We make one-piece androgynous swimsuits with 1920s style.
3) Who is the founder:
Mel Brittner Wells
4) When was your company founded:
We launched on Kickstarter in spring of 2017, and our online store launched in the fall of that year.
5) Why did you feel inspired to create your company:
I had a roommate who really wanted a 1920s style swimsuit, but all the original ones were made of wool and are antiques. Since I’d grown up in a family of women who sewed, I offered to try making her one myself. It was really hard, and while I was complaining about it other people said they wanted a swimsuit like this. Eventually I decided this was a viable business idea.
6) What do you love most about running your company:
It’s really satisfying to make a physical product in a way that is sustainable, but the absolute best part is feedback from our fans. We hear from people who haven’t swam in ten years and are getting back in the water. We regularly get tagged in or sent photos of people grinning and clearly comfortable in their new swimsuit. We also get these incredible emails and messages about how Beefcake Swimwear makes them feel good and confident. I mean, people put on our swimsuits and come out of the dressing room dancing, which is kind of nuts--swimsuit shopping is notoriously traumatic! All this love definitely makes the challenges of running a “side-hustle” business worth the grind.
7) If you could have one person from history or fiction wearing your clothing, who would it be:
I’m pretty sure Virginia Woolf actually had a suit like this, so I’ll go with fiction: Bernadette in Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go Bernadette. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where we’ve got a huge following, and is quirky and adventurous, so it seems like a reasonable fashion choice for her. And, confession, Cate Blanchett plays her in the film version and I’m also mildly obsessed with Blanchett’s performances in Carol and Ocean’s 8.
