From large, bright red roses with yellow letters, to empowering Spanish proverbs, to a popular and commonly known sweet Mexican pastry printed on a T-shirt, Latina business owner, mother, and Chicana, Rachel Gomez, 30, created a brand that caters directly to the Latina community.
Viva La Bonita is a Latina lifestyle and apparel brand that Gomez felt was lacking in the fashion industry, but felt determined to create, inspired by “the Latina women who are fearless.” The apparel is branded with the word “bonita,” which means beautiful in Spanish.
“I wanted women to embrace the word and learn about our interpretation of it. It’s more than just being pretty.” Gomez said, “Our translation of the word is to remind women that they are all beautiful, especially when they choose to take control of their life. We are firm believers that when you begin to take control of your life and do the things you have always wanted to do, your journey remains beautiful.”
Gomez, originally from Pacoima, Calif., attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, but dropped out her second year in order to fully pursue building her brand. “I don't think I ever had the intentions to become a ‘businesswoman,’” she said. “I saw a need for brands that catered to our Latina community. We didn’t have any brands that were ‘cool,’ empowering us to be prideful of our cultures, and sending the message that women can do anything.” Gomez said. “I didn’t know where this was going to go, but I had a vision that I wanted to share with my Latina community.”
Viva La Bonita has over 67,000 followers on Instagram and continues to grow. Beauty influencers with over a million followers often post photos wearing Gomez’s designs including drinking out of a “Being a Chingona is exhausting” coffee mug, which translates to “Being a badass is exhausting,” and a “BONITA” bright red crewneck sweatshirt.
Although Gomez’s family didn’t quite understand why she was choosing to dropout of college in order to pursue her vision, they have always been supportive of her. “I know they were scared for me. I always thought they were disappointed in me,” Gomez said. “But they recently admitted to me that they always trusted me.” As for her friends, Gomez explained that they didn’t understand the hard work and sacrifices she needed to make in order for her idea to work. “That was a chapter in my life I had to move on from in order for me to really build my brand and allow myself to become tunnel-visioned.” She said, “Sometimes we have to do that, change our environment we want to grow in.”
Gomez explained that the beginning of her journey as a businesswoman was tough, since her peers and college professors kept shooting down her ideas. “I was always told my Latina brand had no relevance in the fashion industry.” In her 20s, Gomez realized that if she wanted to make her mark, she didn’t have to change her idea. “I just had to extract myself from the negative environment where my ideas weren't being accepted. I knew I had a great idea, and I was just going to have to make it happen somewhere else, and I did,” she said. “I surrounded myself with my family and people who truly believed in me, and the brand blossomed.”
As Gomez explained, she wasn’t born rich and didn’t have a rich boyfriend to invest money into her brand. She started to do her own research on how to start brands with a small budget. She would make fake emails in order to keep using the Photoshop free trials, which allowed her to create designs that she learned to make herself by watching YouTube videos. “I watched YouTube videos on how people make T-shirts we buy in stores, that lead me to working some overtime and investing in my own vinyl cutter and heat press machine so I could make my own T-shirts.” Gomez “obsessed” over her brand and how she was going to make it work, although there were moments she felt that the business life wasn’t for her. “But looking back on it now, I realized all the ‘hard’ parts were part of the process of me having to learn my value and learning how to be resilient through my journey.”