55: Sustainable Swimwear that’s Making a Splash

Narrator

How would you like to improve your health and keep your family safe? You're listening to that healthy home hacks podcast where we firmly believe enjoying optimal health shouldn't be a luxury. Healthy Home authorities and husband and wife team Ron and Lisa will help you create a home environment that will level up your health. It's time to hear from the experts. listen in on honest conversations and gain the best tips and advice. If you're ready to dive in and improve your well-being and increase your energy, you're in the right place. Alright, here are your hosts, Baubiologists, authors, media darlings, vicarious vegans and avocado aficionados, Ron and Lisa Beres.

Lisa Beres

Hello, friends and welcome to today's show. Spring is in the air and whether you're planning a girl's trip to Cabo, sipping poolside or yachting in Ibiza, we've got your bottoms and tops covered in green.

Ron Beres

Studies reveal that 63% of consumers worldwide consider sustainability in their purchasing decisions. However, while more of us want to green our closets, many of us just don't know where to start. So, if you're one of these people, you don't want to miss today's show.

Lisa Beres

That's right, and according to Livia Firth, Creative Director of Eco Age, the world now consumers about 80 billion with a B new pieces of clothing and each American generates a staggering 82 pounds of textile waste each year. Whoa. We've witnessed a 500% increase in clothing consumption in the past two decades.

Ron Beres

Wow. Not only is this waste taking a toll on earth's resources, 85% of the clothing people dispose of ends up in landfills, unfortunately, and totally 14.3 million tons of textile waste and nearly 2.8 billion tons per year of additional CO2 generated by 2030. It appears that the fashion industry has a serious wardrobe malfunction that would make Janet Jackson blush.

Lisa Beres

Yeah. And while the thought of your overpriced designer dud ending up in a landfill doesn't exactly screen Stella McCartney, let's not forget the microplastics that shed from laundered polyester and other synthetic fabrics that end up contaminating our waterways. This alone is wreaking havoc on marine animals and their habitats.

Ron Beres

Someone who was here to shed light on these fashion fails went from rocking the runway to greening the poolside with a new line of swim and lifestyle that focuses on sustainable values, principles and philanthropic initiatives. California native, Andrea Bernholtz, is the serial mompreneur and fashion powerhouse behind the eco-conscious Swiminista brand and you may recognize her from co-founded luxury denim line, Rock & Republic in 2002. Yes, and she helped transform the company into a celebrity favorite and globally recognized name. Her latest venture features chic swimwear, that combines her love of fashion, swimming, and of course, the environment.

Lisa Beres

And in 2019 she co-founded the Swiminista collection. Based on firsthand experience with the waste-filled fashion industry, she set out to not only build a better suit, but also a better design process. The result is a collection of ultra-comfortable swimwear featuring soft luxurious nylon fabric made from, get this, post-consumer plastics. I have one I can personally attest ladies. And if you dread the fluorescent lighting of the department store fitting room awkwardness, Swiminista�s convenient try at home solution eliminates the soul destroying try on process. Girls, customers can choose a selection of suits to test in the comfort and privacy of your own home and true to the company's environmental values, all orders arrive in an earth friendly recycled and compostable packaging.

Ron Beres

When our green guest isn't perfecting the Swiminista line, she can be found spending time sharing industry insights with US Weekly�s Fashion Police. Passionate about the planet, Andrea coordinates community beach cleanups and gives time to organizations working to protect the environment. Welcome to the show, Andrea.

Andrea Bernholtz

Thank you for having me. My god you guys, such an intro. I really don't even have to say anything. Just thank you and good night.

Ron Beres

We're so glad to have you.

Lisa Beres

That's your resume. We're just reading. So yeah, welcome to the show. We're so happy to have you.

Andrea Bernholtz

Thanks so much.

Ron Beres

So, let's dive right in. So, tell us a little bit about yourself that we didn't discuss yet and your background and what inspired you to start your own swimwear line.

Andrea Bernholtz

The inspiration really came from finding the ultimate suit. So always just wishing that the suit was just a little bit tighter here a little bit looser here. And just learning a lot of tricks that I incorporated with in Rock & Republic on how to get a really cool fit or moving seams around in just a special way so that you get like a better look. Obviously, we didn't invent jeans, but we just made them better. So, taking the same concept and incorporating that into swimwear. So, and I'm bringing in a lot of adjustability that looks cool, making it still sexy and chic. I couldn't find anything that was for lack of a better word real mumsy, or for a 20-year-old or 18-year-old body. So, I was trying to find somebody for a woman. But that was so cool, right? And I couldn't find it. So, some friends were all complaining in Mexico about the swimwear and they all knew that I had Rock & Republic and I knew about the manufacturing process. And they're like, Hey, Andrea, why don't you create a new swim line? And I was like, Alright, I'm out, you know. But pulled me back. I started tinkering around. I don't really know how to sew. So, I was literally cutting things up and stapling them and hot gluing them.

Lisa Beres

Really? Secrets behind the designer. Who knew? Super-hot glue. Oh, I love it.

Andrea Bernholtz

That's right. You just need a glue gun and a stapler.

Lisa Beres

Secrets behind the runway.

Andrea Bernholtz

You know, I take my love of fashion and swimming and combine them. So, the name Swiminista comes from swim and fashion, so it was kind of a mash up of a name. And it got my thought process going and I just started making it. I got back into it. And I wanted to obviously add a super eco-friendly component to it. And I grew up, you know, as a kid, my parents were kind of hippies. It was always about recycling. We were super poor. I was like, why are we saving this newspapers and bottle hands? My mother was always Hey, gotta save the environment. Even saving electricity, all of these things, saving paper, save a tree. I was always embarrassed as a kid, right?

Lisa Beres

That was my grandma. My grandma was like that.

Andrea Bernholtz

Okay, now I feel thanks.

Lisa Beres

No, I mean, no, you know, you were lucky because your mom. Well, my grandma was from the great depression, probably, right? And like she would take tinfoil from the restaurant and save it. Like she was really frugal, we were embarrassed taking her.

Andrea Bernholtz

See, my grandmother would do that. And she'd like, take five teabags, my grandma.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, totally. That's funny. So, your kind of did elaborate on this why you decided to focus on swimwear. After launching such a successful lifestyle brand with Rock & Republic, it's really admirable that you could have sat on your laurels and said, I don't need to do that. But you not only did you found a niche, but you did something so positive with that by using the recycled plastics. That's really cool.

Andrea Bernholtz

Thank you. Well, I also had lessons to teach my daughter, I really wanted to show her and teach her. Yes, we recycled and like that's her little way of collecting money and this kind of stuff in our house. You know, she's in charge of the recycling process. But I think to show how we can actually parlay it into what we were to really see it like, here's all these bottles that you're throwing away, you know, recycling, excuse me, not throwing away and now we have somewhere. But it's interesting how the world has because at Rock & Republic, we actually used to take all of the damaged denim, and we shred them, and we donated them for insulation. I wanted to tell the story. Nobody cared. Victoria Beckham, or what celebrities are wearing what. Which is as your favorite? Or Steven Tyler? Yeah. So, it's interesting. And I really appreciate how the world is more interested in that now. And yeah, that makes me happy.

Lisa Beres

I want to change that question. Yeah, I want to change that question on the red carpet from, who are you wearing? To, what are you wearing? Right? What are you wearing? Oh, yeah, and let's make it a green carpet while we're at it. Are you wearing plastic?

Ron Beres

It�s aesthetically pleasing, too. So, Lisa got the suit a few weeks, ago right? Or just a little while ago and it looks beautiful. It feels great. You know, so this is just wonderful.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, very I love the little ruching on the bottom.

Andrea Bernholtz

Oh, yeah.

Lisa Beres

That was my favorite feature.

Andrea Bernholtz

Everything and give you a reason to buy Swiminista, right? So, it's like the little nuances. It's the little ruching on the butt. It's the whole thing here. Yes, hidden wire or the all those little things that you wish you could kind of nip and tuck in your swimwear. I brought it into swimwear. Yeah. And has a reason every piece has a reason to buy.

Lisa Beres

Right. When you guys donated the denim to the insulation, was that Bonded Logic? Was that the brand? Do you know? Because there we love that brand of recycled denim, Ultra Touch.

Andrea Bernholtz

No, no, no, no, no. For insulation into housing.

Lisa Beres

Oh, no. That's what this is. Yeah. Oh, this is a company that. Oh, it doesn't ring a bell. I was just curious.

Andrea Bernholtz

That�s not ringing a bell. Okay. But it doesn't mean that it's not.

Lisa Beres

You never know. It's really cool and very popular. Installation. Now it's amazing. Like, who wants pink installation? Okay, I'm going down a tangent. It the the postconsumer plastics that you use in the swimwear, is it any kind of plastic? Or is it bottle specific?

Andrea Bernholtz

It's not bottle specific, it's more just kind of pounds, we kind of started out with the conceptually with bottles. But it turns out there's also like, these fake grasses, that's a huge component that is added in as waste.

Ron Beres

Artificial grass from the NFL stadium, right?

Lisa Beres

You could be wearing or you could be wearing Super Bowl on your bathing suit. There you go.

Andrea Bernholtz

So, it's kind of a mashup of all these different postconsumer materials. And they shred them down. And they're woven into the fibers are made out of the plastics to create the material. And then some other materials that we've been using, we call deadstock, which are how you're seeing things end up in landfills. There's also deadstock fabric that ends up in a landfill. So, the warehouse has been, let's say, sitting on some fabric and they want to get rid of it instead of throwing it into a landfill. And we'll take it and make something out of it as well. So, most of our things are very conscientious and most of our things are recycled and our boxes are compostable and recycled. The even the liners for the hygienic liners, you know, these Oh wow. Wow. Because I mean they're actually compostable. compostable. Oh, my God elements. And we don't put any plastics, even with our tank tags. They're all done with metal pans. Oh, wow. That's great. Find if you can make little changes. You know what I mean? We're not perfect. Yeah, if we all just kind of make a little change.

Lisa Beres

Right. So proud of you know, your parents did a good job raising you. I think that's so cool. Yeah, we've had so many healthy green guests on the show. And that seems to be a common thread. Like Kathy Ireland, we had her on and she was great. She's great. And she was raised that way, like a lot of what you're talking about. She was recycling before recycling was hip and her parents were like, oh, that's what we do. And she's got some green lines now, too. So, I think it's really cool. You don't realize probably as a parent, how much you're influencing your child with these little things.

Andrea Bernholtz

Creating a new brand, teaching my she's always been homeschooled my daughter. So, showing her, I go to my home office, she goes to her room and I'm dressed to go to my office, she gets dressed. So, your mindset is geared. And to try to be self-motivating, and I want to teach her like concept to end result actually, she just last week decided to start her own business. I�m very proud of her.

Lisa Beres

How old is she?

Andrea Bernholtz

She's 10. Like anyone can babysit, she's like I want to teach kids when they babysit. So, it's like a tutoring babysitting company. Oh my gosh, that she wants to put that together. And she's taken after her mama. I love it. Yeah, just I'm just proud that even things like that. And yeah, I know. Like you were saying that's an ancillary effect of mom working and mom creating something.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, I think is really cool. Yes, for sure. Wow.

Andrea Bernholtz

I'm an accidental teacher.

Ron Beres

Well, textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally. And the fashion industry produces 20% of the global wastewater. Andrea, tell us what Swiminista is doing to change these staggering stats in terms of sustainability.

Andrea Bernholtz

Well, for the dyeing process, that was another thing with when we were at Rock & Republic. The main reason we were doing everything in Los Angeles because the restrictions and the things in place for cleaning the water after you dye and wash everything are the highest in the world, or here in the US it�s so high. That was a really important thing like we're going to be especially denim was one of the highest pollutants. So, if we're going to be doing this, let's do it with the most safety blocks as possible. And that's the same thing like the fabrics, the prints everything. They're not necessarily prints They're dye sublimated, which does not leave the excess. You're not doing a wash of these things. It's all a printing. And it's much more eco-friendly. We're doing a collaboration right now with Christian Lacroix with his prints that are just stunning, stunning. And those are all just done with heat transfers instead of traditional dye. You don�t have the excess runoff. There's a lot of new technologies out there that are definitely mitigating a lot of the pollution. Yeah, green chemistry. Yeah, I have so many allergies now, that I used to not have like sulfates and all these things. Gosh, I know. And in general, like when I grew up, there was no, I didn't even know what a peanut allergy was. Yeah.

Lisa Beres

Being in the factory all the time, right. You were around all the chemicals.

Andrea Bernholtz

They made their way. I mean, I didn't necessarily work in the factory, but somehow, I think like in the environment. Yeah, as clean as we like to live and it happens, you know?

Lisa Beres

Yeah, we talk about that a lot on our show and sick building syndrome is something that we get into where you are sick from the toxins in your environment. And people know it in terms of like a commercial space, but it's happening in our homes, too, just buy the products that we're bringing in.

Andrea Bernholtz

We clean with vinegar, the floors with we once a month clean up the drains with vinegar and baking soda and hot water just to keep you know, moving healthy, and taking vinegar and breeze. And you know, it's all those little things that you can do in your own home, that you don't have to have so much pollution, and in my home to use the dehydrated laundry detergent. So, you don't have those huge, bulky.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, because those jugs are mostly water. So, you're paying for that, exactly right. Yeah. When you get the concentrated form, you're saving so much plastic the world. Yeah. And shipping and shipping wise, right? You're paying to ship water. Yeah. And our producer, actually before you hopped on was talking about the denim. I didn't know denim was the contributor, it�s notorious. Yeah. And that there's a company that you probably know who they are, who's making a sustainable denim, but it's like $600 for a pair of jeans. So, they haven't kind of got to the point.

Andrea Bernholtz

My former partners working on developing instead of doing washes, he's doing laser and a lot of really cool initiatives that he's doing to help offset all that. And he's trying to make it at premium but not $600. He�s been developing a long time. So, you can kind of It looks like a handwash kind of thing. But it�s all done really modern.

Lisa Beres

Nice. Okay. I don't know if you've seen the documentary, True Cost. Have you heard of it? No. Oh, you have to watch it this weekend. Yeah, it's a must see, it's a groundbreaking documentary about the human and environmental costs of fashion. And it gets into fast fashion. The problem with fast fashion.

Andrea Bernholtz

Fast and cheap. Notice those numbers that you said about, you know, the many years looking at were fast fashion, that's when it was really introduced.

Lisa Beres

And for listeners, if you're like, What the heck's fast fashion, it's your kind of disposable clothing. I call it your very cheap, Forever 21. And these kinds of stores that are just churning and burning out clothes. I mean, those stores give me a headache. There are so many clothes in there. I can't even like if I go in and get, like I don't really, I don't shop there. But I have. If I wanted to get a tank top, it's like, ah, there's 20,000 options and versions and styles and colors. It's overwhelming. And they're in next week you go in, it's all new. So that's fast fashion. They're turning it over. They're making it very cheap and giant, I'm sure.

Andrea Bernholtz

And it�s not going to last very long. So, then you end up throwing it away.

Lisa Beres

It's not a quality. Yes, exactly ends up in a landfill. So, it's a big problem. And you're really not investing in good quality pieces. Like I believe in life in general, not just with your fashion, but even your home decor and things go for the good quality, because you're going to have it longer, right, it's going to look better, and you're going to have a longer even though you do pay up front more, it will save you so much in the long run. When things aren�t falling apart.

Andrea Bernholtz

I have had different reiterations over the years. I've re upholstered them completely different looks. You know, that chair I had 25 years ago was like Southwestern and brown. Then I turned it into like ostrich and made it black. And now it's gold. Yeah, people don�t even know it�s the same chair. But because like you're saying it has these really good bones. It's a very sturdy, it's real. It's well made. And so, it has a long lifespan. It's not disposable furniture either.

Lisa Beres

Right? And it's got character, I'm sure we had a designer on it. She talked about a green designer. Those are the pieces that add the character to your house anyway, right? Yeah, those vintage pieces in that so you've pretty much covered what you're doing to be eco conscious at Swiminista. Is there anything else that you didn't mention that maybe our listeners would like to know about?

Andrea Bernholtz

In the laundry, I use these little wool balls instead of dryer sheets, right? Yeah, wool dryer balls. They're the best dryers. Yeah, I do those. I mean, there's probably a million things that I do and I am not even thinking about.

Ron Beres

You are very multi-faceted. Yeah, you really are.

Lisa Beres

I know. We�re learning tips from her, huh Ron?

Andrea Bernholtz

Especially think during these times, it's COVID. And everything and a lot of people are like over bleaching and kind of stripping their own bodies. I use something called Thieves. I don't know if you're. Oh, yeah, Young Living. Yeah, yeah, our whole family had COVID Really bad. I ran a diffuser with these I had spray bottles by every countertop, every faucet every door, how nice spray bottles everywhere, and I managed to escape the wrath of COVID.

Ron Beres

Do you know the story? You probably do, right. Tell our listeners the story.

Andrea Bernholtz

At least the old folklore that I've been I�ve been taught, back when there was the plague, and all these people died, the thieves and that's where it gets named, covered themselves and all of these herbs. And they were able to go into these infested areas of the plague and they robbed everyone. So, they stole everything. But because they had these herbs that they were impervious, they didn't get sick. They didn't get sick. Yeah, I saw these herbs. You don't get sick. And I have it in the house running when kids are over. Smells great. I smell so good. My sound it's one of those things. It's so weird. Like, almost like hydrogen peroxide where you can use it like on everything. Your ears.

Lisa Beres

Were like baking soda, too. You can ingest baking soda. I went through a period where I was taking it every day. I'm like, Oh my God. I didn't know that.

Andrea Bernholtz

Like also, we use a lot of Colloidal Silver. And a lot of people don't realize when they're done with, when people finish their medicines and they flushing down the toilet or something that that's a pollutant.

Lisa Beres

Oh, yes, absolutely. I don't even get me started with all the I get it. I gotta do a little tangent. I'm going to go down this tangent on that because it's so important that you brought that up, Andrea. So, when people flush their unused medication down the toilet, it goes back into our waterways. The municipal water filtration systems around the country do not filter pharmaceuticals and drugs out of the water. They don't have the capability. They're just using chlorine and that kind of thing. Disinfection products to get out like parasites and bacteria and things but not pharmaceutical. So, when you are ingesting tap water when you're drinking it you are getting, I mean they've had Prozac, birth control, antidepressants show up in our tap water and into the fish. They found heavy doses of pharmaceuticals in the fish. So, Ron and I are vegan. That was like the final straw for me when we were still eating fish were pescatarian and I was reading all these articles and studies like are you kidding me? The fish is not the fish that it used to be you know, fish is good for you the antibiotics. Yeah, yeah.

Andrea Bernholtz

But it has to be a clean fish.

Lisa Beres

It has to be clean.

Andrea Bernholtz

Yeah, they come in through a couple days later, they feel better, and then they throw the rest away.

Lisa Beres

They throw the rest away.

Andrea Bernholtz

So, that's a notorious one that you're going to find. Yeah, 99% of everything that we do is like, unless I'm having like a surgery or something, I do not take antibiotics and we don't need to take antibiotics. I just make a colloidal silver spray. Yeah, you can. And if I trip, I'll be like, oh, sorry. I'm late. I was in traffic. They're like, Oh, do you use it wherever you go. And I'm always like, colloidal silver.

Lisa Beres

Oh my god. We're kindred spirits, Andrea. Oh my god. wait. You're not blue and we're not blue. So, if you're listening and you're like, No, people turn blue? No, they don't. No, no, no, because it's so hyper diluted. And also, I know there was like some bad press years ago. Well, the guy was making his own colloidal silver and he was making it way too high of a dose he was ingesting like, copious amounts. Yeah, copious amounts, but it was also not purified. Yeah. So yeah, colloidal silver, a little shout out to that. And going back to your Thieves, people who are like, what is that? That's an essential oil blend, actually. So, it's a blend of what five or however many different essential oils that make this combo called Thieves. And like you said, you can use it for everything. It makes your house smell like cinnamon, but even better.

Andrea Bernholtz

You can dilute it down with water, and use it on everything. It's wonderful.

Ron Beres

Yeah. And they never caught the plague.

Lisa Beres

I love how you avoided COVID even though others in your house had it just with that. That's great.

Ron Beres

Very clever. These are great, not only environmental consciousness, conscious lifestyle tips, but just health tips.

Lisa Beres

Healthy home tips.

Andrea Bernholtz

I certainly go down that rabbit hole, but they're super easy.

Lisa Beres

They're easy. Oh, right. Yeah, you're not spending boatloads at the doctor. You�re, not right? Yeah, you're saving money and you're saving your immune system from all that havoc that the antibiotics do put on. Okay, so switching gears. Can you tell us a little bit about your new resort collection and collaboration with Christian Lacroix? Like, whoa, I need a Perrier. Yeah, a lot. I say. I was going to say La croy, so thank you for correcting me.

Andrea Bernholtz

It's funny because I call the water liquid and it was like, no, it's Lacroix. But you know, but I've always been a fan. And the first show I ever attended at Paris Fashion Week was a Christian Lacroix show. Oh, wow. So, it's been really special for me. So, to incorporate his prints into what we're doing now with our swimwear, and now our resort where it's like, thrilling, and of course, we have the mummy collection because yes, I saw that. That's so cute. Yeah, my daughter and her whole team and give me their two cents about what's not cool. There. Yeah. And that size from like, size four all the way up to 12. But the resort collection for women, it's just you know, I just want to just incorporate more pieces, like really cool mesh pieces, really cool chiffon kaftans making everything a little bit better. Like I love kaftans. But I hate the like the really big arms because I find I can't, you know, I'm dragging gunk in them or I'm getting some bad, whatever. So, I tried to move in them. Yes, yeah, you know, I have a dress, you can wear it with a V in the front and tide or you can turn it around and then give it a different look. I always try to incorporate some adjustability in everything that I do even down to the resort where line, and I think it's an important thing, because all of our bodies are different. So yeah, like so different. Yeah. Big. And just have fun with it and kind of personalize it.

Lisa Beres

And you know what you made me think like not just our bodies different, but your body changes too. Right? So, like having the adjustable like, hey, it's that time of the month, I'm going to loosen this. This a little bit. Sorry, Ron.

Andrea Bernholtz

No, anyway, we were doing Thanksgiving last year and why? And my daughter was joking from friends when Joey was wearing his Thanksgiving pants and I was wearing my Swiminista adjustable bottoms. And she was like, oh my gosh mom. Are those your Thanksgiving bottoms?

Lisa Beres

That's hilarious. So at least I look nice wearing it.

Ron Beres

I'm curious, did you face any difficulties to overcome when you're producing this luxury sustainable swimwear line with any difficult process?

Lisa Beres

Oh, it was smooth sailing.

Andrea Bernholtz

Oh, easy. My gosh.

Ron Beres

It was so fun when you're describing everything.

Andrea Bernholtz

Well, with everything I do, you know, you have to have fun, right. But it was challenging to going out on my own as a woman and going into a different market that I had gone back into the denim market; I might have been welcomed with open arms. But with swimwear, I really wasn't. And trying to get everything manufactured was really challenging trying to get the fabrics. I mean technology from when I'm when I was first looking at fabrics to where the technology into fabrics is just in a few years has really increased dramatically, which is wonderful. But yeah, it's really challenging to find a really good team. So, the technology has really helped a lot with the process of bringing in sustainable fabrics. And now eco-friendly tags and compostable liners, things that never were in the world. And the thing is very expensive. And so, I don't necessarily make the margin that I'd like to or that I traditionally do in the market. But I feel that part of doing my part is not only educating but kind of doing my part of not doing as much pollution to the world. And if it cost me a little more right now, it will come back to us later and it'll come back to us two-fold.

Lisa Beres

That�s such a cool attitude.

Andrea Bernholtz

Yeah, more customers and bringing awareness and not only really look good, but you're also doing good for the planet.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, leaving a better world for your daughter, too.

Andrea Bernholtz

Yeah, exactly. You know, and also, we have a Zoom feature on our site where you can schedule a Zoom appointment and you can one of our really great stylists so um, and customer service representatives can schedule a call and sometimes myself. And what we do is we do a fitting with you and go over like what looks good. Maybe a woman will try in a bathing suit that she already has, that's not Swiminista and she'll say listen, I don't like about it. So, then I know things that she likes and I can recommend and oh wow, it's so cool. It's really personal. And you know, I spent a lot of time redoing the website during COVID You know, I thought like how am I going to pick it like what am I going to do here? Are we really like just launched and then everything shut down?

Lisa Beres

Yeah, people weren't traveling.

Andrea Bernholtz

I was trying to think of a way. I put together a great thick guide like putting your bra is to kind of get your right size or put your dress size, your jeans size. And then hey, let's do Zoom together. Wow. There's so much adjustability with the swimwear. I'm happy to when a woman gets Swiminista, hey, call us back schedule another appointment and we'll show you like the right adjustability for you. And you do privacy of your own home. I love trunk shows. I love talking to women hearing what they like what they don't like I learned from that yeah, brain I do. Zoom meetings. It's really great and satisfaction when Someone says, oh my god, I love this. I feel so good. And this is to me.

Lisa Beres

Oh yeah, that's your confidence. You need to feel confident in your bathing suit. If it's sagging and slipping and pouching and rushing, you're not going to feel good no matter how cute it looks to other people, right? You're not going to feel good. Now those Zoom calls, is there a price for that a fee?

Andrea Bernholtz

No, anybody can do it. Go on to the website. And it's in two different spots when you can click on it and make a zoom appointment. Or if you're looking at item in particular, there's also another area schedule your zoom appointment. Wow, questions on it? Maybe I'm in between sizes, or also too. I can see women and I've steered women away from they're like, oh my God, this color is so beautiful. And I'm doing a Zoom meeting with them. I'm like, that color is not going to work on you. Yeah. And they're like, oh my god, it brings out my eyes.

Lisa Beres

That's amazing. They're getting a concept from a top-notch designer. How incredible. Right? Because it's true. You got to be tough love a little because we do as women. Oh, you know, that looks good on so and so or I love that color and not really thinking how does it fit your body as a flattering? Does it work for you?

Andrea Bernholtz

Yeah, we're guilty of that, like having your best friend tell you the truth. Yeah. Yeah,

Lisa Beres

Exactly. Cuz your husband won�t. At least mine won�t. Honey, oh, you look beautiful.

Andrea Bernholtz

Everything�s fine, honey. Everything�s great.

Lisa Beres

Everything looks good. You're beautiful. Ready to go? Are you ready to go? Just wear it. So, what's next for you? Andrea? Do you have any new exciting projects in the pipeline? As if you don't have enough on your plate?

Andrea Bernholtz

I know, I feel like I'm an underachiever. When you say that No. aberration coming out with a really famous designer out of Hawaii, his name is Zane. He does sketches of plants and flowers that are endogenous to Hawaii, or they have very special meanings. So, his approach to the prince is extremely different. And they're more one dimensional, whereas the Christian Lacroix have like a 3d element to it. So, they're both very, very different, but both very special to me. Since Zane, he actually gave me a receiving blanket for my daughter. And it was beautiful. And I became such a fan of his work. And then, so each plant and each flower have a story. And I thought that was a really cool thing to incorporate. Actually, I just had a meeting with him a few days ago. And we're going to be bringing that out later this year, we're introducing two prints. And we're going to be doing that with the mommy collection, as well as the women's collection. And then I'm always open to different really cool new designers at these very interesting to see different prints because the process behind so many really was find your favorite suit, right? You finally find your favorites do well now you can get them different colors, different prints, and so it's always fresh instead of the same thing. But you know, it fits.

Lisa Beres

Yeah. Oh, I see. That's a good point.

Andrea Bernholtz

I�m always kind of making it fresh. And then my next really big jump, what I'd like to do is go into men's, I was going to ask if you see a lot of men in my swimwear, I'd like to do fittings with that. No kidding. Yeah.

Lisa Beres

Models only need apply or an athlete.

Andrea Bernholtz

But I really think that there's a market for the men's and the boys, especially with the resorts that happed and my premise about selling to resorts especially was to evoke a really great memory. And if I want all of this, and the names of my suits are all really fun positive names, like our most popular one piece is called the cheerful suit. And so, I think there's a lot of little subliminal things that go into it. But then when you buy something at a resort, and you're, let's say you're in Maui at the Four Seasons, and you remember buying this great suit, and your daughter was there, and she bought the matching bottle, top, blah, blah, and all of a sudden, it makes you happy. It leaves a really positive imprint.

Lisa Beres

Yeah, for sure. So, you do sell at the resorts? Is that your main outlet?

Andrea Bernholtz

Yeah, that�s a big part of it. Yeah. It really started online. And then we went into resorts and now we're going into a lot of brick and mortar stores as well.

Lisa Beres

Oh, okay. Do you have the OekoTex certification on the fabrics? Are you familiar with that one, we interviewed Ben Meade from OekoTex, which is the certification for textile chemicals in the textile production? I don't know if you're familiar with that.

Andrea Bernholtz

I'm not familiar. I know that there's a lot of new agencies that come up for different PFAS� and different kinds of talk kinds of things all over the place. And a lot of our fabrics, come out of Italy. So, they're super high-end recycled fabrics. And I am in Los Angeles, and also to like I was saying, I love deadstock fabrics so that we're repurposing them. That's nice. I haven't actually explored that as far as the testing.

Lisa Beres

I know. There are so many sorts of yeah, there's a lot, so I figured I'd mention it. And it's one of our podcast episodes. I can't remember which one but yeah, I know you're doing such a great job and there are There are so many certifications to keep up with. And I know to, like you said, all those things are expensive. And they cut into the bottom line too. And you've already taken the cut. It's interesting. I think if I heard Oh, they're using recycled plastics, you would think that that would be less expensive for the manufacturer, not more. So, I think that's really surprising for listeners to find out. That's a bigger hurdle to jump through, even though it's a no brainer, right? It makes sense.

Andrea Bernholtz

And we think we're repurposing something with denim. I mean, when we would do the distressed denim with holes and everything, it costs a fortune to do all that, oh, I just realized, Oh, my God, these jeans, you know, they look old and crappy, would cost more money.

Lisa Beres

Right? I swear, every parent has wondered that, right? Like, why are these?

Ron Beres

So, Andrea, if we're not traveling to a fancy resort in Hawaii or going to Italy, where can our listeners go to learn more now and buy Swiminista, or actually learn more about your brand?

Andrea Bernholtz

Well, obviously, the best place to go right now is www.Swiminista.com And that spelt swim, i N i sta swiminista.com. And there you can find all the latest styles, you can read about our story, learn a little bit about us do Zoom meetings if you want to. And the best thing to do is really sign up for our email blasts. We don't do a lot of them. We don't bombard you with junk. And we offer for the first time to sign up a discount to kind of introduce everyone and make it a little bit more affordable by saving 10 to 15% off and we have a sale, we'll throw it out. Throw that out there. But I also like to showcase and highlight women that wear Swiminista and they post the pictures and I oh yeah. I got a lot on Instagram. And also, I take a lot of that and put it on to our email blasts. Hmm, and you also carousel where you might saw lection That's right. I thought people don't post this but this. Yes, that as well. Right. Right. Makes me happy when people are very proud and want to celebrate that. But we're also doing our new launch for spring with an all new prints all new resort wear. And if you go to our website, which again is Swiminista.com.

Lisa Beres

Guys like fashionista, but Swiminista.

Andrea Bernholtz

And yeah, you can do pre ordering. We'll have that available pretty soon to pre order some of the new styles because they're very limited edition in the sense.

Lisa Beres

Guys, I will put all of that in the show notes too. I'll put the links to that and even a link to the Zoom. Gosh, it's like concierge, you know, it's like concierge fashion consulting. I love it.

Ron Beres

Very high vibe. Well, thank you for joining us today, Andrea. Yeah,

Andrea Bernholtz

Thank you so much. And um, she you in doing this meeting while I'm in the factory here today.

Lisa Beres

Say this is the real deal, guys. Yeah, this is the real deal doesn't get any more real than this. We're talking about fashion designer and her factory down in LA. And guys, next time you're shopping for your vacation or your summer holiday, remember, you vote for the kind of world you want. Each time you make a purchase. heed the words of Vivienne Westwood, buy less, choose well and make it last.

Ron Beres

Thank you again, Andrea.

Andrea Bernholtz

Wait, I'm so sorry. Can I add one more thing before we go? Also, thinking of that, I've added a new component on our website, which is called Fashionista Finds. And those are like minded products and I have a jewelry designer who's on there that she has water element designs and then I thought a pocket candles that are all soy based and love it as I find really cool things. Okay, no, that's awesome. Add them to our site. So then, kind of eventually you'll be able to build your whole world in a one stop shop.

Lisa Beres

Oh, I love it. Shop for your home. Okay, excellent. That's on Swiminista.com

Andrea Bernholtz

Great speaking with you guys. Really?

Lisa Beres

It was fun. We�ll do coffee next time your down here. That's right. We're neighbor�s half of the time.

Ron Beres

I want to thank everyone for listening to and please head to www.RonandLisa.com/Podcast for all of the show notes and links that we discussed today. And be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Home Hacks podcast. See you next episode. And until then, stay healthy.

Andrea Bernholtz

Bye, everyone. Bye bye. Thank you.

Narrator

This episode of the Healthy Home hacks podcast has ended. But be sure to subscribe for more healthy living strategies and tactics to help you create the healthy home you always dreamed of. And don't forget to rate and review so we can continue to bring you the best content. See you on the next episode.