Southern California Beach Volleyball Players Create Customer Driven Swimwear Designs for the Active Beach Lifestyle
Santa Monica, California (PRWEB) July 01, 2017 -- About Pepper Swimwear:
Friends Bridget Dome and Sibylle Postley started Pepper Swimwear because they couldn’t find bikinis that were cute and comfortable enough to keep up with their serious beach volleyball addiction. “Between the two of us we had over 200 tops and bottoms in our drawers. Many times when we finally found a piece we thought we loved, it would fall apart mid-season,” says Bridget.
The duo who lacked any formal experience in the apparel industry dove in head first to the steep learning curve. After attempting to work with experienced professional pattern and sample makers they realized the only way to keep their newly launched ship from quickly sinking was to bring the process in house. Now Bridget and Sibylle collaborate on the designs, Sibylle sews the samples (and there are often many of them to get it right) and both women test them out on the volleyball court. The designs that pass the tests are then reproduced in a small owner-operated sewing shop in downtown Los Angeles.
“Our goal is to design comfortable, durable swimwear that can stand up to a beach volleyball beating yet is also flattering and on trend,” says Sibylle. “We like to use bold colors and vibrant prints inspired by places we’ve been and to evoke the ‘live life in a bikini’ mentality.”
The name Pepper is the term for a common volleyball warm-up drill and also reflects the Southern California beach volley vibe – spicy, energetic, positive and happy.
“The requirements of a bikini for many other beach sports such as surfing paddleboarding, wakeboarding, etc. are similar to those of beach volleyball and we have a lot of customers using our suits for these other types of activities,” adds Bridget. “We often hear of our tops doubling as sports bras!”
What’s new for 2017?
Business in the front, party in the back:
“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,” says Bridget. “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 is fully adjustable and features a sports bra like front with star shaped adjustable back design. It has a special sewn-in padding produced in Belgium that will not fall apart, crinkle or feel spongy in the water. It is comfortable enough to be worn from sunrise to sunset (hence the name).
New cheeky and modest bottom options:
“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 one dozen samples to get to the final cut,” says Sibylle.
Custom beach volleyball lifestyle print:
They are also launching their first custom print this season. It’s an ode to the beach volleyball lifestyle and meshes photos of their favorite beaches into a vibrant, colorful, geometric print
High-neck top showcases toned shoulders:
“We know that beach athletes are proud of their toned shoulders and our high neck top really showcases them!” says Sibylle. Their new East Beach Top also provides more coverage of the décolleté area which is known to be especially prone to sun damage.
“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 – with a stylish new back design,” adds Bridget.
If you don’t find Bridget and Sibylle on the local beaches playing volleyball or in their Pepper home offices, you likely find them chasing around their young children. With six kids between them, their hands (and hearts) are full!
Bridget Dome, Pepper Swimwear LLC, http://www.PepperSwimwear.com, +1 (310) 429-1524, [email protected]
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