Today we’d like to introduce you to Gloria Kim.
Gloria, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Ever since I could remember, I’ve been in Fashion, as a consumer or as a participant in the industry. And it’s a consistent trait running through my entire family. My sisters are all in either retail or designing, and my daughter Elizabeth did her grad school at F.I.T. I started working in the family business when I was 20 in 1979. It was a completely women-owned and ran operation in the Fashion District. You can imagine how colorful those times were. I learned the technical aspects of the industry, creating a sustainable business model and what happens if you don’t have one.
I had just finished college, majoring in fine arts and wanted my own experience in the fashion industry, the way I always envisioned it be.
After I got married and had my first daughter, I made my first official independent business move into retail.It was a modest boutique,carrying high fashion women’s apparel. I cherished my time in retail, and attribute that experience to the idea of GLS. My families background in production helped me realize the very brands I was carrying in my store had a markup that was unjustifiable. I knew just about what it would cost to make that dress I had on the display, and it was nothing but pure branding or perception that these companies used to take advantage of people, myself included.
After 15 years in retail, and watching both of my daughters start and graduate from college, I was ready for my next challenge. Designing and manufacturing. The right conversations and right timing gave me an opportunity to go overseas and find the same exact production factories of the high fashion brands I once carried. I had been designing and been a fan of fashion all my life, and I knew that high-quality designs with low-quality material were just as bad as the overpriced big names. Our team spent over a year meeting different factory owners and testing before we found the right people to trust. It’s four years later and I have been fortunate enough to be able to send an LA designed dress all over the world.
GLS stands for mine and my daughter’s initials. Gloria, Lizabeth, and Sarah. Every dress I’ve designed is with the same obsession as I would put for my own daughters. I love all my girls, the ones in my immediate family and the ones in my GLS family.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been an uphill climb. The biggest struggle for me was keeping that fire and holding on to that vision consistently throughout all these years. I actually was retired for a few years after I left retail and I became depressed. Coming out of that depression was extremely difficult. But the moment I decided that this was the only thing that would make me happy, and also accepted that this wasn’t going to happen overnight, is when everything did happen. And me accepting that has helped me get this far. I had to be patient and see the dots before they were connected. And push consistently until they were. Now, I’m enjoying where I’m at in life and what it has become.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a dress company that specializes in formal event wear. Events like prom, homecoming, balls, galas, birthdays, weddings, graduations, cocktail, party, and holiday moments. Our trademark is the unique designs and high quality in our dresses for an affordable price. Our dress fabrics are actually produced with the same materials and contractor as Jovani for much less. I can definitely attribute the success of my company to that very uniqueness. My experience in retail and also raising my two daughters has engraved the understanding of needing to have an affordable dress with high-quality material. I make it easy for my retailers to distribute our dresses with a favorable return and the girls who wear it always compliment the fitting. That’s because I go overseas twice a year before a design is put in with our team to literally wear the samples before it’s produced to prevent sizing issues. I think women are getting smarter now and they can sense when a brand is just after their money. My business model compliments their intelligence and does its best to meet their needs.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
If you’re interested in getting in the industry, Los Angeles is your place. With that said, however, there are so many different businesses, brands, and clothing stores here that sometimes that prevents any collaborative spirit from emerging. My recommendation to anyone starting out and trying to get involved in Fashion is to network and learn from others who have or already been in it. The strongest brands always have a great network and community of other brands that support and help each other get to the same destination, quicker.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1125 San Julian Street, #C, Los Angeles, CA 90015
- Website: www.elizabethkdress.com
- Phone: 2132268484
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glsapparel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GLS.Apparel.Official/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GLSApparel
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/gls-apparel-los-angeles-2
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/glsapparel/pins/
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