Miami Fashion Network
had the pleasure of discussing the challenges and successes of launching an independent swimwear line with Indie Alma Founder and Creative Director Tim Gorgol. Established in 2013, Miami-based luxury swimwear line
Indie Soul
exemplifies the path to fashion design startup success.
Gorgol comes from the marketing and branding side of fashion, with marketing efforts targeted for Esprit’s Latin American operations. At Esprit he learned the value of knowing the customer, going so far as to write “day in the life” vignettes about the market segments of each product line. This detailed customer knowledge is applied at Soul Indie, where the Gorgol team is always asking “who is my consumer?” And “will my target consumer use this?”
Their understanding of customers’ differentiated lifestyles is manifested in the collections. Indie Soul offers four different bathroom collections aimed at different types of bohemian women. These bohemian segments reflect Gorgol’s keen study of the differences of hues in his
The Vintage segment channels of the 1960s and 1970s origins of the modern bohemian style. The Nervous Rocker segment loves Harleys and sports leather clothing. The indigenous segment connects with the environment and craftsmanship of Africa, while the newer young bohemian segment, EDM loves and is not of the companies in the race.
Unlike most brands positioned as bohemian or progressive, Gorgol actually infuses bohemian brand customs into the design and production processes. For example, artisanal values are inherent in the creative process through the use of the Japanese Kanoko Shibori technique to create the tie dye patterns on the pieces. Concomitantly, Indie Soul uses artisans in Colombia, Peru, and India to hand cut and dye each piece.
This practical session of artisanal production process involves unique impressions for each piece. In other words, there are traces of Indie Soul swimsuits are the same. Greater integration of values and process, non-machine production results in minor differences in cut, the creation of wonderfully imperfect parts. This strengthens Indie Alma’s brand identity with its target consumers, who presumably agree with Gorgol’s sentiment that “we celebrate imperfection.”
Imperfection of the brand is the clearly capture in, as Hannah Davis recently wore a custom swimsuit Indie soul for the Sports Illustrated 2015 Swimsuit Issue. Gorgol’s creative genius came into play when Sports Illustrated suggested a theme from Downton Abbey, a very non-bohemian story about Scottish nobility in the early20th century. Like an investigator seeing connections that are not evident at the crime scene, Gorgol saw in an intensive use of that period of lace connection with the modern bohemian style. The result was the swimsuit seen worldwide on the cover of the issue.
Gorgol has put its finger on the pulse of a precise market segment and sales will continue to grow in key markets such as Orange County, South Florida, London, and the South of France. Fans of the brand appreciate that Indie Soul authentically reconciles brand identity with the production process, creating swimwear that allows them to feel good while looking good. In a fortuitous twist of fate, Indie Soul’s Imperfect Swimsuit has become the perfect fashion business.