An Innovative New Concept – a Risk Worth Taking?

One important attribute of our ideal bikini top is adjustability.  After all, that is what makes the classic triangle top style so appealing – not only is it simple and sexy but you can adjust both the shoulder and the back/chest strap lengths.

Considering that many women have frequent weight fluctuations and that fabric and elastic naturally give (stretch) over time, adjustability simply gives a bikini top more longevity.  That said, we are not interested in creating yet another triangle top bikini – there are more than enough on the market already and as far as we are concerned the tie over the neck is a comfort deal-breaker for beach volleyball.

Example of a triangle top bikini – cute, sexy and universally popular but not ideal for beach volleyball.	Inside view of one of our first convertible top samples showing hidden strap length adjustability.

One of Sibylle’s many talents happens to be “accomplished seamstress” and she made it her personal mission to develop a method for hidden strap length adjustability that would also work with our convertible design concept.  She came up with an idea, created a mock-up of the concept and we took it to meet with two well regarded swimwear manufacturers in downtown Los Angeles.  Both immediately admitted that they had never seen anything like it before and would actually have to discuss it with their production managers to make sure it was something they were capable of producing.  On the plus side, this was an obvious validation of Sibylle’s ingenuity!  On the down side the more complicated a design is, the more room for error in manufacturing and the more time consuming and expensive it will be to produce.  Considering that “made in LA, low volume” swimwear is no cash cow business venture to begin with, we started to get a bit nervous.  But the idea of producing something that nobody else has done before is incredibly appealing – we need something to differentiate our product from everything else out there on the market – so we ultimately decided that it was a worthwhile risk.

– Bridget