Bored Panda reached out to Max Alexander’s mother to find out more about the boy and his passion for fashion design. She told us: “Max is a happy, empathetic, energetic first grader. In addition to being a fashion prodigy and avid sewist, he loves math, science, art, tennis, the beach, and playing with friends.”
Next, we asked how sewing really came into Max’s life and how his mother realized he had the talent to create these unique clothes. We found out that: “When Max was 4, he told us he was a dressmaker, and asked for a dress form. I made him one out of cardboard and he began creating dresses immediately. After a few weeks, he began begging to learn how to sew. I sat him in my lap and showed him how.”
Asked about how the parents came to the conclusion that Max has to be the next incarnation of Guccio Gucci. We were told: “What do we think? I have to say, watching him design at age 4 was pretty unbelievable. He had never been exposed to fashion prior to him announcing he was a dressmaker. I’ve always wondered…”
“Max has had an obsession with shoes and luggage since he could walk. His first and favorite shoes at 18 months were black Gucci loafers (from Nana). It was a constant struggle at his preschool because they wanted him to wear tennis shoes and he always insisted on loafers!
Gucci’s mom was a dressmaker. I also asked Max (Guccio Gucci) who taught him to sew, and he said his mom. Taught by his grandpa, Max started doing leatherwork recently and is super into it.”
We were wondering how it feels from a parent's perspective to be raising such a successful and talented child, who despite his young age has already started his career and has already become a public figure. “Max remains very humble. He is quite young and doesn’t really understand how famous he has become. But he is just humble by nature. We do our best to protect his childhood and say no to a lot of things that come his way so he never gets overwhelmed. We only say yes to things he is very excited about.”
Then, Max’s mother revealed the process of the little designer’s creation. We were curious about some insights and interesting facts like where parents get the fabrics for their son’s designs, etc. We found out that: “A lot of fabric is actually donated to him by fans. But he does go to fabric stores and buys all of his own materials now with the money he makes from selling his designs. He brings the fabric home and drapes it on a dress form. He then unpins it to take it off and re-pins it to sew. (I hate that part a lot because it seems to be his least favorite part.)”
Asked how seriously the parents take their son’s love for fashion, Max’s mother answered: “We will support Max with whatever he decides to do in life, as long as it makes him happy. It’s hard to say at this age, but he has been doing it for three years now, so it seems like it’s sticking!”
Finally, we asked if Max’s mother could share some interesting facts and more insights about the 7-year-old designer and his incredible story: “Max has had some amazing opportunities this year including a commission from Sharon Stone, a feature in People Magazine, donating work to raise awareness and money for a Ukrainian refugee charity, and showing his work on Good Morning America. He has opened a volunteer summer atelier to work on a small line he is excited to show in the fall. He remains focused on his vision of making ‘all women no matter what size, feel beautiful’.”
