Today we’d like to introduce you to Delaney Drexler, Summer Morgan and Leah Sullivan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Delaney, Summer and Leah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We started Peachy Keen Swim while studying Entrepreneurship at Loyola Marymount University in the spring of 2018, where we were tasked with choosing an industry and examining all of its areas for improvement. Throughout our time in college, we became more and more aware of the environmental and social impacts of the clothes that we wear and wanted to create a positive change in the fashion industry. Fashion is the fifth largest polluting industry in the world, and our planet will not be able to sustain our current practices for much longer. On top of wanting to create an environmental and social change in the fashion industry, we have also recognized how damaging the media portrayal of women’s bodies can be. Out of all areas in the fashion industry, we knew that swimwear was the industry that had made us feel the most self-conscious and vulnerable throughout the years, and wanted to create a body positive brand that celebrates the beauty of all body types.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As anyone can imagine, starting a business has not been easy. Being young women, we definitely have to work harder to be taken as seriously in the business world. We been in situations where people have tried to take advantage of the fact that we are so new to the industry, but luckily with the help great mentors we have been able to minimize this. Every situation we are in, we take as a learning experience. We are very proud of how much we have grown and learned to navigate these difficult situations.
Raising funds to produce our next collection is definitely our biggest obstacle at the moment. We’re so grateful for the funds we were able to raise for our signature collection and it’s motivated us to put together a second collection that we’re so proud of, but of course, growth costs money when it comes to business and that is something we’re currently trying to navigate in a way that makes sense for us and our brand.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Peachy Keen Swim is led first by our pillars of body positivity, sustainability, and fair treatment of workers. We wanted to create a swimwear brand that labeled sizes by words of empowerment rather than traditional number sizes. So instead of being size large, you are size ‘Confident Queen,’ which we hope would inspire our community to feel more comfortable about their size. Consumers are then able to connect with other women online by posting on social media with the hashtag #SizeConfidentQueen, allowing customers to see what real women in their exact size look like in our suits, taking the guesswork out of online shopping. We offer our suits in traditional sizes XS-5X (or in Peachy Keen terms – sizes Fearless BB-Girl to Divine Stunner) and have pledged to never retouch any of our images while showcasing a wide range of diverse beauty in our marketing.
We polled hundreds of women of many shapes and sizes and used their feedback to create a swimsuit that is flattering on all different body types. We designed a high waisted bottom that provides flattering coverage with just the right amount of cheekiness to make you feel sexy and secure. We recognize that women’s bodies naturally change and fluctuate, and we wanted to create a top that changes with your body, which is why we designed our suit with a six ring adjustment system that allows the band to stretch up to 8 inches while maintaining maximum support. With a mission of empowerment, we are committed to producing sweatshop free in our local Los Angeles community where we know the workers producing our clothes are being paid fairly and operating in a clean and safe working environment. We are proud to say our brand is rooted in worker’s empowerment, body positivity, and sustainability.
What were you like growing up?
We three founders are surprisingly very different but have come together to be a strong and balanced team. We all had dreams of being in fashion but took very different routes to get here. We all had very different experiences with body image, but all felt a need to come together and change society’s standards of beauty.
Pricing:
- Signature Suit Top – $80
- Signature Suit Bottom – $70
- Peachy Keen Hat – $35
- Peachy Keen Self Love Tote – $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.peachykeenswim.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @peachykeenswim.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/peachykeenswim
Image Credit:
Lauren Brown
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