitching methods. Simply put, our milieu is our inspiration. We can never rest easy on what we’ve accomplished because we’re always looking ahead.

I know it’s a tough one, but what are your favorite three MPG Sport items and why?

I’m not going to lie to you, that’s a tough one. This season has been absolutely amazing, there are so many stand-out pieces but if I had to pick, it would be these three:

MPG Sport Petal Pant

1. The Petal Pant. This pant is absolutely sublime. The contour ombre cross-over waistband is elegant, sexy and beautifully flatters any stomach shape. It’s a slim-leg style which creates a sleek and smooth silhouette yet because it’s mostly constructed of performance jersey maintains it’s four-way stretch to move with you, regardless of what you might be getting into.

MPG Sport Freedom

2. Freedom. This is a great performance racer back tank with a sexy open front yoke design, which not only looks great but also provides natural ventilation. It maintains a cool, fitted silhouette that flatters and elongates the torso. The Coolmax bra liner provides medium support which is suitable for a wide range of athletic activities.

MPG Sport Nuance

3. Nuance. Another piece that I’m really proud of. It’s a work-out jacket made of performance jersey which, again, provides the active tech aspects such as 4-way stretch, moisture wicking and breathability. It’s got a great fitted, streamlined shape and is perfect at the gym, meeting up with friends for a latté after a work out or worn causally with jeans on the weekend.

What’s on the horizon for MPG?

MPG Sport Trixy

Since we’ve always stressed fashion forward styling, have offered dynamic, high-pop colors and have maintained absolute rigid standards of garment construction, our main goal is to continue to strive to reach new frontiers in the activewear apparel market. Our technical teams are continually researching newer and better ways to manufacture our clothing while our new development teams tirelessly attempt to stay on top of trends as they’re developing. The coming seasons promise new product categories being launched, including a full line of accessories to create an entire MPG experience, which is more than just a mere lifestyle but will be a way of approaching life itself. By constantly moving forward, we’re never standing still.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

MPG Sport Elle

Well, I’m really not supposed to divulge this but I will say that ActivewearUSA.com customers should be prepared for a phenomenal product launch in November of this year.

OK, so now some silly questions! If you could be a fruit, what fruit would you be?

Papaya

If you could invite 3 famous people for dinner, who would it be and what would you serve?

At the moment, it would have to be: Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton and Aung San Suu Kyi. For dinner, I would serve a vegetarian Indian meal prepared by the two best chefs I know, my mum Pushpa and my aunt Divya.