Sales take off for business that sells modest swimwear

By Rodger L. Hardy
Deseret Morning News

SPRINGVILLE — When Tara Tipton and her family, including three young women, went looking for modest swimsuits for their winter trip to Hawaii last year they came up empty-handed.

It was winter so the selection was sparse, she said of the Utah County malls they visited. But even in the summer, modest swimwear is a rarity, especially for younger women, she said.

But then Tipton, a clerk in the business license division for the city of Springville, remembered a license she registered for a business that specializes in modest swimwear. She found the Web site for "'Ohana Swimwear" and in just two days the suits were delivered. Styled similar to a wet-suit, they covered well and didn't ride up, exposing skin the women would rather keep under wraps, she said.

Jackie Rawlins founded the Internet-based company three years ago after she, too, couldn't find modest swimwear to her liking in local stores. When she plays in the water with her four children she doesn't want to have to worry about her swimsuit, she said.

"I'd wear shorts or T-shirts with my suit to make certain I was amply covered," she said.

She knew other active women, like Tipton, were fighting the same battle with the swimwear that was available when they wanted to water ski, Jet Ski or just play in a public pool. While more modest competition swimsuits are available, they are generally too pricey for most women, she said.

When Rawlins started 'Ohana Swimwear in March 2003 she knew nothing about the apparel industry. Yet in 10 weeks she was able to get product available and online, launching her Internet business…

"That's unheard of," she said of her speed getting to market. "We made 500 suits that first year and sold 350."

Still, she struggled to find a good fit in manufacturing, switching several times.

"Once I got into (the apparel business) it was a lot easier," Rawlins said.

Manufacturing and sales figures doubled each of the next two years. Last year she sold some 1,700 suits.

While most of the sales were outside Utah that first year "because most Utah buyers didn't know about us," Utah is now leading the nation in buying the suits she designs and has made in Southern California. She has sold suits, both one-piece and separates, in every state in the nation and several European countries, including England, Germany and Switzerland. Inquiries have come from Australia and Malaysia, but shipping is too expensive to those areas to result in sales.

Sizes range from toddler (2T) to 24. The separate tops are as much as 5 inches longer than the popular apparel that's often the choice of surfer girls, she said.

“They can put their arms up and their belly still doesn't show," Rawlins said.

Rawlins pinpoints two type of customers: women who like the sporty looks cut to cover the legs to mid-thigh and those who want a modest swimsuit for religious reasons, primarily Catholics, Muslims, Mormons and women who live in the Bible Belt. The heavier material she uses in the suits' construction adds to the modesty, she said.

"I've received over 200 e-mails thanking me (for creating the suits)," she said.

Prices are as modest as the suits. Advertising is primarily word-of-mouth, although a Google search on the Web for modest swimwear usually puts her in the top five on the list. Because her business is so rare she doesn't have to pay to be that high up on the search engines, Rawlins said.

Her dedication has paid off. Last year her business won a "Best of State" medal in the apparel subcategory in production and manufacturing.

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