Alithia Kapsalis is a senior at San Jose State University studying business marketing. Kapsalis recently started a clothing business called Alithia Official and has launched two clothing collections called “Summer Collection” and “Love Charm”.
I interviewed Kapsalis to learn more about the clothing industry and how she started a business as a full-time student.
The Brand
Alithia has been passionate about fashion since she was young. “I’ve always liked fashion and shopping so I knew I wanted to expand on that”, Kapsalis said. She wanted to create a woman’s clothing brand with “timeless fashion pieces” that are versatile and can be worn anywhere.
“I built my brand off of three truths: true to ourselves, our customers, and our environment”, Kapsalis said. Alithia also means “truth” in Greek, which reflects her brand’s values. True to ourselves means expressing our inner truth and feeling comfortable in our own skin.
She exemplifies “true to our customers” by being open and transparent about sharing the behind-the-scenes of her business. She shared her journey on social media from sourcing to designing because she wants her followers and potential customers to be part of that journey.
Lastly, her brand is true to the environment because of the sustainable fabric that’s used.
Alithia’s logo is her name with a heart in between wings. She describes her logo as “the heart represents your inner self and the wings stand for the freedom to express all that you are”.
The Process
From the design to the final product, there’s a lot involved in launching a clothing line. Alithia dives into what she did to bring her vision to life. She first started off with designing the clothing items by sketching them out.
Her inspiration comes from her own closet because she takes pieces she already has, combines them, and adds her own twist to them. “Most of the time, I will take pieces I already have because when we do samples, it’s best to have a physical reference so they can see how it was made”, Kapsalis said.
After sketching the pieces out, she’ll find fabric that works well with the design. The fabric being used heavily depends on the design of the clothing item. She then conducted research on pattern makers and manufacturers. She works with fabric suppliers, a pattern maker, and a manufacturer.
“The pattern maker is the one who works on sizing and creating the actual patterns which are used as a guide to trace clothing parts onto fabric before they are cut and sewn together for production”, Kapsalis said. Alithia regularly communicates with her pattern-maker because the sizing is constantly changing and the factory can’t make anything without her patterns.
She learned about the process through trial and error. When launching a business, challenges are likely to come your way. “It’s hard to get the sizing, style, and construction right from the very beginning”, Kapsalis said.
When making the final product, there are usually about three rounds of sampling until the desired product is made. “I learned that if you know the exact details and measurements you want from the very beginning, you will save time and money”, Kapsalis said.
Running a Business
I asked Alithia what her favorite thing is about starting her own business. She said “I like running it the way I want it to be and doing it on my own… I learned how to make a website, research, communicate, and email lots of people… it was a lot of coordination to make sure our whole schedule and timeline are aligned with each other”.
A lot of skills are learned when launching a business on your own and it’s always good to inherit those skills in the process that can be used long-term. Although we take classes in school and learn about business, there is still a lot of research and learning you need to do on your own to make it happen.
Launching a Line
Alithia goes through what a launch process is like once the final products are ready to go on her site and be sold. She explains that it was hard to start off with a launch date that she can share because sample making and production are up in the air.
Her first launch had a preorder in April 2021. Her second launch was for Valentine’s Day and it came out in January 2022. She says, “I don’t really like to post about it if I don’t know if it’s going to be fulfilled or not”. Her main marketing platform is Instagram where she posts how she styles her clothing, pictures of other people wearing it, photoshoots of the launches, and behind the scenes of her process.
Her brand is spread through her community of followers. When she’s launching a line, she posts a countdown, and people can be reminded of the launch when it happens. She’s also done some giveaways, which have been for discounted or free products! It is a business, but it’s also Alithia’s passion project which she really enjoys.
Alithia’s Advice: Passion Over Everything
Balancing a small business and being a full-time student can be difficult. I asked Alithia to give her advice to students who are interested in starting a business. “If you plan everything out from the beginning, you can start out with really little [money] and then slowly grow from there. I advise anyone to just start anything that they’re interested in. It may not be your job, but it’s something you do for fun and just makes you happy”, Kapsalis said.
You can purchase Alithia Official clothing on her website here and support her by following her Instagram, @alithiaofficial. If you purchase anything from her line, be sure to tag us @HerCampusSJSU!