Designer issue28 (1)

The Taste Issue |

In the Swim of Things

DESIGNER

In the Swim of Things text by Erin Dennison

model Alyssa Smith @ NEXT Model Management

In the Swim of Things

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In the Swim of Things

35

“For me, there’s an emphasis on each individual piece as being part of a whole. I like to work backwards.”

Meet Lezard Swim, the women behind your new favorite bathing suit.

• “Oh my God. This has to be of f the record, though.” A lyssa Smith leans in as I tap the red button and put my phone away, and then proceeds to enchant me with ta les of her teenage exploits growing up in Newport, the sma ll coasta l town adjacent to Laguna Beach. For those of us who grew up far away from Southern Ca lifornia, the butter y, cinematic world of MT V ’s (sorta) rea lit y show Laguna Beach constituted a menta l mood board for a ll of Ora nge Count y. E xceptiona lly attractive, sun-k issed high schoolers chatting and gossiping with the elongated vowels of a Southern Ca lifornia drawl helped def ine the idyllic region; and as I sit across from Smith, herself an OC native, swimsuit model, and the marketing arm of L ezard Swim, I can’t help but notice that she certainly look s the part.

The Taste Issue |

In the Swim of Things

36

DESIGNER

Perched on a lu x leather couch anchoring the Mack Sennett Studios lounge area,

L ezard ’s inaugura l collection draws most of its inspiration from a late 1960’s

Smith is golden haired, witt y, and magnetic: an evolved version of the Ca lifornia

France —think, you guessed it, Jane Birk in. The garments span a cohesive color

trope that def ined the region a lmost a decade ago. A s she recounts the stor y of

pa lette rich in neutra ls and punctuated by yellow hues and vivid sea-tones. The

how she met L ea h Shlaer —the company’s swimwear designer and Smith ’s duly

fabrics are lu xurious, the patterns intricate, and the separates eerily sea mless.

fair-haired counterpart— both women become visibly coy, their manners suffused

Lea h explains, “W hen I’m designing a collection, I stop and envision ever y single

with mutua l admiration. This is to be expected. A f ter a ll, their partnership is

piece hanging together and how it’s going to f low…what pieces should go together.

new-ish, having begun just a few years back when Smith modeled for Shlaer’s

For me, there’s an emphasis on each individua l piece as being part of a whole. I

former eponymous line. A lyssa describes L ea h a s having designed t he most

like to work back wards.”

beautif ul suits she’d ever worn, and L ea h explains how A lyssa, with years of modeling experience under her belt, just “got it.” A f ter months of reciproca l

Because of her strong back ground in da nce, L ea h ha s a lways understood the

social media aff irmation, the t wo women eventually reconnected IR L and decided

importance of both f it and movement. A nd a f ter spending years in the fashion

to join forces.

industr y honing her technica l sk ill in production, she not only k new what she wanted, but how to execute it properly. “I’ve been designing for over 10 years,

The na me L ezard (French for “ lizard ”) is inspired by a f ictiona l woman, one

[and] I got into swimwear in 2008. It’s more just that I have a vision in my mind

who slides ef fortlessly in and out of various settings while a lways maintaining

that I wish I could f ind, or that I k now people would want to buy. Sometimes

a strong identit y. A “Lezard girl ” is socia lly dexterous and captivating — spirited,

I’ ll f ind a fabric and it will completely inspire something —it has to feel good

wit h cla ssic sa rtoria l sensibilities. She’s at hletic a nd curious, aut hentic a nd

on the body. I used to be a da ncer, so that inf luence is certa inly in there a s

f unny. In short, she is a chic, cool, well-traveled woman. The brand personif ies

well—you k now, when you leave class and just throw something on over your

its ima gina r y muse by inf using notions of whimsy a nd wa nderlust into its

leotard for the rest of the day.”

classica lly f lattering silhouettes.

In the Swim of Things

37

On the heels of its f irst birthday, L ezard has a lready captured the attention of leading glossies, editors, bloggers, and It Girls. With an excellent showing at Mia mi Swim Week and collections available in over t went y doors, the line is expa nding quicker t ha n eit her of t he women had imagined. A s it turns out, e xper t sk i l l a nd ye a rs of i ndu st r y e xperienc e ma ke for a potent one-t wo punch. With their second collection currently in production, the Ca lifornia duo promises more effortlessly cool pieces and f lawless campaign imager y just around the corner.

Oh, and it was a good story.

•

Photos By Henrik Purienne