The other day, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ed from Remi Swimwear because I was very impressed by his designs. Ed is a clothing designer and photographer who loves what he does. Ed produces beautiful swimsuits using high quality fabrics. He is currently based in New Jersey.

You can see his beautiful swimwear collection
HERE and on
Model Mayhem

AVIVA: What got you into designing swimwear?
ED: It began with being a fashion/glam photographer. While doing portfolio work for models, it used to irritate me when the girls would bring in cheap looking and or poor fitting suits. Either they thought the suit may have looked cute on the rack or they had friends who would say the suit looked great on them. I’m guessing so the friends would then look better by the pool or at the beach. Either way, it was difficult to have a nice body shot of the models with an average (at best) swimsuit on. So, with the help of a designer friend (Thanks always Silvia!) who needed images photographed of her line, I drew up some designs and had Silvia make them for me to photograph. The suits looked amazing and received very positive feedback from the models. The models then wore my swimsuit designs to a few casino parties and were asked repeatedly by the other girls where to buy the suits. It was then I decided to pursue my own swimwear line.

AVIVA: How long have you been designing?
ED:This is a project going on 3 years now. At first I had no knowledge of sewing or how to begin making suits myself. So I recruited 3 other seamstresses whom all failed for various reasons. Most notably one who bought suits online and told me that she made them but took the liberty to change my designs a bit. I also had one take nearly a a month to design one sliding triangle top.(Which is obviously a bit to long!) So, when these seamstresses failed, I took it on my own to take some lessons from another designer (Thanks Karen!) Now I design and sew the suits myself.

AVIVA: What is your favorite kind of fabric to use for your swimwear?
ED:I use only imported 4 way stretch fabrics that are completely swim-able but are really designed to look great and to make a girls body look better!

AVIVA: What excites you the most about being a clothing designer?
ED:I would say being able to see my work on a variety of people and body types and sizes. A big kick for me is seeing a models face when they first put one of my designs on. It’s usually followed by a big smile, a little more strut in their step and a bit of flirt in the eyes.

AVIVA: Do you look to any other designers for inspiration? If so, who?
ED:I do, but not anyone specific. I try to see where the trends are heading and adapt my style and fabrics accordingly. However, I’m a huge fan of floral prints and will always continue to utilize them.

AVIVA: Besides clothing design, what is (are) your other passion(s)/interest(s)?
ED: As I said earlier, I am also a photographer which allows me to photograph my swimwear as needed. I’m a huge auto racing fan. From NASCAR to Australian V8 Supercars and anything in between, if it’s on, I’m watching! I am also a retired tennis instructor and a big fan of billiards. However, I haven’t played so much lately and would like to get my game back on.

AVIVA: If money/time was no object, where do you hope that fashion design will take you?
ED: Around the world. This is an amazing place and I’d love to see as much as possible…. Especially the beaches!!!

AVIVA: Do you have any additional comments that you’d like to share?
ED:Looking forward to seeing everyone at Miami Fashion week someday,
Cheers!

I wish Ed all the best in his career!

Thanks again for the interview, Ed.

~Aviva