Mackage's Latest 'Protect Your Craft' Campaign Stars Dominik Livaković

Forbes

14 hours ago

Soccer player Dominik Livaković stars in the new "Protect Your Craft" campaign from Mackage.
Mackage is on the move. The 1999 Canadian-founded brand—initially known for its wool and leather-accented cold-weather outerwear and now a leader in down-filled products—has expanded its market share by offering year-round styles with a focus on design, additional distribution regions, and a pronounced marketing strategy over the past four years. It is due in part to CEO Tanya Golesic, who joined Mackage in 2021 as its first female leader to help expand the outerwear brand into a luxury lifestyle juggernaut. This month, the brand has released the latest star of its "Protect Your Craft" campaign, featuring world-renowned goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, who plays for the Croatian National Team and the Turkish Süper Lig team Fenerbahçe SK. Golesic, a Croatian Canadian, shared the brand's trajectory under her leadership and how she aims to make the luxury label a member of the billion-dollar brand club.
"2024 was a super strong year for Mackage, and now 2025 is an off-the-charts year-to-date, and we're just in July. In the past, summer has been a stressful period because we didn't have many products to offer. However, this year we have our first true summer collection, so we didn't experience the typical peaks and valleys that we normally do starting in spring. Now with product evolution and marketing that amplifies the story and continuing to build retail can all help take to a billion dollars," Golesic said via Zoom. As more of the world classifies as having subtropical climates, adding pieces such as shorts, track pants, hoodies, double-faced jerseys and rip-stop fabrics rounds out offerings for different climates and activities, including ath-leisure dressing moments and travel.
Mackage CEO Tanya Golesic.
The growth comes despite this year presenting challenges, with mercurial movements on tariffs affecting all fashion companies. "It's been a stressful couple of months but working with the COO and team spreading production from three countries to eight. Mostly we are lucky to still work with the same partners. It was a blessing in disguise, though, as changing the way we were always doing things kept us sharp," she added.
Marketing initiatives under Golesic have expanded. Its most recent push, 'Protect Your Craft'—which initially launched with footballer Joško Gvardiol and tennis player Donna Vekić'—launched its third installment of the initiative, drawing parallels between the athletes and brands' commitment to performance and craftsmanship with Livaković, known for "unshakable composure and lightning-fast reflexes' according to a brand statement.
Vekic's campaign, featuring the tennis star in ripstop styles notably in the sport's ubiquitous green clay color, which launched in May, has garnered significant attention for the brand.
"We've hit 1.1 billion impressions on social in four weeks. Every single style that we have marketed over the past 18 months now has turned out to be our best sellers," Golesic noted.
The latest campaign, which can be seen on Mackage.com and its social media channels, features the goalie in various outerwear styles from the Pre-Fall 2025 collection, demonstrating his skill out and about in the Big Apple while donning styles such as the Cole, Dominic, Emilio and Ralph and ostensibly demonstrates the newly integrated brand slogan "Aesthetics That Protect."
The aesthetics have a lot to do with the appointment of SVP of Design Ludwig Heissmeyer, a twenty-plus-year veteran of design at Carolina Herrera, in 2023. Heissmeyer's elevated New York fashion sense and couture techniques, combined with the technical-focused design team located in Montreal, are checking the 365-day merchandise offerings and the luxury moniker boxes for Mackage.
Model Stella Maxwell in Mackage's Pre Fall 2025 collection.
"The Montreal design team was like weathermen and women; they understood cold, rain, and wind and focused on technological innovation. Ludwig, whom I met through a friend, garnered a couture discipline in everything from ready-to-wear to bridal and was experienced in accoutrements such as embroideries, lace, hand-stitching, and more," Golesic continued noting that to elevate product and fabrications such as shearling, different leathers and lightweight wools and cashmeres, she needed someone who excelled in craftsmanship.
"Ludwig learned a whole new design language, and the Montreal team also learned one. It's a perfect marriage, and the combination of those two dynamics has been one of our two biggest keys to success right now," she added.
Adding fashion sense hasn't dimmed the pursuit of technical developments in the slightest, with performance skiwear with avalanche warning sensors built into the garments, also a part of the offering.
Sports in general have been an area of brand exposure efforts, as Mackage has also dressed players from the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics during the playoffs. "NBA players really love our leather," the CEO noted.
Charlie Hunnam models Mackage's men's Pre-fall collection
Celebrity has also been a focus. The latest pre-Fall 2025 collection, which features an introduction of denim offerings in both a fashion and performance interpretation, stars actor Charlie Hunnam and model Stella Maxwell, a brand favorite which has been released in the brand's global markets such as China, Korea, Japan, Europe, and North America via digital, social media, in-store and out-of-home advertising in various regions. Past campaigns featured Alexander Skarsgård.
Currently, the brand has stores across Canada, with two in Montreal, a New York store, one in Paris, two in Tokyo, and in China in Beijing with pop-ups in Shanghai and Chengdu.
"Probably in the next two years, we will open London, Milan, and Zurich. We have sponsored a Snow Polo team in Switzerland for three years, where we hosted a successful pop-up for three years during the tournament," Golesic noted.
A Mackage storefront.
With more product launches planned for 2026 and 2027, Golesic is pleased with the progress she and her team has made for the privately owned company.
"I'm most proud that Mackage could transform from a small Canadian outerwear brand into a global luxury lifestyle. It's a significant amount of work to transform smaller companies into larger ones.
The industry has also recognized Golesic's efforts. She received a prestigious Inspirational Women Leader award from Retail Influencer Network, The DealmakeHers, and The Z Suite in partnership with Women in Retail Leadership Circle in March 2025.
"Lots of women downplay their success by citing luck, but truthfully, it's a lot of hard work, but as women, we tend to be reluctant to talk about ourselves or give credit to someone else for putting us where we are. Women are naturally held to higher standards than men. We have to prove ourselves in business and as parents and homemakers. I am not sure you can balance it all because it's a lot of trial and error, as no one teaches you this. When asked what the key to my success is, the answer to that question is my team."