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Letarte Swimwear has scored its second cover in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, with 2013 cover model Kate Upton appearing in the Maui-based company’s sporty mesh side-tie bikini bottom, paired with a white parka in the unlikeliness of swimsuit venues, Antarctica.
But that doesn’t mean designer Lisa Letarte Cabrinha, who’s already working on the company’s 2014 cruise collection, has had much time to celebrate.
"Sometimes I want to step away for a couple of months, but I don’t have time to do that because I wouldn’t have time to make the samples. You really have to keep the ball rolling," she said.
Cabrinha, who is married to world-class big-wave surfer, windsurfer and kitesurfer Pete Cabrinha, founded the company with her sister Michele Letarte Ross, who runs the sales and marketing part of the business from Connecticut. Letarte Swimwear is growing rapidly, opening boutiques in Connecticut and Palm Beach, Fla., a seasonal shop in Nantucket, and adding a line of cashmere coverups and hoodies — all in a span of two years.
She said staying busy meant sending fewer suits for SI consideration, about 25 instead of the 50 she sent for consideration in past years. Some styles are pulled from merchandise on hand, but for the most part, Cabrinha receives SI guidelines outlining destinations and models’ coloring, and starts creating "suits accordingly, to fit the shoots."
Even so, it’s always a gamble.
"The shoot has to come together the way they want. The lighting has to be right, the model has to look good in the suit. There are a lot of factors that go into making it happen. Even if they say your suit got in, you still have to wonder, is it a whole suit, is it a string? You have to wait till it comes out."
This year, only the bottom half of Letarte’s $180 bikini was shown. (It has a matching triangle top that can be viewed in the online version of the magazine, at sportsillustrated.cnn.com/swimsuit.) Cabrinha said she was on the road when a friend called to say the cover had leaked Feb. 8, ahead of the Feb. 12 official release. When she checked online that night, she thought the bottom looked like her mesh swimsuit, designed to echo the trendy perforated leather look of street fashion. It’s part of a kitesurf/surf collection featuring high-tech fabrics and high-performance silhouettes for active lifestyles.
She spent a sleepless night waiting to get confirmation from one of her SI contacts, and said it was a nice surprise to win the coveted spot.
Letarte first made the cover in 2005, with Carolyn Murphy — the recent host of "Project Runway All-Stars" — appearing in a red bikini. Letarte swimsuits have appeared in the swimsuit issue for 13 consecutive years.
For a small company like Letarte, each appearance has led to a bump in business.
"Some people really want the suit because women say, ‘I want to look like that.’ And we’ve got men saying, ‘I want that for my girlfriend’ or wife because they really liked the cover.
"You’re not necessarily gonna sell the suit in the magazine, but stores call us. It’s great for brand recognition, because Sports Illustrated is not a fashion magazine, it’s not a household magazine, and it’s not a home magazine. You see it in doctor’s and dentist’s offices, you see it everywhere."
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