5 Essential Lessons from My Conversation with Fira X Wear's Jasmine and Vincent
After two decades in licensing, I've seen countless brands enter the space with grand ambitions. But here's what usually happens: they underestimate the complexities, get frustrated with approval timelines, and either compromise on quality or abandon their vision entirely.
That's why my conversation with Jasmine and Vincent of Fira X Wear was so refreshing. This husband-and-wife team launched their anime-inspired fashion brand during the pandemic, sold out their first collection almost immediately, and just completed their first licensed launch with My Hero Academia—all while maintaining exceptional quality standards and building a community of over two million followers.
Their journey from that fateful walk in the park to becoming a recognized name in licensed fashion offers invaluable lessons for anyone looking to break into licensing, especially small businesses and content creators who want to do it right.
1. Quality Isn't Negotiable—It's Your Competitive Advantage in a Sea of Cheap Merchandise
The Insight: When you're competing against bootleg Instagram ads and cheap convention merch, premium quality becomes your most powerful differentiator.
Jasmine was crystal clear about this from the start:
"There's a lot of really cheap kind of bootleg Instagram ads and stuff you see for anime where you buy it, it falls apart after you wash it twice, it doesn't look that great, it feels like paper when you put it on."
Her solution? Create what she wanted to wear herself.
"When I'm not wearing nerdy stuff, I like nice quality things. I buy premium fashion, designer fashion. There are nerds out here who have money that like buying nice things. So let's combine the nice things with the nerdy things."
This commitment to quality came with real costs. Vincent admitted they pay more for ethical manufacturing and better materials, which could hurt their margins. But they made a conscious choice: "
If we were following the same rule [as corporations with shareholders], our prices would be higher and our margins would be even better. But we want to serve the community."
The result? Customers comparing their products favorably to designer swimwear. One fan told them: "I have a designer swimsuit that cost more than this that is not as good quality."
Why It Matters: In the licensing space, there's often pressure to maximize margins by cutting corners on production. But Jasmine and Vincent proved that the opposite strategy—investing in quality while keeping prices reasonable—builds brand loyalty and generates organic word-of-mouth that no marketing budget can buy.
The Takeaway: Before you manufacture your first licensed product, ask yourself: would you want to own this? Would you be proud to give it as a gift? If the answer is anything less than an enthusiastic yes, go back to the drawing board. Your customers deserve better, and your licensed property deserves better representation.
2. Creativity Gets Approved Faster Than Asset Replication—Even in Anime Licensing
The Insight: Licensors don't want you to just copy-paste their assets. They want to see your creative interpretation of their IP.
This was perhaps the most counterintuitive lesson from our conversation, especially given anime's reputation for strict approval processes. Jasmine explained the pattern she discovered:
"When I was trying to use a lot of their assets, that was when I got a lot of no's. And then when I was like, I'm just gonna do my own things and make my own thing that's clearly representative of the IP but it's my own creative take... they were like, this is fine. This is great."
She wasn't using their approved assets at all—she was creating original designs inspired by the characters' iconography and color schemes. The licensor appreciated the thoughtfulness and originality.
Vincent added an important perspective:
"Don't be afraid to hear no. We heard a lot of no's throughout the process, but I'm still glad that we tried and we still proposed lots of ideas. I hope the team at My Hero Academia understands that's all about passion—we wouldn't try to push so much forward if we weren't passionate about it."
Why It Matters: Too many licensees treat style guides as the ceiling of what's possible rather than the floor. They take the safe route, using only approved assets in approved ways. But licensors are often looking for partners who can bring fresh perspectives to their IP—partners who understand the brand deeply enough to create something new within its world.
The Takeaway: During your approval process, don't self-censor too aggressively. If you have a creative idea that stays true to the IP's spirit but pushes boundaries, submit it. The worst they can say is no—and you might be surprised how often they say yes to genuine creativity.
3. Your First License Should Be Something You're Actually Passionate About—Not Just What's Popular
The Insight: Licensing a property you genuinely love makes every aspect of the business better, from design to marketing to customer relationships.
When I asked why they chose My Hero Academia for their first license, Vincent's answer was immediate: "We only wanted to work with a property that we're actually fans of, we're passionate about, but also that can fit our brand and can inspire her creative juices."
But there was also strategic thinking behind the passion. Jasmine explained:
"The character designs for My Hero Academia are so specific. They have a lot of really strong iconography. And I felt like with them having strong iconography, it really lent itself to having designs that stood out."
The passion extended beyond just the creative process. As Jasmine noted: "We also wanted to make sure we made something that felt like it would resonate with my audience. What am I a fan of? What are you a fan of? What is something that's going to inspire my own design sense? What is something that's going to resonate with my audience and cause them to share it?"
Vincent summarized it perfectly:
"This company is our baby. We wanna do everything well and of high quality, but we also want it to align with our passion because otherwise we can just do our nine to five jobs. Being a fan means that your passion being well integrated into every part of the launch process shows."
Why It Matters: When you're passionate about an IP, you inherently understand what fans want because you're one of them. You know which characters resonate, which moments matter, which details can't be compromised. That insider knowledge is worth more than any focus group.
The Takeaway: If you're choosing your first license purely based on market research or revenue projections, pause. Ask yourself: would I be excited to work on this every day for the next year? Do I genuinely love this property? If not, keep looking. Your first license is a learning experience—make sure it's one you'll enjoy.
4. Plan for Approval Timelines to Take 3X Longer Than You Think—Especially for Detailed Products
The Insight: The approval process will be your biggest timeline challenge, and it's exponentially harder when your products are complex and custom.
Vincent was candid about their biggest surprise entering licensing:
"One of the biggest surprises was just approval time. Because it takes a long time to get approvals. And for us, if there's a change, it's not something simple. Because we have more complicated designs with attention to detail and quality, changes that we make take a while."
He continued: "It's not like it's just a simple screen print on a t-shirt. We have custom hardware, custom embroidery, very detailed patterns. Everything at the end of the day is a prerequisite to something else that impacts the launch time."
This was particularly jarring coming from their previous experience creating original designs: "We're used to just doing our own stuff, being able to be pretty agile. And so now you have to plan for more cooks in the kitchen."
Jasmine's advice was direct: "Give yourself a lot of time, because you think something is gonna be approved immediately and then it's not, and it's gonna be the weirdest stuff that they call out and you're like, oh, this is not the part I thought y'all were gonna have a problem with."
Why It Matters: Underestimating approval timelines is one of the most common mistakes new licensees make. It causes missed retail deadlines, rushed production, and stressed relationships with licensors. For products with multiple components—embroidery, hardware, prints, packaging—every element needs approval, and changes to one element can trigger re-approval of others.
The Takeaway: When planning your first licensed product launch, take your estimated timeline and triple the approval portion. Build in buffer time for unexpected rounds of feedback. Communicate proactively with your licensor about deadlines. And remember: thorough approvals protect both you and the IP owner from costly mistakes down the line.
5. Complementary Skills Make Better Business Partners Than Identical Ones—Especially in Marriage
The Insight: The most successful partnerships happen when each person brings distinct, non-overlapping expertise to the table.
When I asked about working together as a couple, Vincent's answer revealed the foundation of their success:
"She's my best friend. We built such a strong foundation in our relationship that it really enhances us as business partners. In fact, I'd say most disagreements we have are around the business, not around our relationship."
But the real key was their complementary skill sets. Jasmine explained:
"I think it helps that we both bring completely different things to the business. If we were both doing the same thing, we would have a lot more clashing. When it comes to creative decisions, this is automatically [Vincent's] like, yeah, I'm not even worried about that. Vice versa, when it comes to customer service, shipping logistics, all the backend stuff—my brain doesn't work that way."
Vincent added: "Our individual skill sets outside the business and for the business complement each other so well. We're able to do the whole left brain, right brain thing, and it ends up coming together to be a really good unified structure."
This division of labor extended to their launch strategy too. While Jasmine handled design and creative direction, Vincent managed operations and business development. When Jasmine leveraged her influencer network for models and promotion, Vincent coordinated with their PR agency for trade press coverage.
Why It Matters: Many licensing partnerships fail because of overlapping responsibilities and unclear decision-making authority. When everyone wants creative control or when no one wants to handle operations, businesses stall. The most effective partnerships—whether romantic, friendship-based, or purely professional—recognize that different perspectives and skill sets are strengths, not weaknesses.
The Takeaway: Before entering a business partnership, map out each person's strengths and responsibilities clearly. Make sure you have coverage across all critical areas: creative, operations, finance, marketing, customer service. And if you're partnering with someone whose skills mirror yours, consider bringing in a third person or advisor to fill the gaps.
The Bottom Line
Jasmine and Vincent's journey from pandemic walk to licensed fashion brand offers a masterclass in doing licensing right as a small business. They didn't take shortcuts on quality. They didn't license properties they weren't passionate about. They didn't underestimate the complexity of the approval process. And they didn't try to be everything to each other—they played to their individual strengths.
Perhaps most importantly, they understood something that larger companies often forget: at the end of the day, licensed products are made by fans, for fans. When you're creating from a place of genuine love for an IP, while maintaining uncompromising standards for quality and creativity, fans notice. They support you. They become advocates.
As Jasmine put it: "I want to make things that I want to wear. I don't like wearing cheap low quality things. So I'm going to give the people what I want and what they also want—something that feels nice. You want to feel like you spent your money on something that was worth it."
That philosophy—create what you'd want to own, price it fairly, stay true to your passion—is a blueprint for licensing success that works whether you're a two-person startup or a major brand.
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