the starters
the starters
SKINNI
Meryll Yan of SKINNI provides women of all stripes the confidence to embrace life ’ s adventures with an all-inclusive swimwear line
Interview Vida Cruz photography Dookie Ducay
Of all the clothing you could design for adventurous women , why the swimsuit ?
I have always believed that the space for an entrepreneur is where their personal passion intersects with a public need . I have always loved swimsuits and have been collecting them since I was a teenager . However , when I went on adventures with my now-husband , I realized that a lot of the swimwear I owned could not withstand the conditions that we went through ( e . g . waterfall climbing in Aguinuid , snorkeling in Oslob , surfing in La Union , etc ). The Philippines is home to some of the world ’ s best beaches , so it makes perfect sense ( even if it might seem overly ambitious ) to also design the best swimsuits in the world . There was a very interesting space where those two overlapped and the spirit behind SKINNI is that you can be adventurous and fashionable at the same time . And that one is not a prerequisite to the other . I chose swimwear because it is a product I know by heart , and it could also represent our country in all of its tropical postcard beauty .
And if I must add another intersection to make this a Venn diagram , as a former fashion editor and retail marketer , I longed to do something that would be more inclusive and empowering . A category like swimwear can be so daunting for women and I wanted to change that by creating a brand that promoted body positivity and the kind of values that I think women aspire for .
Could you describe the kinds of women you designed the SKINNI swimsuits for ?
Haha , I am lucky enough to be surrounded by a tribe of amazing women — women who are strong , beautiful , multi-faceted and complex , so I did not have to look far for inspiration . It was a tall order , but it gave us a very clear picture of who we were making SKINNI for . These are women who know themselves and who are not afraid to take risks ; they are the ones who look at the mirror and love their bodies . They are women who are unique and different from the cookie cutter norms one might see on mainstream media or fashion . However , what ties everyone together is a sense of self-knowledge and confidence . My favorite anecdote is how my muses previously did not know each other but they emerged from our three-day shoot as a sisterhood . Everyone just clicked with each other and that ’ s because each one of them represents the kind of values we want for SKINNI .
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