Primary: Christina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard

The apparel industry - be it high fashion or everyday wear - is a crowded and noisy market to crack. Just think about the sheer number of athletic shoes or jeans available at both ends of the price spectrum! So conventional wisdom is: to stand out, branding is really important. But for Christina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard, the co-founders of the children's clothing line Primary, branding was the last thing they wanted on their designs. The two women bucked other industry conventions, too: they only sell basic building-block pieces, using bright colors, in styles that hardly change year after year. No glitter. No cartoons. No pithy sayings. And no gender differentiation: the clothes are categorized as either babies or kids. Despite early struggles, eight years after launching in 2015, Primary is now a profitable company with annual sales over $50 million. This episode was produced by Casey Herman, with music by Ramtin Arablouei Edited by Andrea Bruce, with research help from Chris Maccini. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices