All right, ladies; the time has come. You may dread it for weeks, procrastinate to death, and hope that you will be ready this time, but do most women ever really feel ready to bear all in a swimsuit? Well, thanks to SHAN Swimwear you can end your agonizing! Leave it up to SHAN to provide us with the ultimate in sexy, flattering resort swimwear.
SHAN was created by Chantel Levesque and founded in 1985. Based out of Quebec, Canada they have created a niche in resort swimwear apparel. Specializing in swimsuit and inner wear for women and men, one of the keys to SHAN's growing success is a highly energetic mix of creativity and keen business sense. In recent years, SHAN has gained huge international success and has become a recipient for numerous awards that reflect public and industry recognition.
We talked with SHAN designer Chantal Levesque about what makes SHAN special.
HILARY Magazine: What type of women wears SHAN? What kind of women do you design SHAN swimwear for?
Chantel Levesque: The SHAN woman is modern, dynamic, and active yet more elegant than casual. However these qualities can apply to a young woman of 25 as much as a mature woman of 55. Therefore their needs vary. The mature customer, who has had children, more than likely, will want a swimsuit with support or construction. At SHAN, the strength of the collection is that the same sexy swimsuits are always offered with or without support.
I am not interested in the active look of swimwear per say. I design a collection with one philosophy: the art of dressing up in a resort environment. Therefore I create an entire wardrobe starting from the swimsuit, then the cover-ups and the accessories. It becomes a complete wardrobe for the beach or resort.
HILARY Magazine: Why did you think women would be interested in wearing your swimwear?
Chantel Levesque: Every season's collection is an evolution from the previous collections, offering a continuity that the customers seek and adore. In previous years we introduced hand painted graffiti
swimsuits to the critical acclaim of retailers and fashion stylists
worldwide. The following year our inspiratin come from the greatest artists such as Dali and VanGogh.
I believe that my customers have followed me from the beginning and agree with my evolution. When they buy luxury goods, they expect consistency. They also appreciate the longevity and timeless styling of my collection.
HILARY Magazine: How do you feel SHAN swimwear stands out from other competing swimwear brands?
Chantel Levesque: The major difference between SHAN and other swimwear brands is that we
offer a complete collection at many levels: structure, hand finish, and revolutionary fabrics.
All of the above are offered in every new SHAN collection, whereas other
swimwear brands will mainly focus on one of the above mentioned. We offer a
cutting edge image with top-quality production and finish.
The customer has the final say, and what they absolutely love about SHAN is
that our 2 piece swimsuits are sold as separates. They can mix and match,
choose a different size from top to bottom. They have the opportunity to
buy their swimsuits according to their own specific needs and by doing so
they are creating their own personalized swimsuit.