Data Collection
Seafolly Internship
During my internship at Seafolly, I was able to understand clients needs and the industry through speaking with my mentor Genelle Walkom. I discussed with her my design brief, and she let me in on some information about the swimwear brand's latest sales results. She told me that a they had recently bad run with sales of unpadded swimwear in there last line. She told me that she was surprised big swimwear designers like Tigerlilly can get away with it, but Seafolly's target market love cups and extra support where-ever possible. This helped me establish that I would need to incorporate cups into my design as they are the most popular for the Australian market.
Through researching into the Seafolly swimwear products, I established that the largest swimwear brand in Australia "Seafolly" has a range of 228 swimwear tops for A-B cup women. In the category of DD-E cups there is just 31 varieties, and even more scarce in the F cup category with just 6 tops available. This data helped me understand just how little variety is available for big-busted women.
Through researching into the Seafolly swimwear products, I established that the largest swimwear brand in Australia "Seafolly" has a range of 228 swimwear tops for A-B cup women. In the category of DD-E cups there is just 31 varieties, and even more scarce in the F cup category with just 6 tops available. This data helped me understand just how little variety is available for big-busted women.
News Article Research:
Cups Runneth Over: Up to 40 Percent of Australian Women Wearing Size DD Bra or Larger?
Published April 06, 2009. Retrieved from :http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/04/06/cups-runneth-over-up-to-40-percent-australian-women-wearing-size-dd-bra-or.html
Upon my research process, I found it important to understand how big the need was for a bigger range of large busted swimwear. This article published by foxnews.com states that "the bra market in Australia is expanding, literally. Up to 40 percent of Aussie women now buy bras with a cup size of DD or higher, new figures from lingerie suppliers show." In a particular, this article states that
sales of DD-plus bras have grown from about 20 percent of sales to 28 percent in just five years. This is a huge increase in demand for larger cup underwear which I believe reflects a increasing need for the same size swimwear to suit the growing population.
Survey (users): Young Australian Big Busted Women
During research into my design idea, I surveyed 5 students in there 20's from University that have large busts (DD+) as primary client research. This enabled me to understand the issues in our current market with catering for big busted swimwear, and what I needed to consider in my design.
Survey Questions:
Survey Questions:
- Do you find it difficult to find swimwear in your size at the shops?
- Do you often have to buy swimwear that is too small to have a fashionable style?
- Do you feel like swimsuits made for big busts are in old/ dated designs?
- Does swimwear often cut into your body or feel uncomfortable?
- Do you prefer strapless/ halter or strap styled swimwear on your big bust?
- Would you prefer your swimming costume to excentuate your bust or to minimise it?
- Do you prefer the support from padding or underwire/or both?
- Does anything else annoy you about big busted swimwear?
- What would be your preferred beach cover up?
- All 5 girls agreed that they find it extremely difficult to find swimwear in their size at the shops. A few said they often would spend hours on the internet looking for bigger busted swimwear because it was easier than walking around in shops and getting dissapointed.
- All 5 girls also agreed that they cannot usually find swimwear in fashionable styles that fit them. Some used examples like Tigerlily and Triangl that do not cater for big busts. The girls stated they are often envious of their friends having these pretty print designs like these that they cannot fit into.
- 4 out of 5 girls stated that they think the big busted swimwear designs are ugly. They said they are often in the shape of bra's due to their support with thick straps and underwire. This can make young women look older and daggy.
- 3 out of 5 girls said they are often uncomfortable in their swimwear and this was due to them not purchasing the correct size. They said they would prefer to look good than be comfortable. The other 2 girls said they only purchase swimwear that feels comfortable because they know they will wear it all season.
- No girls liked strapless swimwear because they felt it was too unsupportive, 3 girls preferred strap styles and 2 girls preferred halter styles.
- 1 girl stated she likes her swimwear to excentuate her bust, while the 4 others stated they would prefer to minimise it.
- 2 girls said they prefer padding, whilst 3 girls preferred both underwire and padding to provide lots of support.
- 1 girl stated that she was quite annoyed with the lack of swimwear outfits that could be matched with large busted swimwear. The other 4 girls agreed that there is a lack of beach-cover up clothing catered for women with large busts.
- All 5 girls agreed that they prefer beach dresses rather then sarongs.
Measurements
Swimsuit Guide Measurements
(Bra's N Things Bra Sizing Guide)
Top
Size 10E
Underbust = 67-72cm
Bust = 92-94cm
Bottoms
Size 10
Hip = 92-97cm
Inspiration
During the first few weeks at Seafolly, I began researching different swimwear design concepts and current trends. I used the Seafolly swim lookbooks to look through previous and current designs made for big busts. Majority of these designs however, only catered for up to a DD cup size. My challenge was going to be modifying a design to make it suitable and supportive for an E-cup size.
When sourcing inspiration for my print design and colours to use on my swimsuit I used a website called WGSM. This website is an online fashion industry resource, trend and analysis service for the style industries. I was very fortunate to be able to access this website during my internship at Seafolly as it is very expensive and exclusive. |
Image 1.
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Mood Boards of Print Designs
Researching on WGSM, I found a lot of "blue bohemian" prints that were currently on-trend. Lots of Moroccan inspired prints were on the fashion runways around the world recently and especially coming into summer, these beach blue vibes are very fashionable
Image 2.
Image 3.
Current Trends in Swimwear Styles
When researching through the up-and-coming Seafolly lookbooks (SS15/16) I noticed a big trend in the racer-back crop top style swimwear top. I really liked this design because it looked fashionable and functional. I continued to investigate different designs of this style from different swimwear brands and began thinking about how I could make this top functional for a size 10E.
Image 10.
Market Survey (existing products)
During my research into existing big busted swimwear (DD+), I selected 3 tops available on the market and created a market survey. This market survey was completed by young Australian big busted females that I go to university with.
Survey Questions.
- Do you like the style of these tops? Which is your favourite?
- Do you think these tops are suitable for a fashionable young female in her 20's?
- Do you think these tops look supportive and comfortable?
- Do you like the colours and print designs of these tops?
- What don't you like about these tops?
- Which top would you most likely buy?
Survey Answers.
- All five ladies said that they did not really like the style of any of these tops. Two ladies picked the favourite as the first top and the other 3 ladies picked the second top.
- The ladies agreed that none of the tops looked fashionable or young in design. They suggested that the second top's pattern was probably the youngest looking print, but the styles of the swimwear looked more like underwear in the shape of a bra or dated old designs.
- All five ladies agreed that these tops looked supportive and comfortable due to their thick straps and visible underwire.
- The ladies were not overly fussed on the print designs, saying that the striped one was a bit boring, the rainbow one was a bit tacky and the blue one was just ugly.
- Things suggested by the ladies that they don't like about these tops were the old, dated designs, boring prints and bra-like styles.
- Four of the ladies said they would most likely buy the second top due to its colourful print, where as one girl stated she would buy the first top because she liked stripes.
Proposed Bohemian Print Design
While at Seafolly, I was able to access WGSM which allowed me to choose from original trendy prints. I found this print that I particularly liked and felt like had a bohemian feel. I experimented with changing the colours to light and dark blues.