Luli Fama the Miami-based swimwear company is always in a realm of “firsts” first to re-introduce the cut-out one piece to fashion’s elite.
First to do the ruched back. And their successful design has gotten them a lot of notice from being named People Magazines “no muffin top bottoms” with their ruched back and features in Sports Illustrated to Bar Rafaeli specifically asking for their suits by name. “Fama” meaning “fame” in Spanish is the perfect name for this collection whose motto is “Every woman is a star.” Nolcha's Lynn Furge popped into their packed tradeshow booth to see why buyers and consumers alike, flock to see what Luli Hanimian and business partner Augusto Hanimian come up with next.
Lynn Furge: Being a Miami-based designer what do you feel you bring in terms of originality to the swimwear market?
Augusto Hanimian: First of all it is our coloration. We chose different colors and patterns that what any other manufacturers are doing. We are risk takers in terms of cut as well. The ruched bottoms have become a trademark. There is no elastic in the legs therefore it doesn’t grip the body inappropriately and fits the butt better. We have now come up with variations of that style that fit all different types of bodies, some that have a fuller back, some that have a smaller side etc. We love to fuse sophistication and sensuality together.
LF: The cut-out one piece suit seems to be a huge trend this season and you have been doing that style for years now and a larger demographic is buying into that trend because of the way your suits fit.. How do you know just where to cut out to make it fit a woman’s body perfectly?
Luli Hanimian: We try to look at a woman in a very sensual way. We have a picture in our minds about how we want the suit to look and draw up some samples. Then we make adjustments when we see it on real bodies.
One of the secrets is to make swimwear with adjustable straps, that way the suit can fit more bodies.
We are seeing a change culturally in the UA and women who were not so concerned about their butt are now doing exercises and showing off that area more, so we focus a lot on that part of the suit first and then shape the rest around it. This is one of the things that makes our line successful, taking the risk and listing to the changing lifestyles of our clients.
LF: You incorporate a lot of color into your collection. How do you choose the color palette that fits so many different skin tones?
LH: We look a lot at what trends are on the high couture collections and then adapt them to what will work poolside. We never have a strict color palette. We just use what feels right.
The perfect example of this is last year; “taupe” was one of the biggest color trends in swim. It doesn’t look great on every skin tone, so we added pops of read, yellow and green in piping around the suit and that way the trend was still there and the buyers loved it, but the consumers also loved it because it looked great on them.
LF: Who do you see as your muse?
LH: Someone very sensual who wants to show off. People that are comfortable with their bodies who don’t want to hide under a beach umbrella. We want to maintain having our consumer in love with us and us in love with them, so we are consistent with the options we give them. That is how we maintain a great customer base.
LF: Has the economy affected the swim category that heavily or are people still looking for escapism and therefore buying suits even if they have to travel closer to home?
AH: For us we profits have almost doubled in the past year, which have been the worst economic times our country has seen since the depression. Our customer is very daring and so they do not have as much fear about the economy. The swim market in general… yes it is tough out there, but for us at Luli Fama, we did better than ever before.
Everyone took a very conservative approach, We did the exact opposite unveiling new styles patterns, a larger collection all of those business decisions that could have hurt us, but we took the risk and it paid off.
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