Within weeks, Swimsuits for All, a plus-size swimwear brand, approached Gregg to design her line. Swimsuits for All, a small company at the time, offered simple swim skirts and black one-pieces at affordable prices. Monif C, a boutique for plus-size women, sells stylish bathing suits that cost upwards of $100. Gregg was told by the company that it wanted convertible pieces that could be worn in a low-waist or high-waist style, or both. Gregg wanted to add more flair. The first collaboration saw a collection of bikinis covered in galaxy, one-pieces printed with lip color, and designs embellished with zippers and cutout embellishments. These bathing suits were not just for covering up. They would be proud.
The collection was a huge success. In just two days, the Swimsuits for All website crashed and sales soared by 74%. The brand was a huge hit with the New York Post and Jezebel as well as this very site.
“My collaboration with Swimsuits for All was the turning point in the plus-sized swimwear market. Gregg says that this was when people began to notice that women who weren’t thin also wanted younger, more sexy options. We were not easy to overlook before that. Our line pushed the boundaries and demonstrated to the industry that we are a very profitable market. Since then, it’s been a snowball effect.
The GabiFresh swimsuit collection has been a success story for Swimsuits for All in the four years that it was released. This is a significant player in the $20.4 billion plus-size market. The company is not only selling fashionable products to the 67 per cent of women over 12 inches, but also changing the conversation about them. It has invested in marketing campaigns featuring big-name stars like Gregg and Ashley Graham. The brand also created slogans such as “#SwimSexy”, and “#MySwimBody” that have gained the brand respect and attention for finally placing bikini-clad women from all shapes and sizes in major media across the globe.
Graham, who was a face of the company and released her first collection in 2016 says, “For so many years, society placed unfair standards upon women, like the need to ‘get body ready’.” “I had difficulty finding suits that fit me, especially in middle school and high school. Traditional swim brands assumed that girls with larger hips, breasts, and thighs would want to cover it all. Swimsuits For All allowed me to wear string bikinis without shame, even with cellulite, and create sexy suits that I could confidently show off to other women.
It may sound like the company was founded with an objective, but that is not the truth. Moshe Laniado from New Jersey, an entrepreneur who was just building on the family’s legacy, founded the brand. His father and mother were both in the swimwear industry. There are resortwear shops in Virginia and Myrtle Beach. His mother also owns Swimsuit Station in New Jersey, which is a wholesale outlet for swimwear. Laniado started his company online because this was the age for e-commerce. Swimsuits for All was his first venture. It sold swimsuits for men, women, and children.
Laniado says that when he launched the brand, there were only a handful of retailers that sold a few items in this category. We see the impact of our mission on numbers as well as social media and on the beach. Curvy women wearing swimsuits and bikinis confidently. Our greatest accomplishment is making sure that this doesn’t become an abnormal thing.
The company has grown its collection from 100 suits to over 1,500 in the 10 years it has been open. Each year they add 300 new styles and each collection sells out. Swimsuits for All is not able to provide sales figures as it is a private business. Sara Mitzner (VP creative and branding) says that the fashion industry’s inability to sell to plus-size women is a loss. She says, “Not serving these customers is not just outrageous, but also bad business.” “If we made only bathing suits for thin women in their 20s we would be wasting a lot of money,” she says.