Meet Your New Swimsuit Gurus Making It Easier to Gear Up for Summer
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."
Three busy, working moms walk into a pool party... and come out ready to revolutionize the way we wear swimsuits. The back story behind Stylest is as organic and authentic as it gets, sparked from a casual conversation around shared body struggles that led to a eureka moment. The business thought bubble that appeared was so clear and purposeful, that the women knew it was destined and felt a burning desire to bring it to life themselves. So they shifted careers, banded together, and took on the entrepreneur title.
The mission: to solve the many problems that plague women every time they dress (or rather undress) for the beach or pool. The matter-of-fact: women deserve to feel comfortable and confident in their suits; they want support and coverage in some places, and a sexy reveal in others; they need the freedom to move without giving an accidental peep show; and on top of it all, women love to work a modern look.
Stylest was formed to meet all of these needs by creating a whole new category of water wear called aqualingerie (more on this in a moment!), plus a smarter system for finding a swimsuit wardrobe that works for you. Here, we chat with co-founder Joyann King Michael about how she set about to revolutionize the swimsuit industry.
From a pool party to sudden swimsuit designers, tell us the story.
My family moved to Millbrook, NJ during the pandemic. I told my husband, "I really need to meet more women, I’m going to throw a pool party and invite a bunch of women and tell them to bring all their friends so it’ll be a one-stop-shop for friend-making." It was a beautiful day, we’re all in the pool, and someone turns to a woman I barely knew, Crissy, and says, "Honey, your bra’s sticking out of your bathing suit." I'm like, wait a minute, you're wearing a bra with your bathing suit?! I'd never heard of such a thing. My mind was blown. And my friend, Alia, agreed this is the most unique thing. And it's like duh. I mean, I don’t even run to the grocery store without a bra. We all had evolving bodies and hurdles. I’d recently had a kid, and was wearing some monstrosity. So, Crissy, Alia and I decided to create the swim bra.
You all come from fashion backgrounds—you were an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, Alia worked as a style director at Loft and Elle, and Chrissy was a buyer at Ralph Lauren. How did that drive your thinking?
Between all of our experience, we’d never heard of a swim bra before, so we knew it wasn’t out there. And we recognized that there’s a disconnect between what’s happening in fashion and what’s happening in the real world for women whose lifestyles and bodies are changing—which might come from being a mom or aging—and need extra support but still care very much about style. Personally, the way I envisioned the things I wanted to wear didn’t equate with the things I needed to do, like sit by the kiddie pool or chase after my kid. We're all fashion-junky, busy moms with different bodies, so we get it.
You created a whole new category called aqualingerie. What exactly is that?
It started with the swim bra that’s engineered specifically for the water. We have two versions, a wireless scoop and an underwire with convertible straps that you can wear six different ways, including strapless. They really lift your chest, like an instant boob job. Both are designed to give women the freedom to wear any one-piece suit they want by fitting under all of the most common styles, whether it’s a suit from Target or a higher-end designer.
We also have a swim panty, which gives you some tummy control and waist shaping and smoothing under your suit. The panty was designed to bring life back to some of your favorite swimsuits that are maybe feeling a little sad with their loose elastic or they just never had the support you wanted.
We then created a body suit because we knew women would want that all-in-one solution. It has a lower neckline and higher leg so it fits under most suits. It’s great for anyone whose had a C-section or has PMS bloat, or just wants that extra confidence.
You’ve also expanded into swimsuits. What’s different about yours?
We have four styles in our sculpting swim, including a one-shoulder and a suit with sleeves. I call them the modern-day miracle suits. They’re made of our boost fabric, which is from France, has a cooling-lotion feel, and is just delicious. The fabric has three times more compression than most traditional swimsuits, but it's totally comfortable. This is not the straightjacket of swimwear—that wouldn't be functional for a mom or to wear eight hours at the beach. The woman who works at our [fabric] mill said it best in her beautiful French accent: It gives you compression without the sausage.
Stylest has what you call a swim system. How should we shift our way of thinking about outfitting for a day by the water?
We call it a body-boosting swim system and it does just that—amplifies your curves and minimizes what you don't love. The idea is to have pieces that work with each other to create a full wardrobe so you feel super pulled together and stylish. Step one is the Aqualingerie. Step two is the suit. And step three is adding an outfit finisher. We created a swim cardigan, which people are loving because it's a more feminine, cute take on SPF coverage. It can get wet—you can surf in it, snorkel, swim, but you can also wear it to lunch.
Our other finisher is the kiddie pool skirt. I was sitting at a kiddie pool one day and had a towel around me because I needed a little decency, a little butt coverage as I was chasing after my kid. But I was so not pulled together. I felt sloppy and thought, we can do better. So, we made a sarong from our swimwear fabric that’s really cute with a little French flair. It’s not precious, can get wet, and can be worn different ways, like a classic side tie or a miniskirt. You can throw it on and run to the snack bar, or go for cocktails.
What’s the overall philosophy behind Stylest?
We thought really deeply, Who are we as a brand? And it came to us pretty simply: Stylest will always meet at the corner of solution and style. Everything we do will be a solve for a woman’s life with an eye for style. And we will never do anything that doesn't address both of those.
Our solution might be body amplification. There’s the lifestyle solution, making suits for real, active lives because no one wants to be tugging and adjusting. There’s also the dressing solution—creating a swim wardrobe that’s complete and doesn’t require thinking. And we solve the need for more SPF coverage. At the same time, we’re curating looks with a fashion point of view because, at the end of the day, we all want compliments, we all want to look good and feel sexy. We serve women who are a size zero and A cup, and women who are a size 20 F cup.
What’s next?
We're coming out with instant-dry lace, which I'm really pumped about because I love beautiful crocheted laces and that gorgeous Bohemian vibe that you see in a lot of coverups. But with my daughter, I can't really wear that—she's pulling on it, she's eating her Popsicle on me. That delicate material doesn't fit my lifestyle anymore. So, we're coming out with fabrications that give you that look, but durable and not precious at all. You can look beautiful and live a real life.
You Might Also Like
