Meet Christina Lucine Kaplan of Ginchi Apparel in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Lucine Kaplan.

Christina Lucine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
“Do what you love and the rest will come” was what my mother has always told me. And that, I do. I have always known that my purpose is to inspire and empower the people around me to do what they love. Through my careers as an artist (@lucinevisions) and yoga teacher (@peaceflowyoga), the effort to manifest my purpose to reality came naturally. My clothing brand, Ginchi Apparel was birthed directly from that space.

At age 19 in 2015, I was painting the illustrations for a book and completely “destroyed” my clothes in the creative process. So, I chose to claim the paint stains and wear these articles of clothing with pride to my local small-town yoga classes and in big cities like New York and Philadelphia. I received an unexpectedly large number of compliments on those outfits. In addition, I realized that while wearing these clothes, I can do anything I want with freedom, power, and self-expression and feel absolutely fabulous throughout my day.

Soon after this realization, I reached out to a graphic designer friend, Blanco Rabbit and we started the brainstorming process. Blanco Rabbit has since left in the partnership of Ginchi and I took over completely in 2017.

Ginchi has evolved so much over the years while continuing to fulfill my purpose in creating a world where all people have access to do what they love with ease. Now, all of our apparel is ethically-sourced sustainable fashion. Meaning that as a company, we do not produce the material first-hand, they are hand-picked repurposed thrift garments.

For Ginchi’s newest line, I have curated a collection of artists and designers across the states to produce their work on/as sustainable fashion. In fall 2019, customers will have access to wear extraordinary artwork as fashion apparel through what is called the Artist Empire. We have big plans for this launch including a fashion show in Denver (details coming soon) and we are so excited about the opportunities the Artist Empire is creating for all people involved.

If interested in becoming one of our Empire Artists, please email ginchiapparel@gmail.com to get involved.

Follow our Instagram @ginchiapparel for announcements and updates.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting this brand at a young age, I had no idea what I was doing. So, I have been learning from trials and errors as I go along. My greatest struggle has been the financial aspect. I’m not saying that I wasted a lot of money, I just spent A LOT on marketing that didn’t necessarily work. Like I said, trials and errors and now I know what NOT to do.

Ginchi Apparel – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Ginchi Apparel is a sustainable fashion brand, meaning that all of our garments are hand-picked thrift store finds. Everything is resized to fit a unisex/gender non-binary model and our size chart is based on our model’s measurements for accurate sizing reference.

As a company, I am so proud of how we are creating opportunities for both our customers and the artists/designers in the Artist Empire to live a life they love.

What sets us apart from others is the fact that our vision is greater than our company itself. We are establishing a culture around the art of fashion and the fashion of art.

In addition, 10% of our proceeds are donated to a non-profit each year.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
That first online sale, baby!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ginchiapparel.com
• Phone: 215-595-3832
• Email: ginchiapparel@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ginchiapparel
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ginchiapparel

Image Credit:
Aeran Squires

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