RUBBER SOUL

Designer, Alexandra Cassanti rethinks the wetsuit
By Crystal Meers

Alexandra Cassaniti has been known to follow the sun. “When things go wrong,” the 26-year-old designer says, “I think, where in the world is it summer right now? I’m going there!” But since the launch of her eponymous line of accessories in March, Cassaniti has made summertime a year-round privilege, hemispheres be dammed.

The beach-friendly collection is the result of equal parts inspiration, perspiration, and fierce tenacity. When she got the idea for the Bagpack, a bike-rider friendly backpack that could convert into a purse as well as a satchel, she went to work, hand-cutting and hand-screening fabric, and overseeing the complex sewing process. Not long after, the concept for her graphic Face It shades got stuck in her head and stayed for two whole years until she found the right dead stock frames to pair with her U.V.-protective, flash-finish mirrored lenses. “I get an idea,” she laughs, “and it doesn’t go away until I do it.”

After relocating to Los Angeles, Cassaniti unveiled her biggest idea yet: a line of high quality, purposeful objects for every day.

Her first tightly edited collection featured only the essentials: the Beachin’ Wedge, a perfect slip-on with a molded rubber sole and metallic insole, in black patent vinyl or gold-flecked cork; and the adjustable tote and signature four-pocket bagpack styles in two original hand-screened and painted patterns, Pink Eye and Brush Stroke, and hand-painted lightning bolt surfboards. Come fall, her two new patterns, Hairy and Stripe, will rejuvenate the Cassaniti classics and a slew of new canvas offerings, including bags designed to attach to a bicycle’s handle bars, a padded laptop case, a coin purse, a pencil pouch, and the self-explanatory Endless Possibilities bag. What Cassaniti doesn’t do herself, she hires skillful craftsmen and ethical production houses to execute—whether it’s the small factory of rustic mountaineers in Minnesota who construct the bags or master shaper Craig Hollingsworth who shapes her custom boards. “We’re losing the hand in everything in our life,” she laments. “I want the hand involved in everything I do, to somehow preserve the art and craft.”

Her latest triumph: wetsuits. An avid surfer for 14 years (she did grow up in the waters of Oahu and San Diego, and was a proud San Dieguito Academy High School surf team Mustang), Cassaniti placed as much emphasis on performance and durability as she did on the styling of the neoprene pieces, skipping the classic human sausage silhouette in favor of flattering and feminine shapes. All the entirely reversible long sleeve one-pieces have a 70s Bond-girl fit; the bralette, a 30s Riviera feel; the waterproof beret, a French twist. Partial to hitting the waves in the ruffle tank top and back pocket short, Cassaniti sees the neoprene pieces as landlubbers, too. “The bralette can be worn under overalls, with a low cut top, or as a top on its own,” she says. “I picture the leggings being a must-have for cold, snowy days in NYC. I’d wear them royal blue side out.”

But even in the dead of frigid old winter, one look at Cassaniti’s sunny, funny collection and you can practically hear her saying “It’s always summer somewhere.”

For more information or to shop, go to alexandracassaniti.com.