"I never want them to go in that dungeon of a fitting room again," she explains. Armstrong would love to bring the experience to customers in real life, but she won't do so until she can replicate the feeling of trying on bathing suits in the comfort of your own home. Armstrong had been a part of a hip-hop dance crew in college, and remembers how that helped her get out of her own head. "I wanted to create this extra dimension where it gave you that entry point to be able to tap into inner confidence," she explains.Ĭurrently, Kitty & Vibe is exclusively direct-to-consumer. With every order, Armstrong ships a link to one of the style-specific "vibe" playlists on Spotify that she keeps updating customers are meant to play it while they try on their orders. The "vibe" part of the equation addresses the triggering nature of swimsuit shopping. "I'm surprised not more brands are using these amazing social tools that we have, but I didn't really have a choice, because I didn't go to fashion school." "It's amazing, because if the majority choose the maroon, then when they recognize it on the site, it's like they made the design decision, and so when they're wearing it they go as far as saying, 'I chose this! And now it's on my body and now I own it,'" Armstrong explains. Photo: Cameron Armstrong/Courtesy of Kitty & Vibe "I said, 'Okay, what's the worst that can happen? Maybe I lose my whole savings account, have to move back into my parents' for a little bit, but whatever, it's worth it,'" she says.Ī look from Kitty & Vibe's collaboration with Bumble. (That's where the "kitty" in the name comes from - "I couldn't name it 'crotch,'" she says with a laugh.) She spent time building the brand while maintaining her day job at L'Oreal, filing for trademarks, obtaining the domain name and finding a manufacturer. Armed with what she calls the "hidden measurement," Armstrong set out to create a swimwear brand that would correct this issue for women. Online, Direct-to-Consumer Swimwear Is Having a Moment How Instagram Helped Turn So Many Bloggers Into Swimwear Designers New Retailer Golden Edit Aims to Make Summer Last All Year Long "It was crazy, because the women would have the exact same size hips, but this inseam measurement was so different, and it's kind of equal to a butt size." "Literally, from your belly button through your legs to the top of your tailbone," she explains. Armstrong realized that the measurement which differed the most between women wasn't at the waist or at the bust it was the crotch. But Armstrong was working in marketing at L'Oreal and was attuned to finding spaces in the market which needed filling, and she had a question: just why were bathing suits so challenging? To answer that, she invited a bunch of friends over for brunch and measured every single one of them. After attempting to find a new swimsuit on a family vacation two summers ago, Armstrong left the stores empty-handed and frustrated - so far, a typical experience shopping for a bikini. "It's such a vulnerable piece of clothing, and you're standing there under these lights and it just doesn't feel good," she says. It has become a near-universally accepted fact that very few women enjoy the experience of shopping for swimwear. Cameron Armstrong doesn't think that's acceptable. Photo: Louisa Wells/Courtesy of Kitty & Vibe
0 kommentar(er)
