4 minute read
SHIRTS FOR VACATION MODE
Justin Goff ’90’s batik clothing inspires good vibes.
By Megan Tady
When Justin Goff moved to Bali in 1999, he became captivated with all of the beautiful and colorful batik fabrics being sold at boutique markets. Rather than simply buying cookie-cutter shirts sold in stores, Goff began purchasing fabric and enlisting the help of a local tailor to custom make his clothing. Batik is an Indonesian technique of waxing and dyeing cloth to create colorful and unexpected designs.
“I fell in love with pretty much everything about the island—the food, the beaches, and the fact that everyone is smiling all the time,” Goff says on his website. “Bali is not only the most beautiful place in the world, but to me, it feels like the happiest. I quickly swapped my polos and t-shirts for a new uniform—a permanent smile and batik shirts made by an amazing local tailor, Pandu. I loved how they made me feel—instantly in vacation mode.”
Each time friends came to visit Goff in Bali, having custom clothing made was part of his unofficial tour, and he began to hear over and over again: “I love these shirts. You should sell them.”
So he did, forming his clothing company Three Islands in 2009, which has a brick-and-mortar location in Watch Hill, R.I., where Goff grew up, as well as an expanding online presence. The company now sells men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing.
But long before customers could order shirts online or try on swimwear in a fitting room, Goff first began selling his clothing unconventionally with his cousin, Phil Barney, who had initially coowned Three Islands with him.
“We bought 2,000 men’s shirts and borrowed my dad’s truck one winter,” Goff said. “We started in Florida and drove up and down the East Coast selling shirts out of the back of the truck. It was 2009, so the country was deep into the financial crisis. It was a pretty funky time to be showing up and trying to sell clothing out of people’s houses or in street markets, but it was a lot of fun and we learned a ton.”
Goff discovered that customers were extremely receptive to pop-up trunk shops, and he built his business model around traveling from location to location for a few weeks at a time as he followed the tourist season in places like Florida.
The Three Islands store in Watch Hill, R.I.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, changed everything. “In 2019, the internet was 5% of our business, and the rest was divided between retail and driving around in our two vans,” Goff said. “Coronavirus, in a weird sense, is a blessing in that it kicked me in the tail and said, ‘The future is the internet. Stop driving around in your van.’ I’ve revamped my website and social media to try to make up for the 50% we lost out on the trunk shows.”
It also means that Goff is home more with his wife, Tika, a Balinese swimwear designer, and their threeyear-old son, Lyman. “It’s nice waking up with my son, seeing him in the morning, and shipping orders out of my home office,” he said.
Despite the pandemic and travel restrictions, Goff said their Watch Hill store experienced one of the best summers on record—possibly because he was smartly selling cotton face masks. Goff also generously donated Three Island masks to faculty and staff at Berkshire School.
“We love doing our part to keep everyone safe, but I’d rather be just selling fun summer clothing,” he said.
The Three Island brand is centered around “good vibes and happy clothes that put a little sunshine in your closet.”
“Wearing our clothing loosens people up,” Goff said. “It just feels like you’re on vacation and you’re relaxed a little. I’ve definitely had customers tell me, ‘Every time I wear your shirts, I have a really fun night.’ And I say, ‘Well, it puts you in that mood.’ Our brand is about comfort and quality, and it’s well-priced. I’m a Northeast Yankee, so we like a good product that lasts a long time and gets better with age.”
Goff says he began to hone his entrepreneurial spirit while at Berkshire. “I think you have to learn to think on your own and be a little more of a hustler than if you were living at home,” he said. “Once you’re at Berkshire, I think you have to lead yourself more.”
Ultimately, Goff credits his father for encouraging him to “live outside the box.” “My dad told my siblings and I to get out and explore the world, follow our passion, and don’t feel pressure to go be a Wall Street guy. He told me there’s more to life than the almighty dollar. You can’t take away experiences—they’re priceless. Get out, live life, and do what makes you happy.”
Goff’s son, Lyman, modeling a batik Three Islands shirt
www.threeislandslifestyle.com
