Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine James.
Hi Jasmine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The idea for Fira X Wear™ was sparked on a pandemic walk in the park between founders Vincent and Jasmine. When they wanted to get away on a vacation to Mexico, Vincent thought it would be a great idea to mix cosplay with swimwear. Jasmine made ‘beach episode’ designs of her favorite characters to test the appeal on social media. After trolls online commented on how swimwear couldn’t be cosplay, the two decided to build a brand based on the idea to prove the naysayers wrong while keeping ethical working conditions and sustainability in mind. While the designs can be utilized for cosplay, the main focus was to create a Premium Pop Culture brand.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The largest struggle has been managing paid social media marketing. While we have had great success with organic digital marketing and influencer marketing, paid social media marketing tends to benefit larger companies with deep pockets. It is very hard to complete as a small business against very large marketing budgets.
We’ve been impressed with Fira X Wear , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Fira X Wear is the very first black woman owned, ethical, sustainable, premium quality, pop-culture inspired fashion brand. Up until now, pop culture clothing has more-so been merchandise that only appealed to hardcore fans of a franchise, but Fira X Wear puts fashion forward principles and quality first, creating beautiful pieces that anyone would love to wear, but hold a special place in the hearts of true fans. We are extremely proud of our launch as we’ve been open for around 6 months, but ranked in the top 1% of Shopify e-commerce sites created in 2022. Our first swim collection, the New Challenger Collection, has also been embraced by women of all shapes and sizes for both beach trips and cosplay photoshoots. And many of our winter designs have completely sold out for both men and women. Getting positive feedback on our quality and customer service in addition to seeing all the beautiful pictures our customers share really keep us going and reinforce our passion for our business.
Running our business could only be described as a wonderful challenge. It is wonderful in a sense that we as a married couple have full control over the design, look, feel, and operation of every aspect of Fira X Wear. We get to dream up designs, sample them, test them, produce them, and then get them into the hands of people all over the world. But therein also lies the extreme challenge for a two-person company who also have their own day jobs. Jasmine is a Concept Artist by day and Vincent is a Consultant in the energy space. Managing both of those demanding jobs in addition to building and running a fashion company have been a whirlwind. We actually began building the business from scratch a year before launching in the Summer of 2022 where we had to design our collection, select an ethical manufacturer, refine clothing samples, build our website and social media pages, design packaging, and complete a promotional photoshoot among the typical business responsibilities. Once we launched, we took on new challenges with managing marketing and customer interaction.
Contact Info:
- Website: firaxwear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firaxwear/?hl=en
Image Credits
@cutiepiesensei – Jasmine @idruthat – Dru @alliecatcosplay – Allie @_shaybutter_ – Toshe @jadaadajj – Jada @solitadphoto – Solita @xkirakelly – Kelly @curteous_maximus – Curtis @gainingandgaming – Ramon Vincent
