Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriella Castillo.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Gabriella. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It all started while I was in law school. In the midst of law school, I found myself distracted and unhappy with the career path I had chosen. On one of my shopping trips to Fashion Valley, I purchased a pair of high waisted sequin leggings. I was very excited to wear them since I had seen them on various bloggers and they looked amazing on the model. After various tries of how to style them, I just couldn’t get them to look on my body like I saw them look on other people. At that moment, I realized that the fashion industry focuses way too much on celebrating very thin and tall bodies. After that, I created Haute2Wear.
In that moment, Haute2Wear was created as an online fashion community for aspiring bloggers to post an article related to fashion and beauty. I wanted Haute2Wear to be a safe space for people to celebrate their style and love of fashion regardless of their size, style or financial situation. I was 18 when I created the website. A little after it started gaining momentum, I was sadly distracted by being a young adult. Haute2Wear became dormant for about 2-3 years.
After graduating from law school, I realized that I really wanted to go to fashion school to become a buyer. When I was studying at Mesa College, I was trying to save up some money to study at FIDM in Los Angeles. I was asking around the classroom about selling a pair of Louboutins I was gifted by an ex-boyfriend when someone recommended I sell them on Poshmark. After listing the heels, I became addicted to selling everything I wasn’t wearing anymore on Poshmark. My plans quickly changed from becoming a buyer to revamping Haute2Wear as an online boutique for women of all sizes.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. When I was studying merchandising and marketing at FIDM in Los Angeles, I was excelling in my classes and networking like a champ. I was presented with various career opportunities at very prestigious companies in Los Angeles, which gave me a hard decision to make. I could accept one of the jobs I had been offered, or go back home to San Diego and put my money into funding my own business. I chose the latter and moved back home while I rebooted Haute2Wear and put in all the money I had to create my company. There are days when I regret not staying in Los Angeles and working at another company, it seems safer than what I am doing at the moment at times.
One of the biggest struggles was a wrong buying decision I made. Sometimes I make mistakes in the inventory I choose for my customer, but this mistake was HUGE. I purchased a size-inclusive swim collection that was not at all popular with my customer base which means that there is a lot of stale merchandise that still hasn’t moved. It’s not a detrimental obstacle, but it was definitely something that made me rethink my growth and buying strategy.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Haute2Wear is a size-inclusive women’s fashion retailer. Haute2Wear caters affordable clothes with great quality to women of all sizes. We like to keep up on the trends without being too extreme since our customer is a young woman who is on the go 24/7. I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to a lot of our customers and they all seem to be amazing and powerful women who are relentless in the pursuit of their personal goals. So, we like to stock clothes that remind them of their power as well as keep them comfortable for long days and long nights. All the styles are tried and tested by myself or my team of size-inclusive models, to make sure that the fit is comfortable and that it flatters all body types.
I am most proud of my customers. I feel like it is an honor to have these incredible women shop at my store. I know they have a ton of choices, so it is really special to me that they choose us! Personally, I am also very proud that I was asked to speak at the Poshmark conference last year about how to create and boost your own boutique on their platform.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think San Diego is an INCREDIBLE city to start a business in. In my case, my business is fashion related so I spend a lot of time in the fashion district in Los Angeles. I am always there looking at samples as well as picking up merchandise. If I ever need my merchandise shipped to me, it is super fast and super cheap since it is so close. I also love the fact that I can take some business into Mexico without it being a hassle. I do pop up shops all the time on both sides of the border.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2560 Catamaran Way #27
Chula Vista, CA
91914 - Website: www.haute2wear.com
- Email: gabriella@haute2wear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haute2wear/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Haute2Wear/
Image Credit:
Alexandra Castillo Taddei (photo of me)
Ivanna Paola Bañales (photos of models)
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