Local Swimwear Company Expands To Larger Facility

Founder and designer Keri Ogden (left) with president of Elle Mer Swim, Stephen Haugse. Photo Courtesy: Elle Mer Swim

Elle Mer, the young proponent of Maui-made swimwear, announced it has expanded its operations to a larger sewing facility in Pāʻia that includes a retail shop in the front.

Customers can now watch as bikini’s are being made through an extra-large glass barn door that separates the sewing facility to the retail front.

“We are so happy to be in Pāʻia, it is hub of authentic creative activity and a great community to be a part of,” says president of Elle Mer Swim, Stephen Haugse. “Our larger facility can now fulfill and ship orders to our wholesale accounts in just a few days, meaning they can order Monday and have product Friday. Having owned retail stores in the most populous location in the state (Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki) myself, I can say that this is a huge benefit from a retail buyer’s point of view”.

For the last four years the swimwear company has been refining its manufacturing process, ensuring that when the moment came to come to market, the fit and quality of the product would be top of the line. From using the best swimwear fabric available to creating styles and designs that resonate with their market, Elle Mer’s swimwear is an up and coming challenger to “Hawaiʻi” brands that manufacture their product exclusively overseas.

Founder and designer Keri Ogden, born and raised on the Big Island, grew up wearing countless swimwear brands and experimenting with every bikini style. Tired and disillusioned with expensive swimwear that didn’t even stand up to the task of swimming, she set out to create a better product. What she discovered was that most of the brands that market themselves as Hawaiian, don’t actually benefit Hawaiʻi in any way.

By creating Elle Mer, it’s Ogden’s goal to create a desirable swim label and to build up the community through fashion and business.