Building a Statement Brand in a Saturated Market

0:00We're maybe not for everybody necessarily, as far as aesthetic goes, but we're definitely for a very specific customer. And I think that those customers have really resonated with our products because of that. Hey, how's it going? Welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and building a business. I'm your host, Shuang Esther Shan. Sisters Rima and Eddie Vidilla started Goldie Swimwear to make bold mix and match swimsuits they haven't seen anywhere else. The two first-time founders are here today to share the lessons they've learned about finding their aesthetic, forecasting inventory, and working with influencers like TikTok star Victoria Paris.

0:47Rima and Eddie, I'm so excited to have both of you here. Thank you. Thanks for having us. We're so excited. Very excited to chat. I love the whole story with Goldie and how both of you turned it into an opportunity to create something of your own. Yeah, would love to chat about kind of realizing there was a gap within a market that seemingly was saturated with Swim and what was that white space? So both of us having grown up in Florida and swim just being a big part of our just everyday wardrobe essentially, and then moving to California and living in LA where swim was like felt super, super niche and it was only in specific boutiques and we're at a super high price point and in styles that didn't necessarily resonate with us.

1:39So initially we were kind of like, okay, there's a spot here for us, but what does that spot look like? And over the course of obviously four years of having the brand, we've definitely honed what that is. But in the beginning, that was pretty much the frustration was the price point, the styles, and just the aesthetic overall didn't really resonate with us as far as having grown up swimming every day at the beach and swimming in the pool and, you know, chlorine hair, the bohemian kind of super sexy aesthetic that was super prevalent when we started initially in 2019 just didn't resonate with us.

2:22And so that was why Goldie was originally formed. Eddie, for you, what was it that the both of you wanted to create? How did you want to differentiate yourselves? I think we both knew kind of what what we wanted to do like we we knew we wanted to make swimwear you know but I think in terms of like aesthetics it took a minute for us to kind of find ourselves and to kind of know exactly what we wanted to put out there and how to like make it feel authentic to ourselves and it was definitely like a learning process it didn't happen overnight and Goldie's swimwear has had many iterations over the past few years.

3:05But I think it was very helpful to be able to bounce ideas back and forth between the both of us and like us being sisters. It's much easier, I would say, because, you know, we take criticism a lot better from each other than if it was like a random person. So I feel like having that trust also with each other in knowing that like it's a safe place to kind of create whatever we want and so we don't have to be like afraid of what we're doing really helped us kind of get to where we are. As an outsider, the things that I noticed right off the bat is the inclusivity within the imagery of seeing all types of body types represented.

3:52Also the fact that you can have high coverage, You can have something that is a little bit more sexy. So there's that versatility and the mix and match factor that really stood out for me. For the two of you, when you were thinking about we want it to be different and to stand out, how would you like summarize how you want it to be creating differently? I think our biggest, it's been kind of our internal tagline, but it's statement swim for statement girls. And I think that really encompasses our aesthetic and the designs and the colors that we choose and the prints that we use and the prints we create.

4:33I think that's just very like as soon as we kind of came up with that tagline internally, I mean, we definitely use it now externally as well. But I think that helped us really hone in what we're doing and kind of the it plays. It's a big factor in every single design decision that we make. And then also for our photo shoots and choosing models and showing different body types, again, because anyone can be a statement girl, like it's not defined by one body type or one skin color or just blonde hair color. I feel like the aesthetic that swimwear has had the past few years especially is very monotone and has a very specific look.

5:20And I'm sure you've seen too in different swim advertising. I mean, everything just kind of looks the same. And for us, it's our girl and our customer is just very bold and happy to make a statement with everything that they do and especially what they wear. It's like a very conscious decision to wear colorful swimsuits that, you know, not everyone feels comfortable wearing. And I think that having that kind of underlying little tagline internally has really helped a lot. And I would actually recommend that for everybody starting a brand, have some kind of little like tagline or just brand. I mean, it's not necessarily a brand mission, but it kind of has turned into and that's helped for sure.

6:08We didn't necessarily use any specific exercises, but I think just looking as a whole of what we were creating and kind of seeing the through line of being very statement, you know, especially when we were kind of in a sea of very simple and kind of maybe more muted color tones from every other brand that we were kind of seeing. we just kind of took inventory of what we were doing let's just like look at our brand as a whole and our aesthetic and that's pretty much where the tagline ended up coming from is we were like we're maybe not for everybody necessarily as far as aesthetic goes but we're definitely for a very specific customer and I think that those customers have really resonated with our products because of that once we kind of honed in our our internal brand mission if you will and then I know that both of you worked in fashion in different ways and transitioned into a brand owner.

7:10Were there lessons in different roles you've had that you've carried with you as you're starting to build your own company? I mean, I think it's been extremely helpful having the both of us having come from different but also still like creative fields and like a part of just this type of industry but I do feel like it's you it's such like a learning process like you really don't know what goes into starting a brand until you actually do it and I feel like you don't realize how much work it is and like just any any process from like thinking of a product to make and then actually executing that and then to sell that to someone that you're hoping will buy it is it's definitely taken a long time to kind of get to where we are.

8:05I will say I think that every I mean, I heavily believe that everything that you've done in your life and every experience in any random side job, schooling, every experience is worthwhile. And it all kind of comes together. And for me, it's I went to business school for marketing, But it was because my parents were like, you have to get a bachelor's degree. Never did I think I would necessarily be in business and utilizing those things. But even every side job and random thing, working in fashion and learning a bit about the production side and just paying attention pretty much. But I think just all of those little things that you pick up along the way you end up utilizing, whether you know it or not.

8:51And I think it's been super helpful for us having both been in the fashion industry since 2012. That's obviously an upper hand that most people don't have. And living in Los Angeles is a huge mecca for fashion and for building a brand as the same as most big cities. This is obviously harder if you're in a smaller town or you don't have access to the same types of things and people. So we definitely are thankful that we're able to kind of use that experience. But I do think that being able to utilize everything that you've experienced and interpersonal relationships, that has a massive impact also on if you're working with a co-founder or, you know, working with employees in general, like managing people.

9:40is not something that is super natural for most. And so I think the nice thing for us too is we're pretty nimble and able to learn on the job and a little bit of fake it till you make it has gone a long way for us. And don't be scared to just, if it's something you wanna do, you will figure it out. I firmly believe in that. Yeah. Well, how about Eddie? Why don't you tell us about the different roles or jobs in and out of fashion and then maybe some of the things that you've carried with you or some of the things that surprise you despite having experience within fashion? Yeah, modeling primarily before like starting this brand and then also like dabbling in graphics and like being very just artsy and creative in general.

10:27I feel like I've seen so much and taken so much in that it's we both have a pretty good idea of, you know, like shoots and how all of those things work but also it gives you a good insight into kind of how you can be scrappy and like you can work around maybe not being able to afford you know to do such like a high level project which I feel like even still to this day we're pretty scrappy just because we know that we can get it done and we can do things fast and like the two of us together is kind of we're unstoppable in a way and so it's nice to have all of those different types of experiences but like specifically on set I would say just because it helps us want to create an environment where if we are like doing a full 10-hour shoot day we know how to keep everyone happy like the vibes have to be right everyone you know is in a good mood and I think like understanding the shoots having that creative side is so important because it shows through your visuals and also your design choices taking the concept of like being a statement brand how did you translate that into your early day designs and start iterating on setting yourself apart in the design aspect i would say it took a minute for us to kind of evolve into just creating for ourselves and so once we reach that point within Goldie Swimwear it's been easy ever since just because we're really genuinely taking ideas of a cut that we wish existed and we we make it for ourselves but we also know that if if we want this and we wish this existed and we would wear it we know that at least one other person you know is going to want the same.

12:29Although we've kind of pivoted a decent amount since our like first collection but even our first collection was three neon colors in kind of more sporty cuts which weren't really a thing back then uh not like how they are now but I think even looking back at like our first collection which I think both of us maybe cringe a little bit at um because looking at where we are now it's different but it's still that through line honestly is still there which is nice to see and like it feels great having looked back and been like even though we you know felt like we had missed the mark because we didn't have this explosive like initial launch and it was a lot harder in the beginning than I think either of us really realized because again we were learning on the fly and we had no really experience with having a brand and also completely self-funded and bootstrapped it ourselves.

13:21So it was our personal money on the line. But I think it is fun to look back and be like, oh, actually, we weren't too far off. Yeah. And I think cringing a bit at yourself, especially in the past, is like a true sign of growth and development. So it's good to feel that way, especially looking back. So of course, Rima, you had styling experience. Eddie, you were model, I think you guys really nailed down on finding this niche aesthetic that really stood out. But then as you're transitioning into production, understanding the operations and putting your money into inventory, how was that process like?

14:03It was stressful, I will say, because neither of us had experience with this. And so a lot of it was just kind of learning as we go, which I think for anyone is, especially when it's your own money on the line, is very stressful and a daunting task. But I do think that that has helped us grow a lot because we tried to be as scrappy and frugal as we could be where we were able to. And I think that has really helped us now, just having that mentality the past four years. Also, we kept almost, I would say, 100 % of anything that we would make, we would keep in the business. So we weren't having to dump more money in.

14:43It was our initial investment and let's keep it going. And we've been able to pretty much just stay on our initial investment, which is amazing. And I'm very proud of that for us. And I think the only way that we were, obviously not everyone is able to keep all of the money in the business and not pay yourselves. But this was okay with Eddie and I, because we both have other careers that we were working on that were freelance careers. So it was, we're able to do it all to a point. I think it's an important thing to highlight where a lot of the people starting out will be in the same position where they're investing in inventory and they have to juggle some side hustles, some freelance work to make sure that the business actually makes sense.

15:30Eddie, if you have any comments about how you managed that aspect? I mean, it was obviously very scary at first, like you're putting money into something that you have no idea will be successful or not. And so that's definitely a risk you have to be willing to take. But you have to just keep believing in it and trusting that the return will come. and definitely don't over-order inventory on, you know, your first, your first production, because I feel like we did that and it was pretty scary at first. But also that's, that's something that you don't know when you're starting a company or at least like, you know, I didn't know.

16:13I'm just assuming that we have this amazing product, but no one really knows about it and no one knows about us yet. So how really were we planning on selling that? I'm not sure, but that was definitely a big lesson and I feel like we're definitely sure nowadays that we are keeping our production to a very like efficient level. Yeah I agree we definitely overordered considering we were no one knew about us and I'm not exactly sure how we were thinking we were going to sell that many units, but it's taught us to be lean when ordering inventory, even if it means for us that we're sold out of best-selling products for a little bit before we can get a restock.

17:01But I think that that has really helped us be able to also test new styles and new colorways, and we just order a smaller amount. And if it sells out, then we can decide if we want to repurchase it or not. But I think that was a big lesson was trying to negotiate minimums as low as possible, especially when first starting out, because there are no guarantees that it will sell. We were kind of just guessing, you know, like we're just thinking like, well, if these manufacturers are telling us these are what the minimums are, I guess that's just what they are. and so I think it takes a bit of time to kind of realize that everything is negotiable.

17:44Yeah well that's that's a very important lesson so what happened with this over order how many swimsuits were you sitting with and how did you move the units and actually get them to customers that wanted them? Yeah I mean we also launched with I think we had like 400 followers on Instagram which thinking about it now, I mean, we were really, really optimistic and really believed in this product to have ordered as much as we did. But I think it just took a while basically of promoting obviously product because before then we had started building our tiny audience from just posting kind of inspiration imagery, which is pretty much I feel like how most brands start to build their social media channels now before launching.

18:30I think it's a great strategy to at least gain a little bit of traction or like some eyes on you before launching a product. But we sat on inventory for a minute and we kind of had to take a step back and be like, all right, so we need to figure this out. Looking back now, one of our initial issues also were shipping costs. We didn't really know. We weren't on Shopify. We were on a different platform, but the shipping costs were extremely high and there was a lot of fall off at checkout. And it was because shipping costs were so high because we had kind of selected very specific carriers. And once we kind of took a step back and we're like, okay, maybe we don't need to be UPS only.

19:14We can kind of post office will be fine. And offering incentives for like free shipping at a certain cart threshold and things like that, where these weren't things that we knew really, you know, we had to learn. And once we started implementing things like that, we were like, okay, not everybody is abandoning their cart. So that's a great sign. And then starting to move into posting on Pinterest and like the other channels where we felt so strongly that Instagram was gonna be, you know, our main selling platform, which to this day it still is, but we needed to kind of open up the other avenues, especially when we first started because no one knew about us, which I think is the hardest thing when you're first launching, especially if you don't have investment or have a ton of capital to throw behind ads and things like that.

20:02That was definitely like a learning curve for us. And so eventually we were able to sell it, but it took a minute. Eddie, how did you feel about the first incident with overordering and things that you did to help move things along? I mean, like I had said, it was super scary because Because we were so excited to have finally this physical product that we've been thinking about and planning. And it's been so much time trying to get everything ready for this time of a launch. And then to see a response that is a little bit slower. It was very scary to know that we put so much money into something that we're kind of just sitting around and waiting for an order.

20:49to come in. Yeah, I will say also something that helped us and we kind of added into our strategy as far as trying to gain awareness was definitely like influencer gifting after kind of our initial launch was much slower than we were anticipating. We were like, okay, what should we do? Let's reach out to, you know, 20 girls that are very much our audience and already are kind of in this similar aesthetic of what we were doing at the time. And so that definitely helped us as far as brand awareness, because again, this is something that was completely new to us within reason. I mean, we both were on the other end as customers and consumers of fashion content and brands.

21:33But on the business owner side, we were like, oh, okay, we should probably start implementing some other things instead of just assuming that the customers will find us. I think that it's important to understand that at the beginning of like starting a company, you kind of have to find your audience. And like Rima had said, you can't really just wait for them to find you. Makes perfect sense. And now you've learned a lot of lessons in inventory management, I guess. What do you do now to make sure that you're doing better with forecasting and also having, you know, limited releases, some drops to make sure that you can actually anticipate the amount of sales that will come in?

22:15Well, the nice thing is now that we've been around for a couple of years, at least, that we have previous sales data to at least get a general idea of like, okay, you know, these months are typically our busiest months of the year. So we'll plan inventory based on like kind of what time of year it's dropping and knowing that we're anticipating more sales obviously in the summer and less sales in the winter when it's cold and people are buying sweaters. So that's helped us a lot. We're still are scrappy, I will say, and pretty conservative with our inventory purchases, even though as we're growing, we're sold out of items much more frequently and we'll need to be placing larger inventory quantities as we grow.

23:04but I think keeping it smaller also and like even if products are sold out it kind of builds a little bit of uh like that FOMO of you know especially if you're like a drop based business it kind of helps build hype of like if items are sold out because somebody didn't purchase it right away they're like oh shoot okay and then they'll sign up for a waitlist system and we've started implementing a waitlist system for the past almost year and a half and it's helped us a lot And we'll open the waitlist pretty much, I think, like a week, about a week before any product launches. And people will sign up basically to get notified as soon as the inventory is in stock.

23:44And that's also helped us kind of at least gauge how successful a drop day or launch day for us will be based on the amount of signups. So that's helped us also with inventory management and planning. I guess the only thing I could add to that is that we really have involved customers, I like to think, because we're asking them the questions of what styles do you like? Where are you wearing your bikini? Do you want more coverage, less coverage? Do you like these colors? What shade of this color do you think we should draw? So I feel like over time, we've actually implemented our customers' voices into our product.

24:35And so that also helps us be more confident in how a drop will do. That makes a lot of sense. And I feel like having like a waitlist, having people's emails also allows you to add more color into the forecasting process as well. The other aspect that's interesting with any apparel business is managing sizing alongside with your different designs. Do you have any tips for other people who are interested in starting a fashion brand and anticipating and understanding and forecasting with size and complexity involved as well? Yeah, I will say that it's hard when you're obviously initially launching to gauge what the initial demand is going to be size-wise.

25:24But for us now, having been doing this for a couple years and being able to look back on several years of sales data, that's helped us pretty much dictate our inventory purchases as far as sizing. And then also another thing that I think helps play into that is making sure that you have imagery on different sizes for sure helps. So we always, we try as much as we can within reason. Obviously, we can't have, you know, seven models on set for one shoot day. We can't afford that. But being able to show variety of sizes in the same style even is helpful because most customers want to be able to see their actual size on a body instead of, you know, if you're shopping for a size XL top, you don't like seeing it on a size extra small model doesn't really help you gauge what the coverage is going to look like.

26:20So I think that's also helped us as far as being able to sell a variety of sizes. And then also it tells us a lot as far as like the, even just using our imagery as data for ourselves of like, oh, this model specifically is we can tell kind of because we shot her and she's the size medium, we're selling a decent amount of mediums and we usually correlate that or like relate that to the fact that that is actually represented in the imagery that size yeah and i think that's such a smart note because like that just pays like homage to the experience that the both of you had um and also making sure like you're being so thoughtful when you're shooting for your different uh products and items i love the fact that you guys also mentioned how you launched with 400 followers on Instagram, which is hard to believe because by the time I was introduced to Goldie, I felt like you guys were already so established.

27:22And I know that influencers and working with them has helped the brand to grow. I think the collection with Victoria Paris allowed you to reach new audiences. Talk to us about that relationship and how that collaboration came to be our relationship with vitro was super organic we were became friends with her on our personal social media accounts and basically introduced her like oh also we have this brand and we'd love to send you some bikinis you're going to europe for the summer this was summer of 2023 and it's pretty much all that she wore for two months straight were our bikinis and she really genuinely loved them and was tagging them we weren't paying her or anything and she just genuinely loved the brand and we kind of would just continue hanging out and talking and the idea of a collaboration just came super organically.

28:16I think she genuinely just loved our brand before we even were in the talks about any kind of collaboration so that kind of brought a different and like a fresh view into when we actually did a collaboration and we were releasing product that we made together because we were really on the same page and I think her genuinely loving Goldie and wearing it for an entire summer before we had actually spoken about doing a collaboration made it way more authentic and I think that the authenticity of our relationship with her and then also our product that we were making with her was obvious to like both audiences.

29:06And obviously she brought a much larger audience than we've ever had. I don't think we've ever had as many people on the website at one time other than the day of our drop with her. So it made sense to kind of blend the two worlds, but working with somebody besides the two of us was an interesting experience because normally it's just the two of us bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with inspiration and ideas. But it was nice to work with somebody that also very much understood our brand aesthetic and brand ethos and gave input and had ideas that we were like, that is a great idea and totally makes sense for us.

29:51Let's do it. And so it was a super fun experience. I don't know that that is true for every brand's influencer collaboration. This is probably like most brands' dream was to have a collaboration like this where it's just so organic. You guys have come a long way and you're in a position where a lot of our listeners dream to be, where you get to create products that you wish existed. You're also operating a business that's completely bootstrapped, so you have full ownership. I guess to the both of you, what's that one final piece of advice that you wish you knew before you went on this journey?

30:29If you're coming from a place of authenticity and who you are and you're designing for yourself and Goldie is just an iteration of Rima and I together, you know, so it's very authentic. And I feel like making sure that just over time and as you grow, that you continue to keep that same like backbone to your business. is super helpful. And I think it will make just the entire process of designing and everything that follows a lot easier. Yeah, I would say that my biggest advice is that things take time and don't be too hard on yourself. Like building a brand and building a successful brand that has, you know, community and loyal customers, it takes a long time.

31:24Everyone is inundated with so many brands, so much content that even like for us, our first initial launch wasn't what we were hoping it was going to be. But had we kind of given up and been like, well, I guess that's it in the beginning, we wouldn't be where we are now. So I think just being okay with the fact that things take time and you can go slow and you don't need to be comparing yourself to these other big brands, which we've finally, I feel like the past year, we've stopped doing comparisons to any other brands. We just solely focus on our own business. And I think that that has helped us immensely in not feeling like we're falling behind or we're not doing something that we need to be doing.

32:05And I think that that has really paid off for us. Not comparing to other brands and like other brand successes has helped us drive our own success. And yeah, just slow, slow and steady wins the race for sure. Well, thank you both so much for joining me. It was really great to hear the behind the scenes of Goldie Swimwear. Thank you. Thank you so much. That's Eddie and Rima Vidilla, the co-founders of Goldie Swimwear. Our show is produced by Megan Coyle and Gogo Zoger. Our engineers are Matt Schwartz and Miku Betlam. Benjamin Gottlieb is our managing producer and I'm your host, Shuang Esther Shan.