We were lucky to catch up with Emily LaPlume recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

After spending my junior year studying and traveling abroad, I was inspired to create something that embodied the places I had traveled to and evoked the feelings I had felt while traveling in those places. I realized there was a common theme for my most favorite places I had visited — this carefree, coastal lifestyle that consisted of time spent in nature, and most commonly, near water.

In between semesters abroad, I decided to teach myself how to design and sew and, after dozens of prototypes, created a swimsuit bottom I was proud of — a piece that was comfortable, functional, and looked good. I took those swimsuit bottoms with me during my second semester studying abroad in Wellington, New Zealand, where I had the pleasure of traveling to a handful of tropical places in the Southern Hemisphere. As a broke college kid, I managed to work my way into exchanging swimsuit bottoms for accommodation while traveling through Indonesia. It was through this exchange that I started to see outside interest in the products I was creating. After returning back to the US for my senior year, I launched Saturday Swimwear and sold my hand made swimsuits online across the country. I competed in a couple entrepreneur competitions, that ultimately landed me my first retail account.

After graduating college, I knew I had reached a crossroads; I could either continue growing the business I had spent so much of my time and energy building over the past year and a half or I could shut it down and get back to what inspired its conception in the first place. I chose the latter.

So, I bought a round-the-world plane ticket, packed all of my belongings into a 46L backpack, and hopped on a plane to Spain. I backpacked my way down the coast of Spain, into Morocco, then flew to South Africa, where I spent a month backpacking all across the country. Then, ultimately ended up in Australia, where I spent 10 months on a work and holiday visa.

It was in Australia, immersed in the local surf culture that was so passionate about protecting their outdoor playground, that I discovered regenerated nylon. This regenerated material was made by taking rescued fishing nets and industrial waste, and recycling them back into new fibers. A new fire was ignited in me and I knew I had to bring it back to the US.

So, I decided to rebrand the company and shift the entire focus towards sustainability. My plan was to build a brand that put people and the planet over everything else, in attempt to be less a part of the problem, and more a part of the solution. That is where Saturday Swimwear as we know it today was born.

Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in a small town in Southern New Hampshire where I spent summers digging in the dirt, hiking in the White Mountains, and attempting to surf on the Seacoast. I spent (and still spend) my winters snowboarding any chance I could get. Snowboarding became my true passion from an early age and allowed me to spend more time outdoors and connect with a community of likeminded people.

After graduating high school, I attended Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, where I received a degree in Marketing and a specialization in Event Management. This allowed me to immerse myself even more in the snowboard community, where I had plans to continue working in the industry after graduating college. Saturday Swimwear totally uprooted those plans, and I have not looked back since.

When I returned from my travels abroad, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sit still for long. My dad and I decided to build out a van for me to move into and travel the country, promoting my swimwear company along the way. I spent 8 months living in and traveling out of the van before I planted roots in Bend, Oregon, the beautiful place I now call home.

I have been living in Bend for almost 4 years now, and run Saturday Swimwear out of my home, alongside my amazing fiancé, and our two, cute rescue pups, Luna and Piper.

Last year, I hit my maximum capacity with how many swimsuits I was physically able to produce, so I made the thoughtful decision to outsource production to a small, woman-owned sew studio in Portland, Oregon.

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

I started the company by hand-making every single piece out of my college apartment. When I retuned back to the US after my travels and decided to focus on sustainability, I continued building a base of like-minded retailers, who purchased my suits wholesale. With this, came a need for an increase in production. I decided to fly my sister out to Oregon to teach her how to sew and hired her to help with production. She played a crucial role in the growth of the company and I truly would not be where I am today without her help.

In the spring of 2022, I realized we had almost reached another breaking point. I knew we wanted to continue to expand our reach and grow the business, but knew we couldn’t do it just the two of us anymore.

In a true stroke of serendipity, I received an email from a gal named Sarah, saying that she specialized in product strategy, end-to-end development, and supplier/manufacturer relations. After meeting with her, I knew it was the perfect fit — and the timing couldn’t have been better. After spending weeks vetting manufacturers all across the country, we finally connected with the perfect studio. They are woman-owned, prioritize sustainability through small-batch production and recycling initiatives, and just so happen to be located only a few hours north of me.

This was an entirely new experience for me. From hand-making paper patterns and only having to commit to making one piece at a time, to developing technical packages, sampling, and having to place an order, for thousands of pieces, 5 months in advance — I felt out of my league. With the support of Sarah, my new factory, and all of the amazing people who have helped me along the way, I made it work. It has been nothing short of amazing to see my small business continue to grow in a sustainable way that feels true to my values.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

In the spring of 2022, I launched a creative initiative called the Artist Series. The goal of the Artist Series is to work with a female identifying designer to create a one-of-a-kind print for my suits. The designs are typically inspired by nature and my goal is to not only highlight the work of the designer, but to also showcase their connection with the environment and how it translates into the work they create.

This has been an amazing way for me to connect with their audience and grow my customer base through these limited edition prints.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.saturdayswimwear.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/saturdayswimwear
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaturdaySwimwear/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/emilylaplume

Image Credits
Lauren Howland & Jared Watts