Arch Max, the Barcelona sports brand that has won over Adidas

Arch Max founder and CEO, Jordi Martí, has long enjoyed mountain running. When he went out for a run and needed to equip himself properly, he realized there wasn't much variety of accessories for this physical activity. For example, in the case of socks, there were different colors and sizes, but they didn't go beyond that, considering issues like adapting to the movements the foot makes when going up and down a slope. Furthermore, all the ones on the market were produced abroad.

Given all this, Martí decided to create Arch Max in January 2016 with a small investment and began to analyze how he could design good socks that would serve for outdoor sports, but also help prevent injuries like plantar fasciitis. He went to Sant Pau Hospital to research how to do it and they ended up validating sports socks that allowed it. In a short time, he gained the support of podiatrists, doctors, and manufacturers from Spain and internationally... It even became fashionable among Barça players, who took them on tour.

For Martí, the good reception of the socks, as well as the other products he has added to his offer, is understood because Arch Max designs and produces from Barcelona and the vast majority of its suppliers are local. He divides the manufacturing process between the company's offices in the city center, where there is a small workshop, and a factory on Carrilet Avenue in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. This proximity allows for accelerating timelines, reducing the time between having an idea and seeing it in the store, unlike what it takes when producers are in Asia.

Beyond socks, Arch Max also manufactures products like vests and belts from recycled material to carry a mobile phone or food while exercising in the mountains. These sports accessories have caught the attention of Adidas Terrex, for whom Arch Max has become a technical partner and produces them from the Catalan capital. In this exchange, Arch Max gains by putting its logo on the products and obtaining international promotion, while Adidas Terrex can subcontract this part to a specialized company, which is also local. To understand it more easily, it works like the Gore-Tex brand, which offers its technology to other manufacturers while keeping its logo.

The company has about 20 workers, distributed between the offices and the factory. Despite the pandemic, it registered a turnover of three million euros in 2020. This 2021 it expects, at a minimum, to maintain last year's sales level. Arch Max markets its products in about twenty countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America and has a headquarters in the United States.