Olympic swimmer Leisel Jones is planning to make a splash in fashion this summer with the launch of a new activewear brand.
All I Sea Active Swimwear will offer fitness enthusiasts and athletes clothing to easily switch between training in water and on dry land.
“We live a really active lifestyle, living in Bondi right near the beach,” the Sydney-sider told our friends at SmartCompany
With co-founders Keri Kita and Scott Henderson, Jones is working to build a global trend and community around this new category of fitness clothing.
“We want to nail Australia first because that’s what we know and what we love,” Jones says.
“We’d love to be a global company, we want to be the biggest and best in the active swimwear market.
“We want people to be happy and live our brand.”
The trio of fitness enthusiasts has personally designed the All I Sea range to enable people to switch easily between the gym and the beach.
“It was something that was really needed,” says Jones.
All I Sea will cater to anyone from sport professionals, triathlon athletes and volleyball players through to casual gym junkies.
“We live and breathe for our customers because that’s who we are,” says Jones.
The brand’s first range will feature women’s two-pieces with razor or crossover backs, a one-piece, men’s compression shorts and merino wool singlets.
“We’re going for more of a swimwear side of things but it can do both, you can wear it on your Bronte to Bondi walk very comfortably but you can also go for a swim afterwards,” she says.
Jones says the range of swimwear will be highly technical and functional but also feel and look beautiful.
“I think one-pieces are making a huge comeback,” she says.
“People are realising they want to be comfortable, you don’t have to wear a bikini if you’re not comfortable with it.”
All I Sea products will be available from September this year both in stores and online.
To fund the business, Jones and her team have closed a funding round for an undisclosed amount from private investors.
“It’s just a small start for us, we didn’t want to take on too much,” says Jones.
“It was really just our first round to get us to product development.”
Starting a business has been a great adventure for Jones who is now a lap away from her professional sporting days.
“I was coming out of swimming and retiring and I always wanted to go into business,” Jones says, who admits making the leap is “a bit scary”.
“I’ve been very lucky with the people that I work with that a, I really like them and b, they’re also new and we’re all learning together,” she says.
This article first appeared on SmartCompany.