California Apparel News

Meaghan Scott was hanging out in Brazil in the middle of studying to become a nurse when she decided “to rip off the Band-Aid.”

“I just figured if I was going to take a risk in life, now was the time,” she said, remembering when she decided to dump her formal studies and start her own swimwear line.

She returned to the United States in 2010, moved back to California’s Ventura County and began plotting how to develop a swimwear label she now calls Boys + Arrows, a name that comes from letting go of your fears and enjoying your strengths.

Scott’s year and a half of creative development saw her gathering up all her swimsuits and dissecting them like fish and frogs. She took sewing classes, made her own patterns and took courses on how to start a new business through Women’s Economic Ventures. “I picked anyone’s brain,” Scott recalled.

With a slew of designs in her sketchbook and some contractors lined up, she garnered funding from the nonprofit where she had studied to launch her colorful line of two pieces that have a sleek and sophisticated look to them. “We are really known for our color choices,” she said. “This season we have a lot of edgy prints. And we are doing color blocks and laser cut-outs.”

Boys + Arrows, for women with a bohemian attitude, only does two-piece swimwear, shying away from one-pieces right now. The bottoms this season are more “cheeky” with less coverage. Tops are mostly in bandeau and triangle-top silhouettes.

Scott is adamant about sourcing quality fabric and is only using Italian material that is 72 percent polyamide and 18 percent elastane. “In my eyes, material is everything,” the designer said.

Since launching her line in 2011, Scott has won over more than 100 specialty stores and swimwear boutiques that carry her line, which wholesales for $34 to $40 per piece.

For more information, call (805) 366-0306.