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La Plage
La Plage at Birkdale Village
La Plage
As a designer swimwear boutique housing three very different labels, LaPlage Swimwear has a reputation for offering every client who walks in the door a perfectly fitting solution to swimwear shopping stress! The new Birkdale Village store is owned and managed by Tara Grinna Swimwear and is one of four retail locations in the Carolinas.
Tara Grinna, an internationally recognized designer for many years, creates swimwear for the “real woman.” She uses mostly Italian fabrics and exclusive prints to create a variety of styles to fit and flatter most figure types.
“I have always been a strong believer of swim separates, even when the rest of the world argued this concept wasn’t necessary for the contemporary/missy customer,” Grinna said. “There just wasn’t such a thing as designer separates when I began to design swimwear.”
Now the rest of the swimwear industry has followed suit, literally, but as in all things - the original is always the best. With tops offered in cup sizes from AA to F, bottoms ranging from skimpy bikinis to full covering skirts and everything in between, it is easy to fall in love with the fit and look of a Tara Grinna Swimsuit.
“We also offer great fitting one-piece suits and a variety of coordinating cover ups. Our goal is to make shopping for a swimsuit easy and no longer something women dread,” Grinna said. “The Tara Grinna customer is one of the most loyal because the feel of the suit is just different - no one takes the care in the manufacturing process like we do in our own factory right here in the Carolinas. In a world where cheap is the focus on manufacturing nowadays, we are stubbornly set in our ways and very proud to be producing a top quality garment right here in the USA.”
Tara’s daughter Kirsti has inherited her mother’s talent and began designing her own line of bikinis at the age of 14. Her first collection called KGB (initials standing for Kirsti Grinna Bikinis, while also hinting at a theme based on a controversial Russian past) hit the industry with a blast. Her Miami runway show featured models wearing bikinis with Russian KGB hats and fur boots walking to the beat of Russian music. This concept was so different and alluring that she literally became an overnight success, and if you think you have seen this image before you have.
A suit from her first collection, as well as her concept of pairing bikini and fur was featured in the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, an honor equivalent to receiving an Oscar in the world of swimsuit design. KGB was also featured on their television show, The Making of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model, making her the youngest designer ever to receive such an honor.
Within three years, she created another label that was equally successful and featured once again on the website of Sports Illustrated. The newer label, Kirsti Grinna Collection is a more upscale, luxurious version offering Italian specialty fabrics and unique hardware and linings that are truly elegant and sophisticated for the contemporary customer who demands the best in designer fashion. KGB has kept to its original theme of bold, edgy, graphic prints and bright solids. Both collections offer styles from tiny Brazilian cuts to fuller covering silhouettes. Sizes range from XS to XL and D-cup tops. Kirsti also originated the concept of “Volup2us” sizing for those girls who have more curvy figures.
“There is just nothing else out there in the market of designer quality swimwear that focuses on girls with curves,” Kirsti said. “To me that just didn’t make any sense because there are just as many young girls and women out there with gorgeous voluptuous bodies than those with model thin bodies who all want to look great in a bikini. Why not focus on both figure types when I design a collection?”
These “Volup2us” sizes are available in many styles and fabrics throughout both collections.
LaPlage Swimwear, with its newest location in Birkdale Village, is open year-round, and will feature beautiful swimwear from these two internationally recognized designers as well as accessories from other top designers in the form of sandals, bags, jewelry, and sunglasses.
As a full-service designer boutique, laplage will also offer custom fabrics and special one-of-a-kind designs by designer Kirsti Grinna, who is now residing in Birkdale. She is available inside the store to assist clients with either ready-to-wear or couture swimwear. An appointment is recommended for any custom design work.
Kirsti initiated the opening of the Birkdale Village store.
“My mother began her career in custom swimwear and learned exactly what her customer base needed by listening to each and every client with whom she worked, and I wanted to come here for this same reason,” she said. “I believe it is of utmost importance to listen to everyone’s wants and needs - and only then can I deliver exactly what my customer wants in a swimsuit.
I knew the Charlotte area would be a great area, and fell in love with Lake Norman and Birkdale Village. I will be living here and staffing the store throughout the winter and spring and will be working with clients individually and designing especially for them. It only takes a couple of days to have a suit sewn and shipped here from our factory, so the time between consultation and delivery is quite fast.”
“Since opening in early December, I have already done quite a lot of custom work for those who want a one-of-a-kind piece, and I look forward to doing lots more! I am excited to also be doing limited edition suits that will not be wholesaled to other stores, but confined to our own boutiques. This means that the customer is not going to see anyone else in her swimsuit!”
Prices at LaPlage Swimwear begin at about $90 for ready-to-wear swimsuits. Please ask about our VIP cards and additional offerings for loyal clients and Birkdale residents and employees.
Call for any additional information or to schedule an appointment at (704) 655-2999.
Tara Grinna Swimwear, KGB and Kirsti Grinna Collection can also be found online at http://www.laplageswimwear.com/.
Individual labels can be viewed at: http://www.kgbswimwear.com/, http://www.kgcollection.com/, http://www.taragrinna.com/.
All labels are sold throughout the United States and abroad and all other inquires should be directed to rune@taragrinna.com.
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