Interview with Pepper Swimwear about the 2017 Line

Tell us a little bit about Pepper and your designs

We started this line because we couldn’t find cute and comfortable bikinis for our beach volleyball addiction. Between the two of us we had over 200 tops and bottoms in our drawers. Many times when we finally found something we loved, it would fall apart mid-season.

Our goal is to design comfortable, durable swimwear that is flattering and trendy. The word Pepper is the term for a volleyball warm-up drill but it’s also spicy. We want our designs to reflect the beach volley vibe – positive, spicy, energetic, happy. We like to use bold colors and fun prints to remind us of places we’ve been or to put us in a great mood.

What’s new in this line?

We are launching a couple new styles that are 100% customer driven – the two of us spend a lot of time interacting with our customers and getting feedback on what works and what doesn’t. The new Sunset Cross Back Reversible Sport Bikini Top, as well as the new cheeky and modest bottoms, were requested by so many of our customers.

The Sunset top comes in several different color combinations, is fully adjustable and has a super-cute star shaped back. It has a special sewn-in padding produced in Belgium that will not fall apart, crinkle or feel spongy in the water. Like all our other designs it is fully reversible so you get 2 looks with one top.

We also spent a lot of time developing and testing many samples for the new cheeky and modest Sunset bottoms to minimize the amount of adjusting needed. We actually ended up sewing over 1 dozen samples to get to the final cut.

We are launching our very first custom print this season. It’s an ode to the beach volleyball lifestyle we, and many of our customers, get to live. It meshes photos of our favorite beaches into a fun, vibrant, geometric print (read this blog post for more details on how this print came about)

SUNSET TOP AND BOTTOM IN OUR NEW CUSTOM PEPPER PRINT. REVERSES TO ALL BLACK

Lastly, we know that beach athletes are proud of their toned shoulders and our high neck top really showcases them! It also provides more coverage of the décolleté area - which is especially prone to sun damage – and for this reason many are adding this style to their rotation. Our customers loved the fun tri-color braids we did a couple seasons ago so we brought them back and combined them with our new color love affair – Fiji – in a fun new back design.

EAST BEACH HIGH NECK TOP IN FIJI/BLACK

What’s your most popular style?

When we first started out we thought that adjustability was essential for our tops, but we proved ourselves wrong – our bestselling Huntington & El Matador tops do not have any sliders, knots or ties. They’re extremely comfortable and this season we are brining it back with the slightly higher front customers requested and in several fun new color combinations.

HUNTINGTON BIKINI IN BLACK/LEAF