Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Sierra & Cynthia Bates.
Hi Paige & Cynthia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
(Cynthia Bates): Paige & I met nearly ten years ago here in Los Angeles. At the time Paige was living in Vancouver, Canada starting her Photography & Social Media business and I had just moved to LA and was going to fashion design school. Paige would come to LA to visit my roommate and sleep on our couch from time to time. From there, we clicked on a creative level and have been working on projects together ever since.
Fast forward to 2022, we’re both living in Los Angeles, still working on creative projects together, but mostly spending our time at the beach or searching for a friend’s pool to jump in. Bonding over our shared love for water, we had the idea of creating our own line of swimwear line and that was the beginning of LASwimLab’s story.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
(Paige Sierra): I wouldn’t say it has been a smooth road. Starting any new business has its challenges and we’ve been faced with many of them. Those Challenges are ultimately what push us to do better so we can move forward into the next chapter of our business.
Being a brand that hand makes our products, we are faced with the challenge of fast fashion competitors. Part of our mission with SwimLab is to reintroduce people to the idea of buying quality fashion over fast fashion to help reduce our global footprint and the amount of fabrics that end up in our landfills. Quality, handmade products can last for years. Whereas fast fashion items end up in the trash more often.
As our brand grows, we hope to carve a path toward a more ethical & sustainable future for the swimwear industry.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
(Cynthia Bates): We are known for small-batch productions of unique colors & patterns on classic bikini styles. We believe that life is best lived in a bikini so we strive to make our swimwear as comfortable as possible. Because we create small-batch collections we are able to introduce new colors and styles to our website every few months, which keeps our stock on trend and exciting for our customers.
We recently developed our own swimwear detergent, which is something we are very proud of and can’t wait to introduce to our customers. Often people overlook how to properly care for their bikinis so we’ve come up with a solution that makes hand-washing swimwear easier and better for the environment.
Our Swim Soap is made with natural ingredients that help maintain the life and color of your swimwear.
What does success mean to you?
(Cynthia Bates): Success to me for SwimLab would be to see this brand really grow into what we know it’s truly capable of being.
(Paige Sierra): Success to me is just doing what your love and perusing your passions to their fullest.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laswimlab.com
- Instagram: @laswimlab
- Facebook: laswimlab
Image Credits
All photos were taken by Paige Sierra @paigexsierra
