Introducing the JetsetChristina swimwear line: Watercolors by Kenny Flowers

Well guys – it’s official!!!! THE my SWIMWEAR LINE HAS LAUNCHED!!!! Since I first announced this exciting little side hustle on my instagram, you guys have been sooo incredibly supportive and excited for the suits, which has made me all the more excited. It’s taken about a year to get to where we are now, and, after many long hard days at the factory in Colombia, I am so beyond proud of what we have accomplished and the product we have made!

We did it!! The new one pieces and bikinis are now available on Watercolors Swim, and I’m so in love with every one of them. I decided to name them all after beautiful destinations around the world, because let’s be honest, these bikinis were made to see the world. There’s the all-white Santorini, the reversible-to-solid Rio, the tie-dye Malibu, the palm fronds Beverly Hills, and the leopard-print Sahara, and so much more, and I can’t wait to see YOU ALL rocking them in beautiful destinations around the world!!

Since you guys have been floodin’ the DM’s with questions about the suits, I figured I’d do a blog post answering a lot of the questions I’ve been getting!

Where and when can I buy the suits?

They’re all available now on WatercolorsSwim.com! They ship within just a few days – so perfect for your summer vacations! AND I’m offering my jetsetters a 20% discount with the code JETSET.

Why did you decide to start a swimwear line?

I’ve spent my entire life in a swimsuit. Growing up, I was a competitive swimmer (with constant racing suit back tanlines…. swimmers, you know!).  And, these days, I spend most days in a bikini or one-piece as a travel blogger. I’ve always had a passion for swimwear, and have always had a bikini drawer overflowing with about 100 suits (seriously guys, it’s an addiction).I have also had the opportunity to work with countless amazing bikini brands as an influencer to not only promote their suits on JetsetChristina, but to provide feedback on swimwear designs, which has only made my passion and interest in the industry grow and grow.

My philosophy is the best days in life are the days you spend in a bikini. The days on vacation, when you wake up, head to the beach, and get all sunkissed and salty. The days you don’t change out of your bikini until the sun goes down and the tan lines start to show.

Swimwear to me has such a transitive quality – every time I look at a suit I remember the incredible day I had wearing it. The places I wore it, the memories I made in it. Spring breaks in college, pool parties in my twenties, chasing waterfalls with my besties in Bali, sipping rosé in the south of France.

And, when it comes to traveling, there’s never been anything I’d rather shop for than a new bikini for a trip. With social media, and especially Instagram, I, and most girls think more and more about what we’re wearing on vacation, and we want to look good, stand out, and feel great!

I wanted to design a suit that was not only super flattering, but would feel incredibly comfortable after a full day in the sun – whether you were at a pool party, in the ocean, on a boat, at a resort, or playing beach volleyball with friends. In other words I wanted my suits to be FUNCTIONAL, but also look in-freaking-credible on the beach.

I also wanted them to be, in the wise words of Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love, “the perfect combination of sexy and cute.”

Who is Kenny Flowers and how did this happen?

Kenny Flowers is a lot of things – a man, a brand, a legend – and, oh ya! My fiancé. Kenny and I met in college and I pretty immediately fell head over heels for him. He’s kind, super-smart, super driven, and – as anyone who’s ever met him will attest to – really freaking handsome. We met our senior year of college and I was completely intimidated by him when he pursued me hard, so I did the only thing I could do – I friend-zoned him – hard. Fast-forward about 5 years, and we were still best friends. (Sorry, Kenny!!) It was all for the best though, I was living in San Francisco working in Brand Marketing and he was off living in Bali after quitting his big NYC consulting job and was busy creating his Hawaiian shirt empire – Kenny Flowers. (which you can read more about here)

Everyone thought he was crazy to up-and-quit his job and move to Bali, but also, we all knew he was a genius. He was running a business from the beach and literally LIVING THE DREAM. Kenny was not only creating a product that people were worshipping, he was creating a brand that people wanted desperately to be a part of. There was something about the Kenny Flowers story that people couldn’t help but be magnetized to. Kenny completely embodied his brand and the KF lifestyle – he had always worn tropical party shirts in college, and was determined to put a modern spin on your dad’s classic Hawaiian. So he moved to Bali (before Bali was the hot tourist destination that it is now), and started churning out incredible, super high-quality, hand-cut Hawaiian shirts (before every brand in America tried to do the same thing). And, even as Hawaiians have become increasingly popular over the past few years – every customer of his will tell you that Kenny Flowers Hawaiians are just different. The designs are better, the fits are better, and they’re super, super soft. But I think it’s more than that – the difference is intangible. Kenny’s golden touch is everywhere, and his passion, perfectionism, and dedication to giving you a piece of paradise to wear with you at all times, shows on everything the brand does.

But back to how I fit into all this! Two years ago, Kenny finally decided he’d had enough of my friend zone and, on a fateful weekend trip he made to San Francisco, made his move. I was kinda-sorta dating someone and, you know, had a whole life going on in SF, but, Kenny Flowers did what he does best – showed me how much better life could be. It was pretty much as if I had been living life in a boring J. Crew buttondown and put on a Kenny Flowers party shirt instead, AMIRIGHT KENNY!? (Kenny’s rolling his eyes).

Anyway. I flew to Bali with my best friend a month later. We had the time of our lives. Kenny asked me to stay. I didn’t.

I had a boss, a job, a LIFE. I thought he was crazy. But I was also crazy in love with him.

So, we made a plan. He’d come to visit for 10 days in between a trip from Bali to the states, and we’d figure it out. He told me he’d move to SF. I was like, hmm, wait… but Bali sounds a lot more fun. We both knew at this point the clock was ticking on my corporate job anyway – I just needed a push – something, someone, to tell me that I could do it – that I could quit my job, travel the world, blog full-time, and build my own brand.

Kenny did more than encourage me to give my all to Jetset Christina – he, without knowing it, gave me the safety net I needed to make the biggest decision of my life. To buy a one-way ticket across the globe.  I figured, if all else failed, I’d spend a few months in Bali with my boyfriend, giving my two biggest dreams the shot they deserved.

I figured, if all else failed, I’d spend a few months in Bali with my boyfriend, giving my two biggest dreams the shot they deserved.

A few months later, I was working harder than I’d ever worked in my life as a travel influencer. And loving every second of it. I was getting paid to travel to corners of the world I’d never even heard of, and staying in 5-star, $2000 a night hotels and overwater bungalows with private pools. I was doing what I love – writing and traveling, every single day. But I was also craving more. I’ve always been someone who needs 100 things on her plate to feel productive, and I thrive with a thousand projects going on at once. So, I started helping Kenny with his marketing (maybe a way to pay him back for the endless instagram-husbanding he’s done for me over the years?!). This way, I could flex my branding and marketing muscles, and help Kenny build out his women’s line. It was a match made in paradise.

We designed the most beautiful Kimonos, and these adorable beach cover-ups for bachelorette parties and group trips. But, when Kenny’s mens’ swimwear line started selling like crazy, girlfriends, sisters, friends, and moms of customers were begging for more Kenny Flowers women’s stuff – we knew that meant it was time to dive headfirst into swimwear.

Tell us about starting the line with one-pieces

We started with a line of one pieces last year before expanding into bikinis this year because a sexy, classic one piece is my absolute favorite thing to wear. They’re fun, ultra-flattering, super cute, and versatile (most of our Watercolors one pieces are reversible from solid to print!).

Since then, we’ve expanded into 49 new suits with the 2020 swim collection – including SO many flattering two pieces!! 

Before deciding to start my own swim line, I talked to a loooooot of friends and anybody who would listen about all things swimwear. While everyone agreed that one-pieces are sexy and trendy as ever, many expressed that they had yet to find a one-piece brand that fit them really, really well. And I understood. One pieces may be one of the most fun pieces of clothing in a girl’s closet, but they also may just be the hardest piece of clothing you could possible design – after all, women aren’t one size fit all, and ONE piece of swimwear that’s just magically supposed to fit us right? That’s impossible, right? Well I wanted to change that.

Why did you decide to make a “Medium Long” one piece size?

I heard from a ton of girls that they were left out of the one-piece trend because their torsos were “just too long for onepieces.” The amount of times I heard that from girls was CRAZY!!  It became clear to me there was a huge gap in the swim market for girls with longer torsos who found it incredibly hard to find one pieces that fit them. So I chatted with my factory, and we designed a new size just for those ladies – a Medium Long. It’s available in most of the styles, and I’m so excited about it.

Speaking of sizes, how do I know my size in Watercolors swimwear?

Our suits run a little on the small side, so if you’re between sizes I recommend sizing up, rather than down. When ordering swimwear online, it’s crucial to know how a brand sizes their swimwear, as well as how to accurately interpret a swim size guide. Our size guide (available here under one pieces) has three key measurements – all which you should measure before deciding what size you are – Bust, Waist, and Torso. The importance of all three is so you can accurately pick your size from the largest of the three measurements – for example, although my waist would technically be an XS, my bust is a S, and my torso is a M, so I am a Medium. It’s so important that you know all of your measurements so you don’t order the wrong size, and so that it fits you perfectly!

What’s the return/exchange policy on Watercolors Swimwear?

It’s my goal to make sure you’re completely 100% happy with your suit! If your suit isn’t just the way you like it, we’ll make things right. It was VERY important to me when starting a swimwear line to have FREE RETURNS AND EXCHANGES – because hello! It’s a swimsuit! You want it to fit absolutely perfectly. If you are not 100% happy, you have a couple options:

  1. Exchange your item for a new size/style
  2. Return for a full refund, with free return shipping (in the US) as well. 

So long as:

  1. The exchange/return is requested within 30 days of the shipping date
  2. Items are unworn and are returned to us in the state you received them (unworn, unwashed, with the hygienic liner still attached)

Where did the designs come from?

I wanted to design one-pieces that stood out on the beach. You all know I’m always photographed in my swimsuits, so I’m attracted to the suits that are bright, colorful, and with fun prints that make an impression. BUT I also wanted the option to wear them as a solid color, or a chic plain black as well – which is why we designed most of them to be reversible!

watercolors-swim

Why aren’t the white one-pieces reversible?

Because white fabric is DIFFICULT, y’all. I’ve had “white” reversible swimsuits before and the reality is that the second it gets wet you completely see through to the other design’s side. I am a huge fan of white swimwear (after all, it’s the best to show off a tan) and the Rio, the Indio, and the Santorini are three of my very favorite designs, but I didn’t want to compromise when it came to that crisp white color. I also talked to a lot of girls who expressed that they loved one pieces but hated that they never had padding, so we added light cups in the white one-piece designs so you never have to worry about your white swimsuit being see through.

What was it like starting your own swimwear line?

Challenging. and SO. Much. Fun. Check out my blog post on 6 Lessons I Learned from Starting My Own Swimwear Line for more on this!

Ask me more questions in the comments! I’ll add the answers to this post! and thank you guys so much for your support on this crazy project!! It has been a wild ride and I’m SO EXCITED to see you all rocking them around the world! If you buy a suit, make sure to use the #WatercolorsSwim so I can see your amazing pics and share them on the Watercolors instagram!

 

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Christina is a leading luxury lifestyle and travel blogger with over 2 million readers. Follow her on instagram @jetsetchristina.

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