Waterwear 2012 Calavera: A Surfer Girl's Dream
A few years ago, Anna Jerstrom gave up her job as an investment banker in London to take on an endless summer of waves in Costa Rica.
She had visited the Central American country on a vacation and immediately became hooked on surfing. For months, she studied with Costa Rican surfing legend Alvaro Solano and learned two things: She’s not a bad surfer, and it’s hard to keep a bikini in place when you are dancing between the waves.
So she set out to launch a line of swimwear that would stay on no matter how high the waves or how rough the surf. And it had to look good on a surfer girl’s body. “I looked into the market, and I realized there was a huge gap,” said the Sweden-born Jerstrom.
This May, she launched Calavera, which means “skull” in Spanish, the image Jerstrom had emblazoned on the side of her surfboards. The Swedish investment banker, who had always made her own clothes, started sketching and came up with some hardy bikini tops and bottoms that stay in place in the waves. She employs Velcro straps to adjust the bottoms and tops. She also uses fillers and low-flexibility materials to improve fit. Bikini tops also have a string tie-up feature that runs down the back and attaches to the band to reduce stress on the neck and keep tops on. The suits are made of extra-thick nylon/spandex.
Jerstrom tested the bikinis on her surfer girlfriends in Costa Rica before debuting her product from her headquarters in Newport Beach, Calif., and manufacturing them in Southern California.
Bottoms have three silhouettes: a hipster, a regular bikini and a boyshort. Tops come in a halter and two triangle shapes. Wholesale prices for separates range from $16.50 to $19.50.
For more information, call (646) 401-0160 or visit www.calaveraswimwear.com.—Deborah Belgum
