AM: Really!
MH: Yeah because I can draw and I had a mentor that would help me and a designer girlfriend of mine. She taught me how to do the paper patterns, I was able to pick it up and now I am able to do them myself. I do the whole collection myself, I run the business myself as well! We’re a small business so I’m the CEO, but I still manage everyone as well as doing the designing. It’s a lot, but with swimwear, it’s cheaper production in general although all of my fabrics are 100% Italian and I wanted to create something that I could produce and not have to worry about a larger production where I would have to worry about investors. Hopefully we will expand into more beachwear, but right now we’re focused on swimwear.
AM: Who would you say is the Monica Hansen Beachwear girl?
MH: It’s interesting because our target market is that we are trendy so we focus on a younger girl, but believe it or not, we have a 95 year old woman wearing our line and sending me pictures! It used to be that you could say that a number of swimwear designers were focused on younger generations, but now I feel like more people are wearing it and it’s more acceptable to wear it out even outside of the beach. I mean we had Christie Brinkley just wear it in Sports Illustrated and she was just in my bathing suit and she looked amazing! I would say that any confident woman that is all ages. What I did with my swimwear is that we have a lot of mix and match so I have like 7 bottoms that can go with a top. So the good thing about that is that you can buy 2 tops with 2 or 3 bottoms and every time you pair them together, it looks like a different suit. Also, everybody’s body is different. I purposely did it like that because sometimes you will go somewhere and say I love the top, but I don’t love the bottom with it – and that happens with every woman! Were all so different and we cater to everyone. I have suits for everybody in every shape. Some of our suits are a little more sexy and more revealing, but I feel that every woman in any shape wants to feel sexy and hot no matter what you are. Regardless of your shape, you’re not saying, “I want to wear this big diaper.”
AM: That is what has drawn us to your line the versatility, recognizing that that there are a number of shapes out there and the quality construction and fabrication!
MH: When I first started, I began with small, medium and large. Now, we have XS and XL and actually, the grading is a lot tighter. I made them as opposed to a whole size up – doing a half size up.! Because when you do 3 sizes, you’re missing the in-between and the grading becomes a bigger gap. So when you add the XS and XL, you’re bridging the gap where someone would say that it is a little too small or a little too big. Because of the fabrics that have stretch, you’re even luckier due to the 4 way stretch which makes it fit just right.
I used to have 100s of bathing suits and yet I would only wear 2 that were my favorite. They were the most comfortable, they didn’t have metals on them, etc. So when I design, I think of something that’s classic, great style and colors that go well with the skin tone. It’s also about having fabrics that feel good because you don’t want something that feels tight sitting on top of you and that makes marks. I’m trying to focus on fabrics that give you that hold and stretch but when you wear it, it doesn’t feel like you have anything on. My focus was keeping it fashionable and also being inspired by the 90s as I love that time period because it’s kind of my generation also! These suits are a higher cut because it gives women a longer look and it compliments every woman’s body. It’s more of a minimalist approach.
AM: We couldn’t agree more. When we looked through your Instagram, we know you have a number of the 90s supermodels on your page. But even when you don’t see them, the suits do give off the 90s “It Girl” vibe which is so classic and timeless juxtaposed against the Bardot elements of the line. It’s fun and has core pieces that you can truly wear over and over.
MH: Absolutely, I mean think about leopard that is a classic print that someone can wear as it will always come back and never fade. All of my colors are custom made and I’m very particular. When I first got into this because I didn’t go to fashion school or anything, I would look at these suits that just came with these stock colors and I would look at this bright orange and say, “Oh my God how do you wear this?” As it’s something that my grandmother would wear.” What sets us a part is that even though everyone can copy and try to do the same thing, people will copy you and that is part of what happens when something becomes part of the trend they make similar items. There is no copyright unless you make a print. It’s a compliment when I have seen some of the big brands copy us – it means that you’re in fashion and it will become trendy and there is a market for what you make.
What I have noticed is that when you have custom colors it makes it harder to do that as you’re mixing colors. It’s about the tones of the suit. We try to get colors that work on every skin tone as well.
