Searching for the Perfect Beach Volleyball Bikini

My friend Sibylle and I are lucky enough to play amateur (but competitive) beach volleyball 3-5 times per week – pretty awesome considering that we both have young children!  Living in sunny Southern California that means a considerable amount of time spent wearing a bikini – or in our case lots and lots of different bikinis that we never seem to be completely satisfied with.  We are always comparing, complementing and critiquing our suits and on the lookout for anything new and interesting other girls may be wearing.  In the process we both began to accumulate an almost absurd quantity of suits, from all different price points, hoping to find the perfect one(s) that look fun and fashionable but can also stand up to a kick ass sweaty sandy workout and remain at least reasonably comfortable.

Along the way I started having this fantasy about developing the elusive “perfect bikini” for beach volleyball and after talking to a few people who didn’t think I was completely crazy, I figured why not give it a shot?

My friend Sibylle was on board immediately.  She is an UBER creative jack-of-all-trades (think bohemian, next generation Martha Stewart) with a finance and project management background who, like me, was looking for something to sink her teeth into that would support rather than compromise her family and volleyball playing priorities. We then contacted a friend of ours who is a lingerie and swimwear designer (her husband is also a beach volleyball player) and pitched our idea: fun, fashionable, sexy yet comfortable swimwear for beach athletics.  And any bikini that stands up to the beach volleyball beating would also surely work for surfers, stand-up paddle boarders, beach boot campers, active moms chasing young kids at the beach, etc… But first things first, our main objective is to develop something we love – the favorite bikini in our drawer – for playing beach volleyball.  Our designer friend agreed to help us with an initial design and generally mentor us “apparel industries newbies” through this process we know nothing about.  Having her on board might actually make this legit!