The Story of Dos Gardenias: A Conversation with Brighdie Grounds and Dorothy Day
Serious, yet genuinely fun. Illustrates the atmosphere of our rivetingly meandering and podcast-worthy conversation with the two inspiring founders of Dos Gardenias,
Brighdie Grounds and Dorothy Day
“We’re only as good as the people we bring to the table.” Serious, yet genuinely fun. Illustrates the atmosphere of our rivetingly meandering and podcast-worthy conversation with the two inspiring founders of Dos Gardenias, Brighdie Grounds and Dorothy Day – “coast combers who set out to create a chic swimwear line that would stand alone in the swim market.”
P: Let’s start at the beginning…
DG: Didi and I met back when we were teenagers through a mutual friend in LA. At the time, I had a lingerie line called Brighdie which I modeled for, and Didi had a swimwear line called Puka. We went on to create SALT, a fashion and beach lifestyle magazine. We come from a design background, but also a publishing background, which helped us immensely with visuals.
The name came from sensory experiences throughout our lives, spanning from Hawaii, to Mexico and LA, and we wanted to breathe that concept into the brand as well. It took us at least two years to make it as high-end as we possibly could. We wanted to create something that is sexy, chic, and stays on.
P: What sets you apart?
DG: We always wanted to set ourselves apart from the trend, instead of following any existing one. Noticeably, we’re a little more edgy, and our line reflects that. We even create our own hardware for our Heavy Metal collection. We would create a moodboard, go deep into the archives and search for inspiration, and possible homages to the history of swimwear.
Swimsuits have been our uniform for most of our lives, after all.
P: What was the moment where you realized that you made the right decision?
DG: I think both of us will agree on this – when we launched at Barney’s. That was sort of our validation. To come from an established retailer – that was our defining moment. Visiting Barney’s in New York and seeing our name next to Dolce & Gabbana… it called for a champagne celebration later that evening.
P: Do you believe Econyl should be the industry standard at this point?
DG: With so much awareness in carbon footprint, designers would be amiss to not make Econyl the industry standard. Even though it took a while for it to reach the handmade luxury level. We’ve invested so much to create the fabric, we’re happy to use it for years to come.
Furthermore, a lot of our collection uses neoprene - as opposed to petroleum-based neoprene sourced from crude oil, our neoprene is manufactured out of limestone sourced from the mountains in Japan. It requires less energy for its extraction and lasts two to three times longer than petroleum-based neoprene.
Our goal is for our suits to last forever. We definitely want to be on the forefront of the upcycling movement.
P: What has this year been like for you?
DG: It actually started in Mexico, where we were trying to source new production facilities in order to create a more attainable line – while being a superior product, and thus opening a market. We love the suits and we want people to wear them, and we don’t want to sacrifice the luxury and quality.
We weren’t sure what was gonna happen when COVID hit. We were able to turn everything around when it comes to the logistics of our company. We have been able to do it on our own. We definitely feel lucky and blessed to come out of this the way we did. It was all about our employees being employed, and our business staying afloat – because we can do it ourselves. We’re only as good as the people we bring to the table.
We do virtual appointments, and we’re able to do private appointments at our flagship store in Malibu, which is what we wanted to do from the beginning.
P: Favorite Dos Gardenias pieces you like to wear yourself often?
DG: Didi wears Vicious, Rebel Rebel and Rio, and Roos, while I wear Darkstar, Wonder, Kascade, Stein and Blvd is my go-to Bikini combo. We both wear Zuma and Rio and Nymph Neoprene while surfing.
DIDI’S PICKS
BRIGHDIE’S PICKS
P: What are we looking forward to in the upcoming collection, and where do you draw inspiration for it?
DG: For R21, Dos Gardenias is going to expand on our square collection offering many additional shapes to round out a full square shaped capsule collection. Many of our colors will be specialty colors developed by Dos Gardenias. We will also be offering a lifestyle component with a neoprene beach bag and clutch line.
P: How do you envision the future of the swimwear industry? Has that vision changed as you went along?
DG: Obviously, we didn’t see this coming, but we did think that this is the future of our industry, and have knowingly or unknowingly strived to attain our current form. (the platform). We’ve been talking about going rogue for a while now, even pre-pandemic. We want to have a very curated retail clientele.
We think that Paraiso’s platform is a part of that future of the swimwear industry, and honestly – we’re surprised that everyone is not a part of it yet.
*Editor’s note – We would be amiss to not applaud Didi’s and Brighdie’s philanthropic endeavors, which they have made the foundation of their brand, not just an accessory. You can refer to their efforts on the Dos Gardenias website.
