Yahoo Sports Zonarch Discusses Taking Time for Little Things and Turning Swim Category on Its Head
Swimwear brand Zonarch is all about appreciating life — à la holiday. And that means being more honest, sustainable and ethical in the way we approach luxury swimwear.
On the surface, Zonarch tells the story of a “girl who is leaving the congestion and busyness of everyday life and reconnecting with her free-spirited essence and zest for life.” It’s a story that many women connect with, especially post-pandemic. According to Genevieve Andre de la Porte, founder and chief executive officer of Zonarch, it also signals that it’s the little things that can be dissected and done better.
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De la Porte started pursuing the reinvention of the way consumers holiday in September 2019 when she learned from working in the industry that swimwear as a category has been priced particularly high in relation to the cost and quality of production, telling WWD she didn’t go into the industry with any intention of starting a company. Instead, it was her passion for the swim and active category that drove her to fill the white space and a dedication that led to four years in research and development to get it right.
“I was working for a luxury swim brand and through the years of working for them I just absorbed everything that was going on in terms so speaking to thousands of women and what kept coming up was how much they spend and just loving what the category was doing,” de la Porte said. “People are traveling more and more because of social media but the main thing that stood out to everyone was a disconnect between the value and the price.”
On average, de la Porte said, women she was speaking with were seeing price tags of $250 to $300 on a piece. “I’m all about a luxury purchase that’s intentional and you can see value in,” she said. “But there’s a sort of disconnect in paying as much for something that’s very little fabric.”
To get a 360-degree view of what the industry looked like, de la Porte began exploring production from less expensive options in Indonesia to manufacturing in the U.S. Ultimately, she found the answer to providing women with high quality swimwear at lower price points was possible in a sort of “game of margins.”
“I figured out that I could spend five to seven times as much on my production to make sure that it’s the best quality,” de la Porte said. “It’s basically making things with disregard to cost, which is insane because most businesspeople would say ‘why would you do that?’ but I just felt like the margins and that capability was there.”
The challenge de la Porte put on herself included seeking out the best materials and going through the supply chain as much as possible to dissect it for different areas of quality control. Zonarch’s quality also includes the fit of every pieces, spanning from extra small to extra-large and utilizing fit models for every size — another added cost for the brand.
“I really wanted to feel like I had integrity behind every size and every fit,” she said. “Of course, that racks up the cost and most people that hear me say that I’m out of my mind but it’s important to me and it give me a confidence in the products that otherwise maybe I wouldn’t have.”
Having the brand made locally in Los Angeles (which also drives up costs significantly) means access to have a hand in the production more than any other option in the world. In addition to providing the highest quality, Zonarch believes in being a brand with integrity and has strict sustainability practices. Zonarch is created with no virgin materials and has a strict zero plastic policy. Looking ahead, de la Porte told WWD, she’s excited to keep diving in deeper, looking at how categories can be dissected and sharing more content that connects with Zonarch’s consumers.
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