Arif's Capstone Project: Building VIPERWEAR, a Gymwear Brand for Dedicated Lifters
Sigma School
14th March 2025
Arif's journey into tech is nothing short of inspiring. Having worked as a medical doctor in the UK, he made a bold move by returning to Malaysia to transition into the tech industry. Through Sigma School’s coding bootcamp, he gained the necessary skills to pursue his passion for building something impactful - thus, VIPERWEAR was born.
Arif’s inspiration came from Ben Francis, the founder of Gymshark, who started his brand by hand-printing t-shirts from his parents’ garage. Gymshark’s growth was fueled by community-driven marketing and a strong brand culture.
This led Arif to identify a gap in the fitness apparel market in the APAC region. While there are brands that focus on fitness, few emphasize grassroots, community-centric values, and even fewer do so in the apparel space. This realization fueled his drive to create VIPERWEAR, a gymwear brand for dedicated lifters.
To bring his vision to life, Arif developed VIPERWEAR as an e-commerce website where users can browse products, create accounts, and make secure payments. The project was built with a modern tech stack to ensure a seamless shopping experience.
Every ambitious project comes with its set of challenges, and Arif encountered several technical hurdles along the way.
Handling state changes between the UI and backend was complex. Ensuring that product data updates correctly when adding, updating, or deleting items required careful structuring and debugging.
Solution: Implementing a well-structured state management approach in React helped synchronize data between the UI and backend effectively.
Preflight issues with CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) and configuring API endpoints posed significant challenges.
Solution: Arif tackled this by thoroughly debugging the backend and correctly configuring CORS policies to allow secure data exchanges between the frontend and backend.
Ensuring a smooth mobile experience proved difficult, as CSS adjustments for different screen sizes often led to unintended layout shifts.
Solution: Using CSS media queries and flexbox/grid systems, he fine-tuned the design to be mobile-friendly while maintaining consistency across devices.
Arif’s capstone project is a testament to his determination and ability to transition into tech successfully. VIPERWEAR is not just an e-commerce site; it’s the foundation of a brand that aims to revolutionize gymwear in the APAC region. His journey demonstrates the power of combining passion, technical skills, and community-driven branding.
As he moves forward, Arif is set to refine and expand VIPERWEAR, leveraging the lessons learned to further innovate in the fitness apparel space. His story is an inspiration to aspiring developers looking to make an impact through tech-driven entrepreneurship.