- Naked Wardrobe is an online clothing brand founded by sisters Shida, Shirin, and Shideh Kaviani.
- The brand has a cultlike fandom on Instagram of more than 1 million followers. It's beloved by celebrities and influencers like Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Jenner, the Kardashians, and Christina Milian.
- Shideh Kaviani told Business Insider how the brand cultivates relationships with A-listers and why some celebs end up becoming long-term customers.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
When Shideh Kaviani was a preteen she met her idol Jennifer Lopez at a concert and sobbed from her excitement after. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine seeing the singer, actor, and icon wearing her designs.
"Even though she's been our client now for three or four years, every single time she wears Naked Wardrobe it feels like the first time for me," Kaviani, the brand's cofounder and president, told Business Insider.
Kaviani and her two older sisters, Shirin and Shida, started their Los Angeles clothing brand in 2012 from their parents' basement. The company's Los Angeles design studio has about 40 employees and freelancers, many of whom are working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said it made more than $1 million in revenue in its first year and has since grown 40% year over year on average. Today the brand has more than 1.6 million Instagram followers and is beloved by celebrities and influencers.
'Bomb basics'
Many of Naked's A-list clientele are repeat wearers.
Kylie Jenner's Instagram is full of Naked Wardrobe outfits, including a $58 zip-up romper and $26 crop top she wore with designer jeans. The Kardashian sisters have worn several pieces, such as a $30 bikini top and $58 jumpsuit. Both Ciara and Christina Milian wore Naked Wardrobe's maternity pieces to show off their baby bumps, like a $42 pair of bike shorts.
The brand is known for its affordable "bomb basics": Think classics like black leggings and a white tank top that layer underneath a blazer or work on their own as a curve-hugging statement. Us Weekly magazine called the clothes "staples you can take anywhere."
Kaviani studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She walked Business Insider through how the brand attained its star-studded clientele.
The brand never pays celebs to wear its clothing
Celebrity relationships have been crucial to Naked's branding since the start.
The founders began by researching celebrity stylists, direct-messaging celebrities, and sending out packages of their clothes.
Many of the brand's relationships started with mutual connections, as was the case with getting Lopez on board. Nicole Isaacs, an influencer, modeled for Naked Wardrobe and had connections in the fashion world from working on the E! show "Fashion Police." Kaviani said Isaacs told Naked that she'd find a way to get their clothes to Lopez.
"It really was that organic, you know someone who knows someone," Kaviani said. "You take a leap of faith, and you send a package to them and you really have to believe in your product."
The brand makes a point to never pay celebrities to wear their clothing. Instead, they hope the products will speak for themselves. And they seem to accomplish that. Lopez, Jenner, and the Kardashians wear Naked Wardrobe clothes both on morning coffee runs and at red-carpet events.
"These celebrities have access to all the lines in the world, all the designers in the world, all the clothes in the world, and they choose to wear Naked Wardrobe on a daily basis for the comfort," Kaviani said.
Products that feel like luxury pieces at attainable prices
Kaviani takes every design personally, trying them on herself before approving for production.
"I'm such a stickler for the fit — my body's very curvy myself," she said. "It always starts with that. And then once I fall in love with a fabric, I want to always create a full line out of it."
"That's what's really allowed us to achieve this success," she added.
Kaviani's mother preferred to buy higher-end long-lasting clothing and instilled that value in her daughters, she said. Their brand focuses on quality to make customers feel like the clothing is more expensive than it costs.
It all starts with a fabric that moves with the body, typically a viscose and spandex blend, which is important when you're making skintight bodysuits and dresses.
And if a new material or method is going to raise prices, Kaviani would rather take the hit, she said.
"I'm the boss that gets yelled at by my team because they're like, 'That's going to be more expensive,'" she said. "I will eat the cost ... they're not used to that mindset in this industry."
Celebrities become regular customers
Naked Wardrobe doesn't just want a one-outfit press storm. They'd rather maintain long-term relationships with the stars they dress, which requires consistency. The brand reaches out to stylists and industry connections regularly to check in and send their latest collections, Kaviani said.
"We've been doing this for eight or nine years now, and we're still building our Rolodex and our clientele. It's constant reaching out," she said.
Kaviani said many of the celebrities they've sent clothing to end up becoming regular paying customers.
"We sent our first package to J.Lo, and then she kept coming back from more," she said.
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