KNIT WIT

Discovering Ashley Paige’s crochet swimwear

“It wasn’t supposed to be a boutique. It was going to be a design space,” says swimsuit designer Ashley Paige as she begins the grand tour of her sunlit workshop turned storefront in the heart of Hollywood. Ashley originally envisioned 1616 Cahuenga as a creative space where stylists, friends and other designers could get together and talk shop, but as demand for her exclusive hand-knit bikinis grew, she couldn’t keep people from dropping in. Now the colorful five-year-old space, adorned with whimsical artwork and racks of teeny knit bikinis, bags and apparel, is a destination store for jet-setters and Hollywood celebrities. She’s become the go-to gal for sexy, unique swimwear and is the first designer to offer nothing but knit bikinis.

The Pensacola, Fla., native is a self-described “bikini girl.” While she was working toward her degree in marketing and fashion design at the American College for the Applied Arts, her mission became clear. “Everyone else was sketching gowns; I was doing bikinis,” says the 36-year-old. “It’s what I was meant to do.” The young entrepreneur designed and sold Lycra bikinis to supplement her income until she finished school and moved to New York, where she contemplated the next chapter in her life.

“In New York, I was doing the corporate thing and not really fitting in,” she remembers. “I started missing my bikinis.” Inspired by a vintage knit bikini she found in a thrift store, she set out on a research mission to re-create the look with more water-friendly materials. (Cotton doesn’t work because it absorbs too much water, making for a heavy, saggy bikini. Not a good thing for a girl who wants to keep her privates, er, private.) Once she found fibers with just the right amount of stretch, she went to work on her now-famous Beach Undie, which remains one of her top sellers to this day.

The Beach Undie, along with the Tie-kini, forms the backbone of her business, which now includes an array of gorgeous, intricately designed one- and two-piece suits that may either be hand- or loom-knit, or both. The inspiration for the sexy, California-girl styles comes from Ashley’s love of all things ’70s (including her ’70’s-era Mach 1 muscle car). She fondly remembers it as a happy, simpler time when women were carefree and naturally beautiful. Her distinctive styles artfully evoke this laid-back, old-school vibe.

A lot of love is crafted into each piece, and the retail value reflects that, with prices starting upwards of $300. “We’re a very niche, small business, but we like it like that,” says the designer. “We want to keep it that way. You can’t mass-produce something like that.”

As such, Ashley Paige caters to an elite crowd, with a celebrity following including Kate Hudson, Carmen Electra and Christina Aguilera, among others. She also styles for movies, including Ashley Scott in Into the Blue and Naomi Watts in I Heart Huckabees. She’ll happily create a custom order for those trendsetting beach gals who want a unique design.

And for those knitters out there who want to rock the Ashley Paige look but can’t afford the real deal, she’s written Sexy Little Knits: Chic Designs to Knit and Crochet (Potter Craft, 2006), a collection of her classic looks for the more experienced knitter. “Everything in the book is sassy,” says the designer. The book is divided into three sections, featuring sexy beachwear, street duds and cozy nighties. “Girls who want to be my competitors, they have everything they need in this book,” she laughs. “And yes, I did write everything in the book.”

Next up on the Ashley Paige agenda: a line of Lycra swimsuits that will launch in July and be available in high-end department stores such as Bloomingdale’s. Ashley is excited about the new direction and says the line “is going to be kick-ass.”

While Ashley’s business is now a bona fide success, the slender blonde remains grounded and humbly grateful for her many achievements, and she channels that energy into helping others. “It was very important for me to merge something good into this nightmarish business world,” she says. “I just didn’t want to be in the rat race. I wanted to give back and be involved in the environment.”

To that end, Ashley holds animal adoptions in her boutique every Sunday as well as brings homeless dogs to her runway shows. So far, she’s placed over 300 animals in loving homes. “A great day for me is selling a couple of bikinis and finding a home for a dog or cat,” says the animal lover. “That’s the perfect day at Ashley Paige.”

Words by Jessica Ridenour