Dewey native launches Bare Native Swimwear

The morning Aileen Hearn’s new line of bikinis was scheduled to make its public debut, it was scorching hot.

Hearn’s Bare Native Swimwear bikinis were being modeled at noon, Aug. 13, as part of AlleyOop’s Vibes Fest in Dewey Beach, and she showed up early to set up her tent and portable changing room.

“It was so hot, which made it a little more stressful,” she said. “If it had been just a little breezy. I thought I was going to get heat exhaustion. I was stressing out a bit.”

But, like anyone who has spent their entire life in Dewey, Hearn let the Atlantic Ocean soothe what ailed her.

“I ran and jumped in the ocean,” said Hearn. “The stress of the moment washed away, and things went smooth from there. The girls looked super cute, and the people who came by the booth really liked the bikinis.”

Hearn, a 2014 graphic design and advertising graduate of the University of Delaware, started her new bikini line in November 2015 and launched her website, barenativewear.com, in May. She said she made her first bikini at 16.

“I grew up at the beach. I’ve always been obsessed with bikinis,” she said. “It’s always been a passion.”

That passion almost landed her a job at Kaikini Bikini in Kauai, Hawaii. She interviewed for a job, but when it came time to decide if she was going to move out there, Hearn said her family persuaded her to not spend all her money on a move nearly 5,000 miles away. Instead, she said, they convinced her to start her own line of bikini wear.

“Just do it and start this. See where it goes,” was the message Hearn got from her family.

Hearn said one of her aunts taught her the basics of sewing when she was in high school, but in the early months of the business, she said she spent a lot of time online, watching instructional videos of sewing methods and then practicing.

“I’ve basically had to teach myself how to sew,” she said.

Hearn doesn’t have a shop. All of her bikinis are made on a table set up in her bedroom. Underneath the table are bikini patterns and fabric squares. On top of the table are a sewing machine, spools of brightly colored thread and spools of elastic. Up against her wall and lying behind her bed are bolts of fabric.

Each one of Hearn’s bikinis is custom made to order, which means if the person is local, Hearn said, she’ll meet up with the customer and measure them herself. Online customers are asked to choose their traditional size – S, M, L, XL – and then add a few additional measurements – band size, the widest part of their hips and bra size.

“I need it all,” she said, explaining there are petite women who can be busty.

Hearn said all her bikinis are reversible and limited edition. “When a style of fabric runs out, it’s gone. I’ll order something new.”

Hearn said her bikinis are meant to be worn. She said she wants them to look cute and be practical. It’s something that can be worn on the beach to look good or paddling in a canoe, she said.

“Just the other day, I got a text from a friend who was excited because she was doing headstands in her bikini and her boobs didn’t fall out,” said Hearn.

Hearn has put her college education to use with her marketing. She said a lot of her advertising has been on social media, and she said that was how she was able to get a few girls from across the country to model her swimwear. She said she put it out there that she was looking for brand reps and shortly afterward a girl from California, a girl from the Midwest and another girl on a cross-country road trip were modeling Bare Native Swimwear bikinis.

“It’s great because their friends see them and the circle grows,” said Hearn, who has filled bikini orders from as far away as Hawaii.

To date, there are four patterns that Hearn is making. The first, she said, was called the “Dewey top.”

“It’s where I grew up,” she said.

Hearn said she definitely wants to expand – maybe into local shops, but she said that means more expenses, like a new location, hiring seamstresses, and most importantly, she said, she’d have to pre-produce her swimwear.

“It would be nice to expand, just not yet,” she said.

Nearly a year after deciding to pursue her dreams and not move to Hawaii, Hearn said she’s happy with the progress she’s made and doesn’t regret the decision.

“I’ve done this all on my own. It’s exciting,” she said. “Besides, like my dad said, I can still go to Hawaii for photo shoots.”

For more information on Hearn’s bikini line, Bare Native Swimwear, go to barenativewear.com.