A conversation with the founders

GIMALIS was built by a couple: Bart, the other half of GIMALIS, and Mona, the better half. He is a photographer and marketer by profession. She knows instantly when something works. And especially when it doesn't. He builds the business, she decides what GIMALIS becomes. We sat down with them to talk honestly about how this started, how it works in practice, and who they're actually making this for.

Bart, how did GIMALIS actually start?

Bart: It started because my wife Mona couldn't find anything that held up. She had started training, first running, later adding weight training, and everything she bought was substandard. Colors faded, support wasn't right, clothing couldn't keep up with her pace. I'm a photographer and marketer by profession and my schedule allowed me to build something. So we started looking together at what she actually needed.

Mona: For me it started mainly from the feeling that I couldn't find what I was looking for anywhere. There were always small things I liked about different products, but never everything together in one piece. The right fit, the right support, the right feel, the right look. So we actually started building something that didn't exist for me yet. And to be honest: that only became possible once I started seeing my body differently. If I had tried to make this two years earlier, it would have been a different product.

Mona, tell us more about that.

Mona: I always ran a lot. But not because I loved it. Because I wanted to be smaller, or keep my weight under control. Lots of vegetables, lots of fruit, but actually too little food. I thought I was being healthy. I wasn't. I exercised a lot and often felt empty.

The real turning point came after our wedding. Before the wedding I had fallen back into old habits: eating little, meal shakes, detox juices. I thought I needed to lose weight quickly enough to fit into my wedding dress. After the wedding we got COVID, I started eating normally again and naturally gained weight back. And then I thought: I'm an intelligent woman, I can't keep doing this.

If I wanted sustainable results, I had to approach it the right way. So I started reading about nutrition and training, but always with the idea that it had to be healthy and sustainable long-term. Eat enough. Train properly. Be patient. Eventually I started seeing results week after week. Not just in my body, but also in my health.

Bart also told me somewhere in that period: if you really want to lose fat, which by the way I don't think you need to, why don't you stop all those hours of running and do weight training? You get stronger, your body composition changes and muscles burn energy. Looking back now I know he was subtly trying to get me to see sport differently.

Bart, what did you see then that she didn't?

Bart: Mona is the strongest woman I know. When she has a goal in mind, she will achieve it. I don't want to come across as a know-it-all, and she now knows much more about sport than I do. But at that moment I was reading a lot of scientific books about training. Alan Aragon, Tudor Bompa, they were lying around open with notes on every page. In Mona I mainly saw the goal of losing weight. I didn't see that drive to simply want to exercise. I've played sport intensively my whole life and knew what that feels like. I wanted her to have that too. Not for some aesthetic goal but purely for the sport itself.

It's a cliché but it's true: if you exercise for the sake of exercising, at some point you'll also start looking different (generally healthier, better) as a result. But then that's a side effect, not a goal.

Mona, when did it turn around?

Mona: Honestly? The image of that slim runner stayed in my head for a long time. But Bart was right that I wasn't enjoying my sport. I never really reached that runner's high. He had set up a power cage in his apartment at the time, next to the treadmill. My argument was that I didn't want to build muscles because I didn't want to get too broad. Bart has a no-bullshit view on such things. He said: Mona, men have roughly fifteen times more testosterone than women. If building muscle were that simple, every man on earth would be muscular. You're not suddenly going to become "buff."

The idea of getting stronger intrigued me. I started reading books and articles myself. And I've always had a weaker upper back. One of the first things I noticed after a few months of training was something very small but fundamental. Before, when a photo was taken of me without me knowing, I had rounded shoulders. At some point that was gone. I suddenly stood straighter and looked stronger but also more elegant.

When did GIMALIS come into the picture?

Mona: I bought the popular brands fairly quickly. What surprised me was how substandard the quality was. First I bought the cheaper versions of the well-known names. Then I started buying more expensive pieces, thinking the problem was price. But even there something was always wrong. Colors that faded. No support in the right places. Logos that washed off after three washes. I was actually shocked.

Bart: That detail about the logos is something that struck me. I won't name the brand, but it was a "real" fitness brand. And a small anecdote: Mona was wearing white trousers. I asked if they were new. She said no, I've had them for a while. I asked which brand they were, because honestly she looked great in them. I don't normally forget a pair of trousers like that. Long story short: they weren't white trousers. They were pink trousers that had completely faded. And we're talking weeks, not years.

That a "real" brand let that happen, I found alarming. Mona trains at home in leggings and sports bra, and during more intense running it became clear that the support couldn't keep up. When you train hard everything around it has to follow. Rest, nutrition, footwear. The clothing wasn't doing that.

It was COVID. My work had stopped, I had time. I started then with one idea: I'm going to make THE outfit that Mona needs. "THE ONE", we still carry that name today. Colorfast, supportive where it needs to be, sturdy, and above all: made for a woman who actually exercises and sweats. Mona decided what it should look like, what felt right or not. I built the business around it.

How does that work in practice between you, today?

Bart: Mona sends me WhatsApps and Instagram links almost every day. Sometimes a color, sometimes a detail of a cut, sometimes a vague idea she can't yet put into words. I use my graphic skills to work that out and send her a proposal back. Mona generally has the final say. In terms of color I perhaps have just slightly more final say. She's a fan of many colors at once. Right now we're deliberately keeping it limited, so everything works together. Call it my professional bias from my graphic background.

Mona: In the end we always reach consensus. And the real quality test is that I wear and test every piece extensively. Then it goes to our brand ambassadors, who are also just real sportswomen who test the outfits to the limit. If it gets through there, we know it's good.

Who are you actually making this for?

Mona: Honestly? I'm really making this for myself. That's always the starting point. I always have the same four questions. Is this something I would wear? Do I want to train in this? Do I feel comfortable in it, both in terms of support and how it looks? And finally: will I still be able to wear this in two years without it fading or fraying?

If I can say yes to all four, it can go through.

What's the most important thing a new customer needs to know about GIMALIS today?

Mona: A special moment for me was a message from a customer. She sent that she's still using the same outfit as her main outfit, three years after buying it. And that it's still completely fine. That's what it's about for me. That another woman can still use our outfit and is happy with it. The basic idea stays the same. Would I buy it? And that means it has to be quality, that I can sweat in it. I want the women who buy this to know they're not buying a pig in a poke.

Bart: We're also actively working on that. Soon we'll be announcing a point of sale where you can try and feel the clothing. And we have more plans in the pipeline. Not with sales talk. Simply by letting women try, feel and decide for themselves.