Tights and bikinis from the land of the sun | Cuyo Newspaper - News from San Juan, Argentina and the world

Photos: collaboration

Going to a dressmaker to make a party dress, a simple shirt or pants to go to work, some clothes for the children, including tablecloths and even chinstraps in these times of Covid-19 was the usual thing in the sewing category. But tights and bikinis was not solid or safe ground for the local artisans. Until now, since at least four San Juan ventures have dared to take that step and have succeeded. To such an extent that there are many girls and women of all ages who wear designer and custom-made swimsuits this summer.

It is that according to all the seamstresses and designers of these very specific garments, the demand is growing and has a reason for being: the market cannot always satisfy in terms of measurements, comfort and designs. They, yes. They make them to order, with fabric that they print themselves or with the fabric that each client can provide. They have the breadth of combining prints, sizes and models according to the needs and taste of each person. They design for special sizes, including people who have had to undergo mastectomy and pregnant women, as well as babies and girls. They can be personalized by covering more here than there or leaving more or less skin exposed. And most importantly, their size tables range from XS to 130, so that no one is left without taking a dip, feeling like Marilyn Monroe, one of the Baywatch girls, a little mermaid, a summer goddess or simply someone who wants to enjoy the water.

Of course, the revolution seems to have come only for the female gender, since for men there is still no one who, in San Juan, makes bathing suits for them. No need to despair, it will appear. Meanwhile, one of the designer duos, the Rodríguez sisters, have already taken up the banner of not only making but also teaching courses so that anyone with a certain amount of ability and skill to work with lycra can have their mesh "made at home". " or even be the initial kick to sew it for third parties.

Very Woman

Verónica Pizarro lived it in her own flesh. She had a hard time finding the tights that fit her well and that she felt comfortable in. She wasn't the only one in her family who had to settle for what the swimwear market had to offer. In fact, her sister, when she lived in Miami, even sent her fabric -of which they still have many meters to make- so that she would make the two pieces for her and send them to her because there she only got very large models, very wide thongs, very closed and bikinis little tight to her figure.

Now Veronica makes tights not only for herself and her daughters, but for many other women. Including for girls and babies. Her granddaughter is one of her models, her favorite.

Encouraged by her mother, her seamstress (whom she saw every day since she was a girl turn a piece of cloth into the model of her dreams), Veronica studied Cut and Dressmaking but also discovered many secrets from the hand of tutorials on the Internet. . In Mar del Plata (where this woman from San Juan lived for 15 years) she began with the first molds and once settled in San Juan she was able to take a course in lingerie and tights. Here she was also presented to different provincial plans and with them she accessed the financing and subsidy for the first specific sewing machines since this entrepreneur is dedicated to making all kinds of textile products: for women, for men, for children and babies, linens and arrangements that are the ones that resurface the most in times of crisis. Now that she was able to buy a collarette (with which she can work and make stitches on stretchy fabrics) she has focused on swimsuits.

"I am delighted with tights because there are not many seamstresses or designers who are dedicated to this. I am fascinated to have found an area in which there are needs, many demands and few solutions. My garments are for real women, for young people but also for older ladies who find it hard to get their sizes," says the creative who makes lined garments and different models (bikinis, trikinis, one-pieces, underwired bras, strapless and shorts). She will soon begin to offer sublimated fabric tights.

Verónica is convinced that there is a great demand for this type of garment because people have not traveled or there are fewer who vacation outside the province, therefore people look for options here. So for her, it is a good opportunity for them to see the quality and the creative proposal. In addition to the price: her thongs cost from 500 to 800 pesos and the bras 750 pesos, while the one-pieces are available for 2000 pesos.

donetta luric

The sisters Gena and Tamara Rodríguez have models of swimsuits for all types of women and to cover all demands. In fact, they are not limited to the youngest and adolescents, but they have devised -and continue to devise- proposals for fatter, larger women, who prefer to cover themselves more, they also have a line for girls, but they also make designs for other types of needs, such as pregnant women (for those who make one-piece leggings with a cut in the lower bust where loose fabric is left in the belly area) and even for cancer patients who had to undergo a mastectomy, for whom they make garments for the pool with an internal pocket to place the mammary prostheses and with cotton lycra linings -different from an ordinary mesh- and with special seams so that it does not bother or cause damage to the surgically intervened area since it is very sensitive.

But that is not all. They are not limited to the world of clothing and design for their brand Donetta Luric, but also teach third parties, people with or without prior knowledge of sewing, all the secrets of metié underwear and swimwear. Of course they can do this because both have a degree that supports the knowledge they transmit -they are clothing designers-, a lot of experience and, at the same time, they understand that the more entrepreneurs there are, the more local market will be generated.

Four years ago they created the enterprise, since before they were dedicated to making hospital uniforms and clothing for graduates. They had a captive niche in Jáchal. Tamara's thesis to graduate - based on lingerie and corsetry - was the hinge to make a change in the field. From that moment on, her business incorporated underwear and with it, also tights, as an alternative with the arrival of the summer season. "One day we told ourselves that we had to try making one-pieces and bikinis. And it was the best decision we could have made. We currently have more than 15 mesh models, we have a lot of industrial machinery to produce (6 machines) that allow us to do what the people want and need. Including incorporating details such as studs, ruffles, closures and all kinds of elements. We have stamping machines, printers, which allow us to offer personalized swimsuits," says Gena, who details that they work molds from size 85 to 130 .

Animal Inc.

One is a clothing designer and as such she began to specialize in sportswear for men and women as well as accessories that include scarves and even face masks. The other is a designer and seamstress of wedding dresses. Together they made a perfect combo: Emiliana Lorea contributes the design, the cutting of the pieces and the printing and Mari Romo, the preparation, the assembly and the assembly under the Inc.Animal logo.

"Our products are innovative and original: they are reversible leggings and bikinis and the prints are author's design. We have a catalog of up to 20 different prints to combine with the reverse, which is generally black or white. In other words, you can choose the drawing , the color and the models.That does not mean that we cannot do what people want, for example if they bring us a model that they like or a print of their own, we materialize it up to size XL or according to their measurements that we can take in our store. workshop", says Emiliana.

The duo offers, among many possibilities, adjustable bikinis (with straps on the sides that adjust and fit according to the size), options for straps, necklines and backs, with high panties, with culottes-type panties, which are not always found available in business. "What we most want is to please so many older people or young girls who did not dare to wear a bikini or had never worn one," she acknowledges. They also offer other types of hard-to-find garments such as long-sleeved bodysuits or t-shirts to cover up from the sun, in lycra, so used by children but that are also useful for adults. "We make them from 2 months up to large sizes. They are a very useful garment for men and women who cannot be exposed to the sun," she explains.

Delivery times range between 4 and 7 days due to growing demand. The singing voice of Inc.Animal tells that they sell more than 50 garments per week, which prevents them from making a stock of bikinis (they sell them from 1,700 to 2,700 pesos) and the one-pieces are around 2,800 pesos, you can also buy alone a bra or just the panties.

Viglione

Tania Viglione, who uses her last name as a distinctive mark for her brand, had managed in a short time to cover a fairly wide fashion niche with her party dresses, urban ensembles and accessories. But she had a pending matter: venture into underwear to complete the entire wardrobe of a woman. She had the knowledge because in addition to having studied and worked in Europe for different firms, she had taken courses in lingerie. In other words, her theory was clear, she needed to put it into practice.

Precisely in 2020 she took that step that, in turn, was accompanied by the printing of the print of her own fabric with drawings that refer to femininity and nature. And as one thing leads to another, the bodices and panties were also transformed into tights.

"First I made underwear that is quite specific: the panties are briefs, high-waisted and the bodice has something sexy with transparencies, but the priority is that it be comfortable, sporty. From that line of lingerie and almost with the Bathing suits were born from the same molding industry. At first I only made bikinis and later, due to demand, one-pieces", says the designer who defines her products as vintage-inspired, since her leitmotif is the 60s-70s, decades that I personally he likes them because of the stamp they have left on fashion.

Made in lycra, lined to prevent them from showing through and with all the details so that the fabric does not stretch when wet, but they fit perfectly. Tania takes care of every step of the process that she confesses is handmade since the finishes are by hand. Viglione swimsuits have a particularity: they are available plain or with the fabric printed by the designer based on the sketches made by the plastic artist Mariana Esquivel. Such is the furor achieved by this fabric that the entrepreneur is already planning to repeat the initiative in 2021 with drawings by other local plastic artists.

She does from size XS to double XL, she even takes measurements because she recognizes that women do not always adhere to these standards and that they can have a measurement of bust and another of hips. She can make a plain part and combine it with a patterned part or reproduce a favorite model of hers. The two pieces cost between 2,500 and 2,800 pesos.