We recently connected with Livasey Ward and have shared our conversation below.

Livasey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I always knew I wanted to be my own boss and create something special. Ever since I was a little girl I would spend hours making jewelry or trinkets to sell on the streets next to lemonade stands. As I got older and got my first job at a retail store my interest changed from making jewelry to making clothing. I ended up going to college for fashion design and graduated with a bachelors degree in apparel design, Right after college I moved to Charleston, SC. I noticed that there weren’t a lot of swimwear brands in Charleston. I also noticed that there weren’t many sustainable brands in the area yet either. I started teaching myself how to sew swimwear and spent hours researching sustainable fabrics that would be perfect my swimwear. I found an Italian based fabric made from regenerated aplastic waste pulled from our oceans and fell in love with it immediately. When it was time to create my brands name I combined the fabrics origin with its sustainable properties and came up with Riciclare By Livasey, Riciclare being an Italian word that means ‘to recycle’. I was so stoked to launch my brand because I was so passionate about what I was making and what my brand stood for. I was enthusiastic and hopeful that my brand would be successful because there weren’t many other sustainable brands based in Charleston yet. I also offered a unique approach to my brand because I hand make every piece myself. I still remember how excited I was when I had my very first sale. I knew in that moment that I was meant to do this and create sustainable swimwear that I was passionate about.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Riciclare By Livasey (now RBL SWIM) is a lifestyle swimwear company that is committed to creating unique and sustainable swimwear for the every day active beach goer. The company was founded in 2021 by me, Livasey Ward, on the premises of sustainability and the use of sustainable fabrics to create swimwear that not only looks good but feels good as well. Riciclare itself simply means “to recycle” in Italian.

I graduated in 2017 from the University of Delaware with a degree in Apparel Design and moved to Charleston shortly after. Over the next few years I bounced around from job to job in search of finding a career I was passionate in. I knew I wanted to design and create clothing and in her spare time I would sew shirts, dresses, and kinis for myself and my 3 year old daughter. With my degree, sustainability had always been a key component in my life and with my combined love for the ocean and its inhabitants as well as a passion for sewing and fashion, I sought out to create a swimwear brand that repurposes plastic waste (such as water bottles or fishing nets) found in the ocean and regenerates it into a new nylon fabric that is durable as well as soft and flexible. Thus, Riciclare By Livasey (now RBL SWIM) was created. I sew all the swimwear myself and each piece is specifically made for each customer who places an order.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I currently manufacture all my products myself. I have always had a passion to sew and even went to school for apparel design so it was a no brainer to sew all my pieces myself. I just had to teach myself how to properly use a 4 way stretch fabric and sew swimwear. I wanted to keep production close to home (and I literally kept it at home). It is very time consuming to hand sew all my own products but is also very rewarding.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

When I first started RBL SWIM I had the intention of making the business my full time job. However, I realized that I would still need a steady form of income while I built up my product inventory, brand recognition, website, and such. So I kept my full time job and would work on my business at night when I got home from work or whenever I had some free time. As my brand started to grow I cut back on hours at my full time job and I started working only part time so I could still make some extra money while simultaneously working on my business more and more.

I grew my brand by doing pop ups and participating in local markets. I also participated in beach clean ups with local non profits and eventually hosted a few clean ups of my own. I got my brand in local fashion shows as well. Each pop up, market, clean up, and show helped increase brand awareness and helped me to meet many other entrepreneurs and makers.

Contact Info:

• Website: Rblswim.com
• Instagram: @rblswim

Image Credits
Maggie Wilcox Ph0tography Ben Egelson Photography