Alexandra Cassaniti: Surfer-Girl Style, Upgraded
Though Alexandra Cassaniti’s self-named line of summery totes, neoprene swimwear and wetsuits has always possessed a beachy mood and surfer style, she didn’t officially define her brand as “surfwear” until this year.
“That decision to be more surf than fashion, to be more everyday wear than trying to claim fashion hellip; it makes it more lifestyle by saying that,” said Cassaniti, whose professional background is tipped heavier in the fashion-world side of the scale than the surf sphere.
Before moving to Los Angeles two years ago, Cassaniti worked as a production and studio manager for Judi Rosen of The Good The Bad and The Ugly and then as a women’s designer for Steven Alan in New York. Her line started in Los Angeles two years ago with handbags and has grown to now encompass clothing, sunglasses, neoprene swimwear and spring wetsuits.
Sold at directional, taste-making boutiques such as Opening Ceremony and Creatures of Comfort, the look is embraced by a breed of higher-end lifestyle surfers who have grown up from wearing the traditional youth surf brands.
“It’s a new thing, this uprising of surf lines that are smart, made here, made by creatives who want something different. I think that’s also what [surf clothing] began as, like Rusty, Gotcha,” Cassaniti said.
For Spring 2011, vividly colored canvas handbags have a rugged twist in the leather details sewn in Duluth, Minn., using traditional techniques from the Civil War era. As neoprene and scuba looks are trending in the fashion world, Cassaniti hopes that her surf-lifestyle authenticity will differentiate her from the pack.
“The fashion woman was who supported me and still does. But now the fashion woman has all these choices, the person who’s into surf is going to buy this over Lisa Marie Fernandez [who makes neoprene swimwear] because they’re not going to be able to surf in it, and it’s not reversible and it’s going to cut into you or the fit’s wrong,” Cassaniti said.
Retail price points range from $80 to $300. For more information, e-mail sales@alexandracassaniti.com.—Rhea Cortado
