Summer Series: Mprint Swimwear

 

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who created the hippest, coolest bikini line… And fell in love.

The boy is my nephew. The girl is his girlfriend. The bikini line is Mprint Swimwear.

Together Cody and Suzanne design the bathing suits that everyone’s talking about. It’s not a tattoo, it’s a tantoo! Check it out…

Lovesick Santa Barbara Suit

(inspired by moi!)

 

 

 

Shave Ice Suit

 

 

 

 Lovesick Malibooty Suit

 

 

 

 Tangerine Sunrise Suit

 



 

 

Honu in Sea Mist Suit

 

 Sea Hippy

 

 

Obviously these suits are not for all of us (because I’m over 20 years old, kinda fat and have a feeding tube), but as they say, “The kids love it.”

The endearing part about this story is about its founders, Cody and Suzanne. Cody is my sister’s firstborn son (she has three boys, bless her heart). Cody’s father is Dennis Dragon of The Surf Punks. Don’t know who they are? Well, they happen to be the quintessential beach band, famous in Southern California as the coolest band alive…. Back in the day. They coined the phrase, “Locals Only and No Fat Chicks.” Lovely, I know. Cody was born and raised on the beach (Santa Barbara, Malibu and Hawaii), blonde hair, bright blue eyes, sandy feet and hardly ever out of a bathing suit or without his boogie board… Just like his father, Dennis. I’m pretty sure there was a pre-wedding argument over whether or not Dennis would be allowed to wear his swim trunks to the wedding. Thankfully, my sister won that argument, but barely. My sister tried to make Cody, and Dennis for that matter, preppy handbook WASP’s like herself, but it didn’t take. Cody and Dennis lived for the beach, the surf and the sunshine and hardly wore shoes. It’s in their blood.

 

Cody and Dennis Malibu, California

 

Cody Laguna Beach, California

 Surf Punks Album circa 1982

 

Cody had a rough few teenage years, trying to find his place in the world, and as we all know, it’s not always easy. My sister wanted Cody to go to college and probably be an investment banker. Cody’s father probably wanted him to go into the music business. Cody didn’t know what he wanted to do and there was a lot of push and pull, advice given, advice ignored until Cody just hit rock bottom.

My sister never gave up trying to point Cody in the right direction (I just wanted to punch him) but sometimes kids need to fall, get bruised, pick themselves up and march forward.

Enter Suzanne. She is a kind, sweet, darling young entrepreneur, wise beyond her tender years. Suzanne met Cody and just believed in him. She gave him the confidence, the stability and the love (not to imply that my sister didn’t) to pull himself up out of his rut and focus on a goal as only a gorgeous girlfriend can do. (Sometimes no matter how much a mother can mother, sometimes it takes an outside force to change a direction.) That goal happened to be Mprint Swimwear. Suzanne had the brilliant idea for the bikini line and Cody helped her take it to a new level. It turns out that Cody is a great businessman. Who knew! Apparently all the years he was busy being a douche bag teenager, he had his eyes and ears open to the world and everything that my sister ever preached to him actually sunk in. It’s like he had a built-in business degree, marketing degree, finance degree and web developer degree not to mention an eye for fashion design and a respect for social media. Suzanne and Cody make the perfect team. Trust me, our whole family let out a collective exhale when we finally realized that, “Cody’s got this.” This was his calling… He combined his love for the beach life with his business acumen and together with Suzanne, Mprint Swimwear just keeps reaching for the stars. I could not be more proud of my nephew, Cody. He has matured into a responsible, well mannered, driven, charming young man that I absolutely adore. By the way, I have six nephews and one niece and they are all delicious. #LuckyAuntie.

 Suzanne Silva, Founder and CEO, Mprint Swimwear

 Cody Dragon, COO, Mprint Swimwear

 

It’s always summer somewhere and Cody and Suzanne just keep coming up with more brilliant ideas season after season. A couple summers ago Cody and I did some brainstorming and we thought it would be cute to have a maternity line of swimsuits. One piece black strapless suit with a little Mprint baby foot cut out for the belly? What do you think?

Because Cody and Suzanne are cool, they are offering everyone a 10% discount off their first MPrint swimsuit. Call your daughters, nieces and (age-appropriate) granddaughters! Just go to the website, www.mprintswimwear.com, choose your favorite suit, check out and use promotional code: Ellie.

There is one more week of summer so let’s milk it! Stay tuned for the next Summer Series. Hint: pescado.