The Beach is My Runway
A chat with the founders of Left on Friday and U.S. Open notes...
I’ve long been a fan of Left on Friday and have been wearing their Pool Days Top and High Tide Bottoms for at least three summers. My sister loves their Day Trip Shorts, too. So I was thrilled to see that they designed the suits for Canada’s Olympic Beach Volleyball team. Then some magic happened in Paris. Team Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson made it to the gold medal match, rocking their distinctive LoF styles under the Eiffel Tower.
Inspired by this huge moment for the brand, I reached out to the co-founders of Left On Friday, Laura Low Ah Kee and Shannon Savage, to learn more about how they’re defining a new swimwear market and co-creating the Team Canada looks.
What was your introduction to sports? Do you remember what you wore?
Laura: I've been active and have played sports my whole life. I played and did everything from soccer and baseball, skiing and tennis to competitive gymnastics and competitive swimming. I don't fully remember my first sport, but I assume it was swimming and would have been rocking a floating tube outfit. I soon progressed to a striped one-piece and when I was in swim club, I rocked a periwinkle ruffle bikini with hits of neon. I LOVED that bikini. My outfit definitely reflected my skill level. I was a strong swimmer, just not fast.
Shannon: I’ve played sports and been active for as long as I can remember - my parents kept me very busy. I remember my favourite leotard for gymnastics was a baby pink high-neck unitard that was covered in sparkly rhinestones that would scratch my underarms like crazy. Didn’t matter because the suit was so pretty. When I was 7 I joined karate and showed up to my trial class in a red and white striped shortie leotard while the rest of the class were in matching white gi’s. I remember being quite embarrassed but quickly progressed to be very good. Later on in team sports as a teen, I remember being disappointed in sports apparel options for girls as I pretty much had to rely on boy’s apparel made in girly colours - nothing ever fit well.
You launched LoF because you saw a void in the market: women's swimwear is either super performance-oriented for the pool or fashion-forward but not technical. What was the "aha" moment that led you to create the brand?
Laura: We both live an active lifestyle around the water. Shannon has done surf trips around the world and used to be a lifeguard and a swim instructor, and I grew up on the beach. Half-way through my 12-year career at Lululemon, I took a sabbatical and spent two months in Maui being a surf, kite beach bum, and a month in NYC working at fashion week. In Maui, I would surf in the morning, kite in the afternoon then hang out with friends on the beach. I was wearing sports bras for activity and brought a bikini to hang out in.
Upon return to Vancouver, Shan and I were catching up in a hot tub, and it was here where we clearly identified the opportunity. No one was making swimsuits you could be active in and hang out in, and no one was applying the knowledge of fabric and fit to the swimsuit industry.
How do you approach designing for performance? LoF does an incredible job of considering the diversity of women's bodies – both on top and on bottom – what does your testing and fitting process look like?
Laura: We always start with “What problem are we trying to solve? And how do we want her to feel?” We craft our line around these strategic insights and then create designs. From the beginning of LOF, we tested on athletes to ensure that our designs performed at the highest levels. We also fit on different body types during the style creation process to ensure a design will perform and enhance various body shapes. We know we’ve nailed it when all shapes of size S or M love a new design. We spend a lot of time on style development and wear testing before producing a design.
We also listen to feedback on our current product line to understand what may need to be adjusted or updated to make a style even better or find insights such as D-cup customers wanting an A-B design in their size.
I'd love to learn more about the process of designing for the specific needs of beach volleyball players. Did they come up with the idea of a one-shoulder option for serving or how did that insight come about? Do you have versions for lefties and righties?
Shannon: The Canadian athletes had been playing in our current product line for a few years, so when we began our design exploration process with them, they already had feedback on which styles were their favourites. The girls had been playing in a one-shoulder top, often layering it with another swim top, and I loved the look of this, as I saw it as an opportunity to really play up colour combinations that would stand out. As we dug deeper into the wearing experience of our one-shoulder top, Melissa (the right-handed server) explained she loved the top because of how free her arm was, and Brandie (leftie and larger bust) expressed she felt the pressure of the strap. This was the a-ha moment that led to the Olympic uniform - the combination of their current personal style mixed with performance feedback. We leaned into this and created the unique tops that look like two tops layered together and have a left and right-handed version.
The cropped tee is also distinctive – how did that design come about?
Shannon: This style again was inspired by watching the athletes and the products they wear during tournaments. Often players have to wear jerseys that have names and tournament branding on them over their swim tops, and sometimes will layer a bikini top over top of a t-shirt jersey. I saw this as an opportunity to use our amazing sun protection fabric (called SunDays) and make a much cuter and more functional t-shirt option.
Beach volleyball is a very dynamic sport – there's so much diving and jumping – how do you design to keep the bikini bottoms in place for a long match? Is there any feature in the bikini (or tights?) the players asked for specifically?
Shannon: It’s important to understand what coverage and fit the players are looking for and what their body type is. Our styles are designed to be compressive and stay in place - but this has to be paired with choosing the right fit for your body. For example, Melissa and Brandie both chose different bottoms fits for their Olympic uniforms - Melissa has curvy hips and Brandie has straighter hips. They both wanted to show some bum in their styles but what was cheeky to Brandie (who has a smaller bum) was way too cheeky and would move around too much for Melissa. So we matched their figures to the fits and coverage they wanted, and this got them into the most functional bottoms. The key to our fits is that the compression of the fabric matches the tightness of the elastics along the edges - this combination helps to create a seamless fit that doesn’t move around.
What was it like seeing these players compete in your looks under the Eiffel Tower? What has been the response from other teams seeing these kits?
Laura: It was surreal. The first game we attended in person was a night game. The stadium was bumping, and it felt like we were at a sports game. Then the lights dimmed and the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle. That is when the emotions and realization of what was happening and what we had accomplished hit. We were in Paris, at the Olympics and the uniforms that we made were on center court. The best-in-class athletes were wearing our product at the biggest sporting event for the world to see.
If you like the Team Canada styles, they’re still available for purchase, here. My most discerning friend when it comes to swimwear (she’s a former Long Beach lifeguard, surfer and competitive swimmer) bought the suit and reports “It is lovely. Recommend 10/10.” I’m also super into their new Super Moves Collection.
Other Things to Read
Substack Recommendations
I get a lot of inspiration from other writers on Substack and two of my favorites: Becky Malinsky of “5 Things You Should Buy” and Sarah Shapiro of “Retail Diary” put out activewear-related newsletters this week.
Becky Malinsky ruminates on the demise of leggings: “It’s looking like the world of neutral-toned, lifestyle leggings are on their last lap. Are brands like Vuori and Alo crushing it? Yes. At least if the catalog count in my mailbox says anything. But after visiting many of these stores over the past couple weeks, what I’m realizing is what feels fresh is not “who is the next Lululemon?” but who is successfully breaking from the idea of the Lululemon-lifestyle-ness of it all.”
I’m a firm believer that niche is the future of activewear. Think: lots of smaller brands with sharp points of view on specific sporting experiences. To this point, I was excited to see some recent pre-launch social buzz for a new tennis brand, Spence, for which a former Tracksmith designer is working. Golf and running have buzzy boutique brands: tennis and skiing seem ripe for their own.
Sarah Shapiro tackled #tenniscore, a trend I am looking forward to exploring in depth next week. I liked her list of brands defining tennis style, though there aren’t a ton of smaller players on her list. It’s mostly big, established folks or activewear/lifestyle brands dabbling in tennis. The space feels ripe for a sharply specific tennis POV.
U.S. Open Madness
As I mentioned above, I’ve got a whole tennis-themed newsletter on deck for next week, but this week is too full of U.S. Open-related news and drops not to share the key hits.
The bow trend I spotted at the Olympics continues and Naomi Osaka is its latest champion. She chatted with the NYT about her custom Ambush x Nike look for the U.S. Open, which is inspired by Japanese subculture and features a host of bows. “She sent me a few looks of this ‘Lolita’ goth thing she was really vibing at that moment. They go out and wear pink, frills, bows, lace. It’s about really owning the cutesy-ness and the girly-hood,” designer Yoon Ahn told the Times.
This quote from Osaka speaks to a lot of the themes I’ve been exploring here:
”I wouldn’t automatically associate myself with being girlish when I’m on the court, but I tend to gravitate toward really beautiful and cute things. I think there’s something quite cool in making that an emphasis, especially here in New York. In New York, the tennis court is more like a stage.”Did you know Coco Gauff is the only women’s tennis player to have her own shoe? New Balance continues to make smart investments in the star. They launched her Coco GC2 with a pop-up in New York. I thought this tidbit about the shoe’s design was interesting. Like Naomi, Coco isn’t afraid to celebrate her femininity on the court:
“[Gauff] is spiritual and wanted to look at everything we could from a numerology point of view, what the number two actually means and the number two is, according to numerology, the most feminine number, and it represents both power and grace.”
New Balance also has some fun Coco-inspired tees online. I am eyeing this “When in New York” one.It’s going to be hard to log every tennis-themed drop during the U.S. Open but I’ll do my best. I thought Away’s entry into the tennis conversation was smart.
I haven’t loved the outfits donned by Fila-sponsored athletes, but their recent Casa Fila drop features some cute, 70s-inspired looks. They’re being clever with their SEO by naming these pieces “Challenger” …
Beauty brands are also looking to take advantage of tennis’s big moment. This week, E.l.f. announced a partnership with the Billie Jean King Cup, as part of a larger push that e.l.f. is making in women’s sports. They’re also co-hosting the first-ever Power of Women’s Sports Summit and signing on as a founding partner of iHeartMedia’s iHeart Women’s Sports Audio Network.
Interestingly Maybelline seems to be taking a similar tactic. Last week, I mentioned they are the first beauty sponsor of the New York Marathon, this week I spotted a new ad with Naomi Osaka, promoting the same super-stay lipstick that Ilona Maher loves. I’m starting to wonder when we’ll see the launch of a sports-specific makeup brand.
Quick Thoughts
Things that Drew My Eye or Ire…
BoF examines “How Running Went High Tech.” It’s not enough to show up to run club in the latest Bandit drop, now you’ve got to have a Whoop band or Oura ring too. Personally, lots of data on my body only makes me more anxious and neurotic, but to each their own. This Reel sums up the trend humorously:
Clare V x Tracksmith: I have been waiting patiently for this collaboration for a while. Clare V’s LA meets Paris POV, is a fun complement to Tracksmith’s New England heritage. I like that it offers Tracksmith the opportunity to loosen up a little and have fun with something like a “Le Jogging” tee. The Clare V team is full of runners, so this feels authentic too. Nice work by Massimo Alpian and Tracy Georgiu, two of the masterminds behind the link-up.
FP Movement x On: I probably need to do a whole newsletter on FP Movement’s collaboration and influencer strategy. They’ve filled the void left by Outdoor Voices and brands like Hoka and On have taken notice.
Love this!!! So much fresh inspo