Last Christmas, I was on a mission to find cute, sun-safe swimwear for my daughter. She couldn’t help but envy her brothers’ cool board shorts, wondering why her swimsuits always seemed so short and skimpy.
And seriously, why are young girls' swimsuits so revealing?
She’d also been dealing with chafing from sand at the beach, so I set out to find some longer swim shorts that would:
- Prevent chafing,
- Look good, and
- Include a matching rashie for sun protection.
But despite my efforts—countless steps at Westfield, scouring department stores, discount retailers, surf shops, and endless Google searches—I found nothing.
Yes, I’m a bit picky about prints and colors, and my daughter’s at that tricky "in-between" age—past unicorns and frills, but still cartwheeling on the sand yet starting to define her own style.
In the end, I had to settle for Vaseline to prevent chafing. But it got me thinking—why is it so hard to find nice sun-safe swimwear for tween girls? It was peak summer, just before Christmas, and stores should’ve been stocked with options. But they weren’t.
That’s when it hit me: there’s a real gap in the swimwear market for girls aged 8–12. And that’s how Island Crush Australia was born.
We designed some comfy longer-length swim shorts that are not only cartwheel and bodyboarding friendly, but also help prevent chafing. Add a long sleeve rashie and a matching crop top all in UPF 50+ fabric and our first summer swim collection came to life.
My daughter and her friends road-tested the designs, giving us feedback that helped shape the final product. They also chose their favourite colours and patterns.
My talented friend Carla is an artist and created beautiful beachy watercolors that we transformed into our custom prints.
Every girl has her unique style, so we designed the collection to be mix-and-match, giving them the freedom to style it their way.
We truly hope you love the new Island Crush Swimwear collection as much as we do x
