The Rise of an Empire
Mestre Empire was built from a single insight: that a brand can be a vehicle for empowerment. Built in 556 days. Designed, produced, and launched by one person.
Built in 556 Days
48,038,250 seconds | 800,638 minutes | 13,344 hours | 556 days
Hi, I am Phelipe, founder of Mestre Empire. I have always been captivated by art. When I was a child, I loved to draw and create. I used whatever I could get my hands on to create art. My passion for creation helped me develop a new perspective on life. Shapes and colors were no longer ordinary to me, and everything around me was so much more interesting. Growing up, I started experimenting with different mediums, becoming more involved in graphic and web design which eventually led me to become a front-end developer. No matter what I did, using vector lines or just pure vanilla code, my job always consisted of creating things. So many of my designs get lost on the internet, and I wanted that to change. I became tired of making other people’s dreams come true, so I decided to apply my self-taught skills into my future. I have always been a dreamer. All I needed was a spark of inspiration. On September of 2013, that inspiration came from a beautiful gift given to me, a t-shirt. I was fascinated, not by the t-shirt itself but by the box it came in. That slick packaging design made out of craft paper stirred up a new dream in me. I wanted to create a brand made up of real works of art that would not be forgotten anywhere. It was from that premise that Mestre Empire was then built. Well, at least in my head it was. Since then, it took me months of conceptualization to make the perfect identity, storyline, and direction that I wanted to take with this new fashion brand.
Mestre, not only my family name but also from the late Old English mægister, from Latin magister, and Portuguese source meaning “Master”.
My passion for art led me to create a brand that would focus on inspiring and empowering talented and knowledgeable individuals to become masters of their craft. To that end on January, 8th of 2015, Mestre Empire was officially launched.
Mestre • [‘mɛʃtr(ə)]
(Late Old English mægister, from Latin magister, and Portuguese source meaning “Master”)
An individual who has wisdom and exemplary skill in a specific art or craft, and the ability to inspire others, often referred to as a great artist, expert, leader or king. One who has dominance, control or is in charge of his empire, with great power and authority to command, lead and guide.
About the brand
Mestre Empire is founded on a single goal: to empower and inspire the next generation of Mestres. The brand, the products, the film series, every output serves that mission. This is not a clothing company. It is a platform for mastery.
The Three Pillars
The Three Pillars represents the steps in the journey that each encounters to pursuit mastery, shaping the characteristics and essence of a true Mestre, to break through barriers and change the world. These core values are what guides Mestre Empire in our journey.
The application of the experience, knowledge and good judgment a Mestre develops within a specific period of time.
The ability gained through wisdom in order to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events within a Mestre's roam.
The ability of the mind a Mestre creatively forms concepts and new ideas of external objects not currently present to the senses.
The Products
Physical product design required the same discipline as digital: define constraints, iterate on prototypes, test against real use. The result is a product line built to the same standard I apply to every product I design.
The Brand's Mission
Great ideas and great people are often limited on their access to capital or opportunity. That is why we created Mestre Empire. Our passion for empowering and inspiring others has led us to become more than just a brand. With the mission to motivate these individuals to break barriers, propel themselves forward, and unleash their full potential.
We all need a little of creative inspiration into our lives. That is why Mestre Empire created our very own Mestre Muse, a film production company which is also the entity that deliberately presides over all the amazing content Mestre Empire creates.
Muse • [myo͞oz]
(Late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin Musa, from Greek “Mousa”)
The independent force in your psyche, and also each of the nine mythological goddesses responsible for the immediate source of inspiration for the arts and sciences.
The Muse
Mestre Empire revolves around the concept of creating amazing visuals to tell the stories of individuals with extraordinary knowledge and skills which we classify as Mestres (Masters). The creation of these beautiful visuals has led us to build a team of visionaries in the areas of photography and cinematography which continues to propel our revolutionary brand into the next level. We like to call this "The Snowball Effect" an impulse from a need for storytelling that sparked the creation of our very own production company Mestre Muse.
Mestre Within is a short film series presented by Mestre Empire featuring Mestres (Masters) all around us. The purpose of this series is to not only showcase their extraordinary knowledge and skills towards their craft but also to show a little bit of what it takes to reach greatness and to master an art or trade. Mestre Empire is more than just a brand, we want to be the stage to inspire and empower by creating an empire of visionaries diverse in skill and unified in vision.
Checkout Mestre Empire's own short film series Mestre Within.
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The Purpose
The best path to mastery is learning from those who have achieved it. Mestre Empire finds talented Mestres within our community and documents what it actually takes: the work, the process, the struggle. There is no single path to mastery. There is only the one you build.
The short films serve a dual purpose: they inspire and they build brand recognition. Recognition drives product sales. Product sales fund the next Mestre story. The flywheel is intentional, a system designed to be self-sustaining.
The Founder
Phelipe Mestre Peres (founder and creative director of Mestre Empire) is a designer, artist, and frontend engineer born in São Paulo, Brazil. Mestre Empire is the full expression of a unified creative practice: brand identity, physical product design, film production, and community storytelling. The same systems thinking and design discipline that drives his professional work is the foundation of the brand.