Young Wilmington swimwear designer, one of Extraordinary People of the Cape Fear

26-year-old Kenzie Bongiorno is a Hoggard graduate who's making a splash in the swim wear industry

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — She’s not even 30 years old, yet she’s running a successful international business out of her apartment not far from the high school where she graduated less than a decade ago.

26-year-old Kenzie Bongiorno knew from an early age, she was an artist.  She just needed to find her medium.

And turns out, she needs her small, large, and extra-large, too!

Her mom helped her make the decision to start a swimwear business after just a year of college studying art at UNCW.

“I was obsessed with swimwear,” she said, “and my mom said, ‘You can’t spend all your money on them– you can do something else, but you are not spending all of your money.’  And that was literally how this started.”

Without a background in business or design, or even knowing tools of the trade, Kenzie dove into the project and never looked back.

“I started in my bedroom at 19 years old with a collection [and styles] in my mind.  I just wanted to put together my favorite aspects of swimsuits into one swimsuit and that’s how KB Swim started.”

Now, 7 years later, she has an employee and a growing reputation on the internet.  Her most loyal customers range in age from mid-to-late teens, to about 30.

“It’s really my age group, like 20 to 26 that’s the most consistent but we do have older high school girls and at pop ups, we get a lot of college girls and a lot of young girls that come.” she explained.

Her appeal, she says, comes from her personal commitment to designing suits out of comfortable, sustainable materials, with a focus on proper fit.

“There is a science behind the art, to make sure it fits a body, a 3-D form perfectly,” she said. “I’m trying to make sure it happens so everyone is very satisfied with their swimsuit.”

She has a generous, 30-day return policy, regardless of reason, although she says returns are rare these days.

Being self-taught in all aspects of her business, Kenzie admits she has gone through a lot of trial and error, and being a perfectionist has added its own dimension to her design process.

“When I want to do something, and make it right, I’ll do it and make it right.” she said.  “I’m not gonna stop until it’s perfect…a little bit…but it helps when I’m trying to build a business and build a brand.”

Bongiorno says she normally stocks about 1500 tops and 1500 bottoms in her apartment storage area, and sells the vast majority of her swim wear online.

“I run a web site through Shopify and that’s how I place all my orders and fulfill orders and we ship all around the world,” she noted.

She places a high priority on sustainability, both in her fabrics and packaging, and her business practices.

But if you ask her the secret ingredient to her success, she’ll say it’s something intangible, and she’ll answer with an artist’s soul.

“Everything I do is a feeling and a moment and an emotion.  I put a lot of emotion into what I do.  I love what I do. I feel you can tell that with the swim [collection] — how much of my heart goes into each piece.”

Her growing fan base will attest, they’re feeling the love, and loving the suits Kenzie creates.

To see more of Kenzie Bongiorno’s designs and learn more about the history of visit KB Swim, visit here .