I am so excited to announce the launch of my bikini brand, Sienna Swim! I’ve been working on this line for almost a year now, and it is very near and dear to my heart for a couple reasons:
When I started my community online back in 2020, my bikini collection became the thing I bonded with all of you all over. We traded advice in the comments about which styles made us feel best and which brands had the cutest patterns and colors. It was so fun to watch you guys cheer each other on and share the secrets of your favorite swimwear like we were at a huge sleepover. I may not have always responded to every single comment, but I was listening. This line is made up of a combination of silhouettes that make me feel my best, and others that you all told me you wanted. It really does feel like my love letter to you all after how far we’ve come.<3
I’ve been involved in every step of creating this line, from working with our stellar designer Jameelah and fabric shopping with her in LA, to designing the logo with my best friend Nikki, planning out logistics with my mom Dina (who I could not have done this without), and doing photoshoots with my bestie/photographer Ivana. Shooting the campaign with my best friends by my side and my brother filming was everything to me. So many people in my life came together to lend their creative genius and help me turn my dreams into a reality, which is something I will always, always be grateful for. Working on projects like this one are almost always pinch-me moments where I can’t believe what I’m getting to do. Getting to do projects like this with people who mean the world to me makes it even more special.
Once we had all the planning in place, it was time to shoot the line. We gathered up some of my closest friends and a few new faces for a photoshoot in Hawaii and got to work. We had a ton of marketing materials to shoot and the e-commerce shots for the website. The central, guiding motive behind my line is that it revolves around flattering femininity in every form. I have struggled, like many have, with my body image, which, in the past, would only become more of a struggle around bikini season. I wanted this line to feel like the opposite of that. I wanted myself and others to feel celebrated, seen, and special in this swimwear, so my approach to preparing for this photoshoot had to be reflective of that.
I recently discovered pilates, and it has completely changed the way I view working out. Rather than a high impact, high stress workout where I hurt afterwards, pilates is gentle but effective, allows me time and space to clear my head, and it makes me feel strong. I did pilates a couple times a week leading up to the shoot, and went on runs with my brother Jacob. I really tried to focus on doing things that made me feel good, and most like myself leading up to this shoot because I wanted joy, confidence, and comfortability to come through in the photos.
Like most people, I struggle with acne. The last thing you want on shoot day is a glaring pimple, but they happen. I kept my skincare simple in the weeks leading up to the shoot with a gentle cleanser and vitamin E oil doing most of the heavy lifting in my routine. I ate foods that made me feel good. When I was in LA, it was the Erewhon kale salad and salmon from the hot bar. In Hawaii, I cooked at home a lot and tried to incorporate whole foods with lots of greens and protein.
Overall, my photoshoot prep was rooted in keeping my stress levels low. I wanted to feel my absolute best on shoot day and let the day be what it was—a victory. A celebration of the many moments I spent in design meetings and zoom calls, fittings and fabric stores. I wanted to take in every moment with my friends and family, running around on the beach in Hawaii taking photos of the new brand myself and my support team had all worked so hard on. It was exactly that, and all the preparation was completely worth it.
I hope that if you have something you’re working towards that you’re passionate about, you look around every once in a while to examine how far you’ve come. I hope that when you reach a destination on your journey, you give yourself the space to cheer yourself on and take in every ounce of happiness it has to offer. I also hope that you’ll love this line as much as I do when it launches this weekend. You can find it at siennaswim.com and on Instagram @siennaswim. <3
