Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alvina Lam. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Alvina, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

When moving to Miami, I was switching jobs and had the opportunity to take a month off the corporate grind. One day by the pool, I decided to make my idea become a reality. I came up with the idea of starting a clothing company dedicated to a personalized wrap fit when I lived in NY managing inventory for Gap Corporate but never put pen to paper.

Everyone around me was napping and lounging by the pool, but I finally had the brain space to start doodling designs for wrap clothing and names for a company. Once I landed on Balia (I was inspired by Bali and added an ‘a’ to make it unique), I ran upstairs to the apartment and started adapting a wrap pant I already had in my closet. I tried to wrap the pants in different ways, as I did since I was a kid, trying to make clothing the way I wanted to wear it. I realized that the Pant could turn into a Jumpsuit and I knew I had something special.

The next day, I google searched “Clothing Factories” and started driving around Miami to find someone that could produce my product. A couple days later, I received my first sample, photographed it on a friend and put the photo on a website, and Baliawear.com was born!

I went with the route of “Just Do It” instead of a somewhat traditional way of months or years of research and testing. From there, I went to stores and markets and asked store owners about which site to host my website on, how they started, etc… and learned from entrepreneurs that have been through a similar journey to help me make strategic choices during launch.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Baliawear is a convertible luxury resort wear brand built upon the goal that fashion should be made to fit you. The collections feature unique pieces that wrap for a personalized fit and transform to be worn multiple ways, from day to night, resortwear to nightwear.

I grew up in California cutting and tying clothing to fit to my body. Nothing ever fit, I was Petite, always wore hand-me-downs and always wanted to make clothing my own. After years managing inventory at Gap Corporate, I decided to challenge the norm of sizing and founded Baliawear to reduce size inventory waste. The brand was created around the concept of fit, achieving the perfect fit no matter what stage your body may be in and being able to pass clothing on because a wrap fit is unique to the individual who wears it. No more trying to fit into pre-set sizes, Baliawear introduces clothing that fits to you, not the other way around.

The idea of wrap clothing began to literally transform when I realized in the sample process that I could wear pieces different ways to create multiple styles in one. I launched the brand with one item, our signature Pant to Jumpsuit in March of 2019. I wanted to give women the freedom of versatility with clothing, from beach to bar, from boardroom to ballroom. I was always changing in the bathroom after my 9-5 to meet friends for dinner and this piece transitioned effortlessly! Baliawear convertible clothing gives you more out of your closet.

Our product and collections are very unique. I am very proud that we create each design with the intention to give our customers the flexibility to make the Baliawear collection their own while achieving a custom fit. Our prints are also designed in-house to exude joy and transport you to a dreamy resort destination with silky soft fabric that exudes luxury.

We believe in beautiful clothes made beautifully.
We are proud to be Made in the USA standing for ethical production and sustainability. I learned from a young age that giving back was important to me and carried it through my career and to Baliawear. Each purchase gives back to pay the good forward. We partner with local Miami non-profit organizations like the Lotus House and Glory House supporting and uplifting women in need.

Have you ever had to pivot?

We launched in 2019, so like most of the world, we had to pivot fast the next year. In 2019, my main channel was in-person retail, from weekend pop-up shops at hotels to opening our own store at the Lincoln Road Mall; showing the product, gaining feedback from customers and really learning about where our demand would come from and how we could set ourselves apart.

When 2020 hit, we closed our physical store locations, and pivoted 180 to online.
To go where our customers needed us, we started making masks out of our bold luxurious prints to allow our customers to Stay Safe in Style. We started a Give Back program, where we donated thousands of masks thanks to the proceeds of the masks purchased. We tagged our customers so that they could see their purchase doing good and that helped our footprint go further. This really allowed us to start focusing on our online channel and riding the growing video trend wave online.

When masks died down, we used learnings from our mask content, to create content to sell our clothing. We knew that our videos could go viral if we showed our products transform – something unique that was not popular in the industry before. We are constantly learning, evolving, and pivoting to change. We track all our social data weekly in order to improve for the future. “What is not tracked, cannot be improved”

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

People come first, then business. The business cannot run unless your people drive it with their passion and talent. It’s easy to get lost in the numbers, but taking the time to talk personally, listening to career goals (even if it may be for outside the company), and celebrating the wins constantly, will keep the business growing and happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: Baliawear.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baliawear/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baliawear
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinal/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/baliawear
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAErRfcjZPiCHtQM_DCLEA
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/baliawear/_shop/

Image Credits
Photographer: Amanda Julca, Valeria Bellot, Models: Shani Atar, Ruby Jimenez, Valerie J, Nikkie A