As AAPI month comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to highlight the rich culture and achievements of Pacific Islanders and Asian-founded brands based in the Pacific with our Heart of the Pacific series. From celebrities to fashion designers to grass roots climate activism and tribal tattoos, these stories are worth celebrating throughout the year.
Everyone's relationship with clothing is personal. And for some, personal goes beyond style and becomes about celebrating and preserving culture, which is forever evolving. There are indeed specific practices and beliefs that provide meaning and identity, setting one culture apart from another. For Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, abbreviated as AAPI, it's rooted in customs and traditions based on ancient principles that promote living an honorable and noble lifestyle.
The AAPI community has faced historical marginalization, resulting in limited representation and opportunities in various fields, including business ownership. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a history of cultural and political minimization. There are more than 5,100 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses in the United States, only accounting for about 1 out of 100 businesses in the United States. During COVID-19, 90% of small Asian American businesses lost revenue due to reduced sales and employee anxiety or distraction.
Not to mention, the ocean is rising, and Asian cities, in particular, are vulnerable to the changing sea levels, according to a study by the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. One way to bring attention to these issues is to support and amplify AAPI-owned businesses. Recognizing the contributions and achievements of the AAPI community is an important step toward creating an inclusive and conscious society.
Teen Vogue spoke with three AAPI swimwear brands that use fashion to explore the cultural significance of the ocean, inclusion, and the impact of climate change on coastal areas.
Cayla Moore, and Julia Muniz Robinson of Maoi
Teen Vogue: What was your first memory of the ocean, and how has it influenced your company philosophy?
Cayla Moore: I learned to swim before walking; I was in the ocean before I could even remember. The ocean has always felt like home to me. It has influenced Maoi’s company philosophy which aims to create a swimwear brand that fosters a sense of community– a home where women can feel comfortable and at their best while enjoying the ocean.
Julia Muniz Robinson: When dreaming about my career path, I knew I wanted to do something that kept me close to the ocean, so creating a swimwear company was an obvious choice. Of course, a fair share of office work is involved since we run a company, but we always make time for surfing and personally test our surf/swimsuits.
TV: How did your swimwear brand come about? How have you enjoyed the journey thus far?
Julia Muniz Robinson: I founded Maoi in 2020 with the dream of creating a brand that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability. As a passionate surfer and immigrant, I wanted to raise awareness about environmental and social issues through our social media channels and other platforms.
Cayla Moore: I started working with Julia at the end of 2022. We connected and initially talked about the brand when we were both in Tahiti last August. From there, everything flowed seamlessly, and the opportunity arose to join Julia on her journey with Maoi.
JMR: By the end of 2022, Cayla and I started working together, and the strength of our connection and shared passions led Cayla to join Maoi as a co-owner, bringing her expertise as an artist and entrepreneur. As a native Hawaiian, Cayla reinforces the brand's core values, which are rooted in Hawaiian and Brazilian principles.
CM: This year, Julia and I will expand the collection into prints inspired by Hawaii and Brazil, our respective home countries. We aim to channel our values and traditions as women of color through these designs.
TV: What are the commonalities or similarities between Brazilian and Hawaiian culture when it comes to swimwear and the coastal lifestyle?
CM: Both cultures share a strong association with the ocean and a love of water-related activities. Hawaiians and Brazilians have the same laid-back and relaxed approach to life, reflected in our casual attitudes toward swimwear. In Brazil, people often wear skimpy swimwear on the beach, regardless of their body size. In Hawaii, it's common for people to wear suits while surfing and for tanning on the beach. Both cultures also possess a tradition of body positivity and embracing diverse body types.
JMR: On a different note, our histories reveal shared similarities– Hawaii’s occupation by the United States of America and Brazil’s occupation by Portugal. In both cases, Hawaiians and Brazilians actively strive to strengthen their cultures and inspire younger generations to preserve and carry them forward.
Both cultures exude resilience and strength, empowering us to face the future with determination. Our shared beach cultures further highlight the importance of embracing and cherishing our collective past, nurturing the path towards a brighter and more inclusive future.
TV: How has sustainability been deeply embedded in your upbringing?
CM: I grew up with the teaching that if you take care of the land, the land will take care of you. "E Malama 'oe I ka 'Āina, e Malama ka' Āina ia 'oe" encapsulates this belief. In this reciprocity and deep understanding, we are stewards of the land and have a duty to protect it, care for it, and nourish it instead of depleting our resources in an unsustainable manner.
Nurtured by this upbringing and culture, I have been instilled with the essence of sustainability– a responsibility to serve as a steward of the land, to continue to practice our ancient ways, and to be inspired to use these values in a new and inspiring way as a modern-Hawaiian woman.
JMR: Sustainability is a significant part of growing up in Brazil. We're taught to love and protect our incredible natural surroundings, from the Amazon to the stunning coastlines. Considering Brazil's water scarcity challenges, my parents instilled a sense of mindfulness in me.
TV: In what ways has climate change affected both the Hawaiian community and your brand?
Climate change has had diverse impacts on Hawaiians, ranging from sea level rise and coastal erosion to coral bleaching and an increased frequency of natural disasters. Consequently, our brand has also been affected, witnessing islands gradually succumbing to rising sea levels and our precious coastlines disappearing due to erosion. The loss of beaches, space to enjoy our suits, and waves to surf on our shores is disheartening. This is why at Maoi, we recognize our responsibility to refrain from contributing to the problem of climate change through our production and packaging practices. Our messaging and products align with the understanding that we must leave a positive impact and utilize our voice to effect change. We strive to operate with the principle of leaving the world better than we found it.
TV: As one of the few Native Hawaiian women business owners, how does it feel to have established and run your own business in a landscape where women entrepreneurs, especially AAPI women, are underrepresented?
CM: To be among the few Native Hawaiian women who own their businesses is a great honor but also a responsibility for me. I understand that this opportunity is very rare, which fuels my determination to represent my people in the best possible light by shining my own. I strongly believe in leading by example. In spaces where representation is lacking, it can be intimidating and overwhelming. However, all it takes is one person to show that it is possible to pave the way for future generations of Hawaiians to follow suit.
Kalena McElroy of Kaiona Swimwear
Teen Vogue: How did Kaiona come to be, and what are some key milestones or challenges you've encountered along the way?
Kalena McElroy: I started thinking about creating a swimwear brand as a teenager. I spent years researching, saving, and thinking about it before finally taking the leap in 2021 when I founded Kaiona Swimwear. The idea started after realizing how much of my life was spent in a bikini and how uncomfortable or lacking in quality some of them were, even the most popular brands. I’ve gone through many suits over the years and always had difficulty finding any that could stand up to my active ocean lifestyle and still be cute enough to want to show off when lying on the beach. That’s when Kaiona Swimwear was born.
TV: How does your connection to the ocean influence your designs, values, or mission?
KM: Nature and the ocean have been a central part of my life, not just because I spent so much time there but also because my grandma is a marine biologist. I needed to create a brand that stood by those values, minimizing the impact on the planet as much as possible and spreading awareness of the threats facing our oceans. \
The ocean, in particular, is pivotal to Hawaiian culture, genealogy, and the origin of life. According to the Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo, life began in the ocean with the ko'a (coral polyp) as the first living organism, followed by other ocean creatures like the sea star, sea cucumber, and urchin. The chant, which is split into 16 wā (sections), explains that the earth, sea, and sky are connected, and what we do on land directly impacts everything else, including the ocean.
TV: What specific practices and initiatives make your brand environmentally friendly and sustainable? How do you prioritize sustainability throughout your production processes, materials sourcing, and overall business operations?
KM: While researching before launching the brand, I fell into a rabbit hole about the impacts of the fashion industry on the planet and workers. I thoroughly vet every company I partner with to make sure they uphold the high ethical and environmental standards that I do. Each of my recycled swimwear pieces is handmade by artisans with working conditions that far exceed global labor standards, and each collection is released in exclusive small batches to reduce unwanted waste. Large scraps or suits with mistakes are upcycled and turned into new items, such as shell collecting bags. \
I use high-quality regenerated fabric made from recycled industrial plastic and fishing nets, which uses much less energy to produce compared to virgin nylon swim fabric and reduces air, water, and soil contamination. Each print is created using low-impact inks that are Eco Passport Certified by OEKO-TEX and aren’t harmful to the environment or workers. But being an eco-friendly business goes well beyond just the suits themselves. With the rise in online shopping, the amount of packaging and single-use plastic for shipping items is astronomical. I personally package and ship each order using plastic-free shipping materials and recycled packaging such as 100% recycled kraft paper mailers, hemp twine, recycled paper hang tags and thank you cards, and biodegradable inner bags made from cassava starch.
While switching to eco-friendly swimwear isn’t the final answer, educating others about the harm of the fashion industry, particularly fast fashion, and its effect on our oceans highlights the issue. It creates ongoing dialogue, which can lead to change on a larger scale.
TV: How does it feel to be among the few Native Hawaiian women owning their own business?
KM: It took me a long time to fully commit and launch Kaiona Swimwear, but I hope to be an inspiration for others thinking about starting their businesses and not seeing role models who look like they do. Not only is it possible to build your own business from the ground up, but it’s also possible to run a successful small business sustainably and ethically that aligns with your culture and values.
TV: What would you say was one of your best memories you've had while wearing one of your designed swimsuits?
KM: I decided to go out on the paddleboard one morning when it was extra calm and glassy. It was early, and I was completely alone. As I paddled out the channel, I noticed ripples in the water, and as I got closer, a huge manta ray glided right below me. Seconds later, a second manta swam past. I stopped paddling to watch them as the sun was rising, and it was such a magical moment that I designed a surf suit and named it the Manta.
Luna Courtois of Benoa
Teen Vogue:How did you get started, what inspired you to create Benoa?
Luna Courtois: Indie and I started Benoa when we were 15 years old. We sat in Indie’s room on a rainy day, eating Acai Bowls and watching H2O, when we started drawing up a bikini line and talking about how cool it would be to create our swimwear line. Indie’s mom overheard our dreams of creating a bikini line and connected us with one of her best friends, a bikini manufacturer. Indie and I got our first jobs to save up for our first batch of samples. When we received our order a few months later, we had a pop-up with a few of our friends, friends of friends, and family. Living in Hawai'i, our small, tight-knit community is everything to us. Our community believed in and supported us so much that we sold out of our first line within a few weeks. \
Fast forward to now, we’re coming onto our 10th year of Benoa. We’ve encountered and overcome many hurdles with our growth as a business and as people. It’s so cool to have created something that so many people love and makes people feel so good about themselves and others. That has been the most rewarding thing with Benoa that makes me want to keep going forever.
TV: How has your friendship evolved and strengthened as your business has grown?
LC: Indie and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember, like diaper days besties. It's unbelievable. We have only been in one minor argument throughout our friendship, business, and living together for two years, with our office in our 3rd bedroom. \
Benoa has made Indie and me so much closer than if we were just friends. We are both so great at doing our part in the business. I'm on the creative side, so I design our styles and hand-draw all our prints. Indie is on the numbers side, so she puts together orders and handles all of the numbers. It's like we're the perfect left-brain, right-brain partnership. I can't imagine doing Benoa without Indie.
TV: How has sustainability been ingrained in your brand?
LC: Being from Hawai'i, where our whole life is based around nature, we see all the issues of plastic and overconsumption very hands-on, so our mission was to do our part and make changes in our company to help. Since 2020, we’ve changed our packaging to be completely home-compostable. Our next big step toward sustainability was in 2021. There started to be a wider selection of recycled material fabric options for swimwear, we had been looking for recycled material fabric in previous years, but all the options weren't great. Finally, we found the perfect recycled fabric and have been using that since! \
Another primary focus we have in our personal lives is having a healthy ocean. The ocean is so sacred to us, and it’s the place we go to have fun, de-stress, be present, to get food. It’s so much more than we can even put into words. In 2022, we started donating a percentage of every sale to the Coral Gardeners, who plant and restore healthy coral reefs worldwide.
TV: How has climate change impacted your community in Hawaii?
LC: I have lived at Sunset Beach my entire life and have been diving around on these reefs since I could swim on my own. It saddens me now when I go for a dive at Sunset Beach, and the reefs are brown and carpeted with algae. From when I was little, there's so much less of an abundance and variety of fish on these reefs. \
Though it may seem grim now, I'm confident that we can reverse the effects of climate change in the ocean and get the reefs to look like they used to be! We must focus on the products we use, especially those we are wearing into the ocean! Seeing the impacts of climate change so hands-on here in Hawai'i, Indie and I decided to completely shift our focus of Benoa to being as sustainable as possible, single-use, plastic-free, ethically made, and recycled materials.
TV: What has been your favorite swimsuit design to date?
LC: This is a very hard one. I love all the designs we release, but my favorite bikini is the Siena Top and Anini Bottoms in Hebrew Cone. Hebrew Cone is a print that I drew that is based on my favorite shell that I find on my dives: The Hebrew Cone Shell.
TV: What are your thoughts on the significance and challenges of being among the few women who own their own businesses?
LC: There are a lot of things that I feel when I think of our situation with Benoa. I feel very proud and lucky to have Benoa. It’s not the business and the money that makes me feel lucky, but the community that Benoa has created for itself makes me feel so lucky. When I was younger, all movie characters, celebrities, and models were skinny, tall, caucasian women. Being half Japanese, I remember spending so much of my childhood wishing that I was Caucasian because what the media said was, “Caucasian is beauty.” \
It makes me so sad thinking about how I would try to hide that I was Japanese, I would beg my mom not to talk to me in Japanese in front of my friends, and I would be so embarrassed that my mom had a Japanese accent. It breaks my heart knowing that I was so embarrassed about my culture. If I could change anything in my life, it would be to return and be proud of our culture and embrace being Japanese because being Japanese is so beautiful.
