Watch the full conversation between Grace Na and Fashionista Staff Writer Janelle Sessoms on The Fashionista Network.

After her “fabulous” aunt introduced her to all things fashion, Grace Na knew she from an early age that wanted to pursue a career in the industry. Before founding Pistola, a Los Angeles-based womenswear brand specializing in premium denim, Na experienced a masterclass on fashion’s inner workings by spending more than 15 years in the retail industry as a planner and buyer.

“That was actually so critical, because that’s where I learned the business of fashion,” Na told Janelle live on The Fashionista Network. (Watch it here!) “How do you make a curation and an assortment profitable? How do you ultimately drive your assortment and have it sell at a healthy rate?”

While working in buying and merchandising, Na met her husband, Kevin — whose family had been in the denim industry for about 30 years at the time — and soon joined the family business, where she began honing her manufacturing skillset. About a year later in 2013, Pistola was born with the goal to deliver trend-driven, high-quality and well-fitting denim at an accessible price point.

“It took many, many, many knocks on the door, many appointments showcasing our line, hearing a lot of nos, until we were able to get into our first specialty boutique store,” Na recalled.

As Pistola gradually grew, it scored its first major retail partner in Bloomingdale’s, which Na described as “a huge moment” for the brand. Though selling to a major retail chain can be a significant undertaking for emerging businesses, it was an opportunity for Pistola to achieve a larger brand presence. Na recalled hustling to fulfill Bloomingdale’s initial order while seven months pregnant with her first child to ensure that it was secure and successfully shipped out. Now, 11 years later, the brand is in 1,000 doors, including Nordstrom, Anthropologie and Revolve.

While Pistola’s initial growth strategy zeroed in on major luxury retailers, the brand has slowly built up its direct e-commerce presence, which now functions as a larger part of the business. “Having a strategic partnership with a couple of major retailers and really making sure that you’re holding hands and growing the business in the right way, I think, is super important, and it’s how we’ve built our business,” Na said. “But I think also, too, having a direct touch point with your consumer, and really hearing the feedback directly and seeing how she’s responding to the product directly has become one of our key strategic growth initiatives.”

Related: How Much Does Your Fashion Job Pay?

During the show, Na expanded on how Pistola approaches trend forecasting in the denim space and touched on how Pistola is preparing for the potential economic impact of impending tariffs, since most denim brands import fabrics from outside of the U.S.

Plus, hear her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs by watching the full interview here.

This conversation was hosted on The Fashionista Network powered by interactive media platform Fireside, where viewers get the chance to participate and speak directly with industry figures. Learn more about The Fashionista Network here.

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