Is that sunscreen in your eyes or are you crying?

Swimwear: you can never have just one piece. This is the cardinal rule for men and women across America if you really want to hear my opinion about it. A few years ago I had an opportunity to work with a brand out of Las Vegas designing and developing a small line of clothing for them. Luckily for me, the line quickly grew into an additional need for a full line of swimwear for 2015. I can still remember the day I got the email and i'm pretty sure I cried. I have always had a sweet spot in my creative mind for swimwear design but never had the opportunity to work on it. I had big dreams to return to South Sea Island in Fiji (where I spent time on my way back to the states from living abroad in Australia) have my own bikini line, and basically die of happiness amidst palm trees. Snapping back to reality, this opportunity out of Vegas seemed like the beginning of my dream actually coming true. I still feel that way even though we're only in fit sample stage. I am not not crazy. I have to remain mum on details because there is a reality show and other marketing deals tied to the line of swimwear that I cannot repeat in a public space until the ink is dry. Sorry ya'll. I can however, take you through my abbreviated emotional journey into designing my very first line of swimwear. 

My client wanted everything to be USA made which I really dig but it also limits you as far as fabric availability and price. Luckily, my homies over at Sportek in L.A. saved my life and sent me 800 swatch cards, ultimately drowning me in a sea of nylon/spandex blends. It wasn't easy to pick which weight and content I should use for the bodies I wanted to create-what if it didn't work? Like most women in America, I found myself searching for answers in the swimwear section at Target. Naturally. I touched a lot of bikinis, bought samples for fit and spec reference, and swam back through my sea of fabric to find the perfect match. What seemed like a lot of confused faces from my boyfriend later, I had laid out my fabric choices, print selections, and my design concepts and was ready to figure out where I was getting these babies sampled. Because my timing was really great, it was just before the international Swim Show in Miami and everyone in bikini world was scrambling to get samples and production done, and every supplier I contacted was booked solid. I finally found a light at the end of the tunnel from a great husband and wife owned factory in L.A…YES they could sample my designs in less than a 3 month time block. Victory! Also, I was really pumped to have all my suppliers in one area…it makes "Made in USA" a lot easier. I received our first round of fit samples yesterday and so far i'm pretty sure no one on this Earth knows what it means to me. It may be small, and who know where it will go but as I mentioned earlier, you can never just have one piece, in fact, I want it all.

Sneak peak of the #monokini

I just really feel like i've made it as a Designer when my name is on a hang tag.