It’s finally here! Something so many of our customers have been waiting for — a Coco Moon Hawaii Swimwear Line. This swimwear line has been something our entire team has been anticipating for some time now, and we’re so stoked to finally share it with you! We put so much thought, time, and passion into this new line that we’ve decided to do a little Q+A with Amber, the mom behind Coco Moon, to share more of this journey with you! Keep reading to find out more about why we’re so excited about this new launch.
What was the inspiration for this swim line?
In Hawaii, babies are often in the water from a very early age, crawling their way to the water's edge, splashing and learning to swim (or at least float) even before they learn to walk. As a brand so firmly rooted in the culture of Hawaii, adding a swim line to our collection was a natural extension for us. After all, how could we truly represent our island lifestyle without celebrating our love of the beach!
What were some of the main features you focused on when designing the line?
Before we even started to think about swim styles, I knew that we had to put the fabrics and materials we used at the forefront.
Everything in the collection uses recycled fabrics, which was a non-negotiable for us. We absolutely had to use recycled fabrics. Our boardshorts use a material called Repreve, which is made from plastic water bottles. We also chose a recycled polyester blend rather than nylon as it’s known to be more durable and resistant to pilling and fading.
We’re also using biodegradable bags in lieu of polybags.
I notice that the Kai Collection logo looks different than the normal Coco Moon logo, why is that?
I wanted the element of the sun to be at the forefront of the new line since the swim line will be used to play in the sunshine. So we blended our moon logo with a sun, almost like an eclipse, to give the line a “here comes the sun” vibe and distinguish it from our traditional Coco Moon products.
How did you decide which prints to use on the swimwear?
As we developed this line, I was actually really anxious about it because it was a totally different product for us. So I wanted to keep the overall collection fairly small to help preserve my sanity and not push my nervousness overboard!
We decided four prints was just right to give our awesome customers a good amount of choices while remaining manageable for our team.
Our Nalu and Hibiscus Kiss prints are total fan favorites, so they were an obvious choice. We decided to add a purple background to our Hibiscus Kiss print to distinguish it from our clothing and swaddles while also giving it an extra pop of color for fun days in the sun.
We recently released our Under The Kai and Kai Camo prints, so they were also calling out to be included in swim since they are ocean themed. We updated the colors on our Kai Camo print, giving it a navy and bright orange refresh, where our Kai Camo blankets and clothes have more of a calm and subdued color palette.
I really hope that our customers love the print choices as much as we do!
Is this swimwear line something you hope to expand in the future to eventually become a Coco Moon staple?
It’s definitely something I’m hoping to do! Swimwear is something that is totally new for Coco Moon (and for me). So this year, we’re doing a “mini launch” with a few select styles and prints in limited quantities. If it goes well, we’ll look to bring swim back in a bigger and better way next Spring.
What’s your favorite swimwear print/style?
I’m partial to the surf suit because I love that style for myself! Surf suits are the only thing I surf in these days. They stay put, provide great sun protection, but are also really cute!
I also love our infant sun suits. Taking our babies to the beach for the first time is often one of the things we look forward to most here in Hawaii. However, it’s not safe to use sunscreen on babies under 6 months old. So our sun suit is the perfect way for you and your baby to enjoy the beach from a young age while being sun safe and stylish. And even after they get past 6 months, putting sunscreen on a baby is never fun. Our sun suits go up to size 12-18M, which means less struggles to apply sunscreen to a wiggly baby that just wants to play.
And just for fun, what’s your favorite way to spend time in the water?
My absolute favorite time in the water is spent surfing. I grew up surfing with my dad and now I am able to pass on the love of the water to my kids. At 9 and 7, they are just starting to really be stoked about surfing on their own and I think this is our summer where they truly fall in love with it.
When I’m not surfing, I love snorkeling and diving with my family. I’ve always loved getting lost in the underwater world and would often bury my nose in a book about reef fish in Hawaii to learn all of the names of the fish I saw that day. I recently bought the updated version of that same book at my son’s request, which brought such joy to my nerdy fish loving self.
It’s clear to see that this swimline has a lot of love and thought put into it. We hope that getting a glimpse into the behind the scenes process of creating our incredible products has you even more excited for this new release! Enjoy shopping the Kai Collection and stay tuned for more amazing releases this year!
