Growing up in Florida, swimwear was an everyday wardrobe staple for sisters Rima and Eddy Vaidila. But in a market 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 find 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 experience 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 create Goldie Swimwear.
Building a business with a sister
Eddy and Rima say it was almost impossible to know how steep the learning curve would be when they started Goldie Swimwear. They didn’t have experience building a brand or working with manufacturers.
But Eddy explains that going into business with her sister was a good decision, because they each have different strengths, and it was easier to take criticism from each other. “I feel like having that trust with each other in knowing that it’s a safe place to create whatever we want really helped us kind 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 want their swimsuits to be—muted, monochrome, or indistinguishable from other swimsuits on the market. 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 development process also got easier when they pivoted to designing pieces that felt authentic to them. “If we wish this existed and we would wear it, we know that at least one other person is going to want the same,” Eddy says.
Negotiating smaller runs
Rima and Eddy got a fast introduction to inventory management. On their first production run, they over-ordered, thinking customers would come flocking to their new brand. When the inventory didn’t sell as fast 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 go out of stock 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 moment in Goldie team’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 project feel more like a natural extension of our aesthetics.”
Since then, Rima and Eddy have continued to find success by designing with and for people who understand the statement they’re making in swimwear. After all, fortune favors the bold.
To learn more about Goldie Swimwear and some of the lessons Rima and Eddy learned in starting the brand, listen to the full interview on Shopify Masters.
