Building a Statement Brand in a Saturated economy

Growing up in Florida, swimwear was an everyday wardrobe staple for sisters Rima and Eddy Vaidila. But in a economy flooded with swimwear options, they still had trouble finding swimsuits that spoke to them.

Even after moving to LA as adults and building fashion careers, the sisters still couldn’t discover pieces that reflected their personal styles. The swimwear at boutiques in LA all looked the same, and was too expensive. Rima and Eddy had a combined 30 years of encounter in fashion, Rima as a stylist and Eddy as a model, so they knew there was a gap between what was available and what they wanted to wear.

Rima says, “The bohemian, super-sexy aesthetic was everywhere, but it just didn’t reflect our style and experiences.” This disconnect inspired them to make Goldie Swimwear.

 

Building a business with a sister

Eddy and Rima declare it was almost unfeasible to recognize how steep the learning curve would be when they started Goldie Swimwear. They didn’t have encounter building a brand or working with manufacturers.

But Eddy explains that going into business with her sister was a excellent selection, because they each have different strengths, and it was easier to receive criticism from each other. “I feel like having that depend with each other in knowing that it’s a secure place to make whatever we desire really helped us benevolent of get to where we are with Goldie,” Eddy says.

Making a statement

Rima and Eddy said it was challenging at first to choose what to design. They mostly knew what they didn’t desire their swimsuits to be—muted, monochrome, or indistinguishable from other swimsuits on the economy. Then the sisters came up with a tagline that summed up their aesthetic: “Statement Swim for Statement Girls.”

Rima says this tagline helped the business make decisions about the colors and prints of its swimsuits and focus on designing for a specific set of customers. “We’re maybe not for everybody necessarily as far as aesthetic goes, but we’re definitely for a very specific customer.”

The product advancement procedure also got easier when they pivoted to designing pieces that felt authentic to them. “If we aspiration this existed and we would wear it, we recognize that at least one other person is going to desire the same,” Eddy says.

Negotiating smaller runs

Rima and Eddy got a quick introduction to inventory management. On their first production run, they over-ordered, thinking customers would arrive flocking to their recent brand. When the inventory didn’t sell as quick as they had hoped, they made a few adjustments for the next round. Rima says they err on the side of under-ordering, and let some popular styles leave out of distribute briefly. Eddy also mentioned her biggest lesson: “Everything is negotiable.” She explained that it’s worth negotiating smaller runs, so your money isn’t tied up in unsold inventory.

Finding collaborators organically

A pivotal instant in Goldie throng’s growth was working with influencers. Rima and Eddy became social media friends with TikTok-er Victoria Paris, and offered to send her a few bikinis for summer 2023.

Victoria started posting about the brand organically, and that eventually led to a collaboration on some colorful swim pieces. Eddy reflects, “Victoria genuinely loved our brand, and that made the assignment feel more like a natural extension of our aesthetics.”

Since then, Rima and Eddy have continued to discover achievement by designing with and for people who comprehend the statement they’re making in swimwear. After all, fortune favors the bold.

To discover more about Goldie Swimwear and some of the lessons Rima and Eddy learned in starting the brand, listen to the packed interview on Shopify Masters.