We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Starting Beau Swim was the best thing, and yet the most challenging thing I have ever done. But it all started with an idea. When Covid hit in 2020 I had nothing but time after I was laid off from my job. For fun, I designed 4 separate swimwear collections not thinking anything of it. A month later, I was thinking about what I wanted to do next in my career and that is when I decided that it was time to do something of my own. I started with the products, I then found the name, put together mood boards, color boards, and started to gather information on next steps. Within a month I had my company name, trademarked it, found my manufacturer, found my fabric source, and was developing samples. I went into this full on, and would say that the development happened faster than usual. While at school, I earned a degree in Merchandising Product Development as well as Business Management, so during that time I studied how to source, textiles, product development, and how to start a business. Within four months, I had samples, had my legal paperwork done, started planning for production, and website development. I first had the idea in May 2020, started developing in June, and Beau Swim launched February 1st, 2021. To this day I am so thankful for starting Beau, and am so proud of where we are today!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Samantha from Boston, MA and I am 27 years old. I started Beau Swim which is a luxury sustainable mens and women’s swimwear brand. I started Beau when I was 24, with the hopes to grow Beau across the US. I have always been into fashion since a young age. I designed clothing when I was younger and had always dreamed of going to fashion school. I ended up pursuing that dream and going to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and studied Merchandise Product Development, and Business Management. After school I worked for a menswear brand. I was laid off and two months later decided to start Beau Swim. Beau has grown over the two years we have been in business. I am so proud of where we are today, because I know everything that went into this is finally starting to pay off. I would say my most proud moments are getting into our first retail store, and our Miami Swim Week fashion shows. I think what sets Beau apart from the rest is being a luxury sustainable brand. I have always felt that as a consumer when buying swimwear, there was either cheap options, luxury options, or sustainable options. I never saw luxury and sustainable in the same sentence. I wanted to create high quality swimwear that is sustainable, and I did that! Our fabrics are sourced from a lux fabric supplier in Italy, and manufactured at our factory in Bali. Most of our products are made from recycled plastic water bottles. I love fashion, and I love the ocean; so what better than to create swimwear that helps the planet!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Starting in a competitive industry was hard. I had a degree in product development and a degree in business, however I did not have a degree in marketing. Marketing has been the most challenging aspect of the business for myself. The product was great, but getting it seen and in front of the right market was tough. I was very lucky to be invited to showcase in Miami Swim Week two months after launching Beau. Our fashion show was our first big event that got the brand out there. Since then, we have been able to build up credibility by showcasing in fashion shows. We have done Miami Swim Week the past two years, and have our third show coming up this June 10th! We have also done Monaco Swim Week in May of 2022. Getting the brand out there and networking with different models, photographers, influencers, and buyers has helped build up our reputation within the market. Now more and more of our market knows who we are and shops Beau!

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first started out with Beau, I was focused on just doing D2C through our website. I was working with a couple marketing agencies that charged an enormous amount and didn’t bring in any sales. I had no money, and was working on the side to pay for all this marketing that was not working at all. I decided to pivot. I did not want to be broke, stressed, and not seeing any results. So I decided to take a step back from the marketing and focus on other things that could just make me sales. I started to focus on pop up events, scouting boutiques for wholesale opportunities, and talking to hotels about hosting pool parties. I then started making more money, networking more, and Beau was growing rapidly through word of mouth. It was then that I realized that even with little to no money there are ways to make it work. This was one of my best lessons yet with Beau, because it taught me not only to not give up, but to problem solve in various ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: Beauswim.com
• Instagram: @Beauswimco
• Facebook: @Beauswimco
• Youtube: Beau Swim
• Other: Tik Tok: BeauSwim

Image Credits
@LeylaMahramnia Leyla Mahramnia Photography