The Baia Diaries - 01

We’re Georgia and Daisy - sisters first, co-founders second - and we’d always dreamed of creating something together.
We both loved fashion, but every summer we found ourselves searching for swimwear that felt as special as the rest of our wardrobes. We’d end up ordering our bikinis from Australia and always wondered why we couldn’t find that same feeling closer to home.
We wanted swimwear with personality - pieces you’d get as excited about as the dress or the perfect fitting pair of trousers. A bikini you’d want to style as part of the outfit, rather than immediately cover up.
So eventually, we stopped searching for it and decided to create it ourselves.

From an idea to our first pieces

In 2024, Lola Baia started to become real.
At the time, it really was just the two of us attempting to create pieces we dreamt of on our nan’s old sewing machine and endless conversations about the bikinis we wished existed.
From the beginning, we loved the idea of creating a swimwear wardrobe - where every piece felt just as special as the next, but gave you something completely different to wear. Some days we want something feminine, other days something cooler or more effortless, and we wanted our swimwear to feel the same.
We also knew we wanted to create pieces that would last. We’d always hated the idea of throwaway fashion, so finding a fabric that felt beautiful and high quality, while being made from sustainable materials, was really important to us from the beginning.
After lots of research and sampling with different manufacturers, we eventually found our manufacturer in Portugal and started turning all those ideas into actual Lola Baia pieces.
We’d spent so long talking about Lola Baia as this idea between the two of us that suddenly being able to hold something we had designed in our hands felt completely surreal. Seeing our designs, our labels and Lola Baia actually written inside a bikini for the first time is a moment we'll never forget!

Our first ever shoot - Australia, 2024

Then came the daunting part - actually putting Lola Baia out into the world! Our first ever shoot happened in Australia and, if you’re picturing models, stylists and a production team… it was quite literally the opposite. It was just us.
We packed our bikinis, put them on ourselves and tried to bring all the ideas we’d had for Lola Baia to life. We were the founders, models, creative directors and everything else in between.
Looking back at those photos now makes us smile. We were completely figuring it out as we went, but we were so excited about what we’d created and just wanted to get it out there.
Two years and several collections later, that original idea hasn’t really changed - every day we're learning something new and learning how to grow Lola Baia.
We’ve become obsessed with creating pieces that make swimwear feel like fashion: swim skirts, boy shorts, balconette shapes, unexpected colour combinations and all the little details that can make the bikini the piece that makes the outfit.
Some feel ultra-feminine, some effortless, others a little bolder. They’re not designed for different women, but for different versions of the same one.
Collection by collection, we’re building the swimwear wardrobe we were searching for all those summers ago.

Two years later...

Looking back at those first photos in Australia, it’s crazy to think how much has happened since.
We’ve seen our pieces sell out, Lola Baia worn by girls around the world, chosen by WGSN who took us to Miami Swim Week as an emerging brand, been stocked in the US and even opened Grazia to find the little brand we started together inside.
There have been plenty of mistakes, stressful days and lots of learning along the way - but those are stories for another Diary!
Through all of it, Lola Baia is still incredibly personal to us. We’re still designing every collection together, obsessing over the smallest details and dreaming about where we can take it next.

Still just the beginning

And that brings us to The Baia Diaries.
We wanted to create somewhere we could share more than you usually see on Instagram - the stories behind our pieces, what inspires our collections, the places we love, the things we're learning and the reality of building Lola Baia together.
So it felt only right that our first entry took us back to where it all began. Two sisters. A lot of ideas. A few bikinis packed in a suitcase to Australia. And a dream that has become much bigger than we ever imagined.
If you're new here, welcome to our world. And if you've been here since those early days, thank you for believing in Lola Baia and supporting us. Every order, message, photo and person who has told a friend about us has helped us build this.
Two years in, and somehow it still feels like we're only getting started.
Daisy & Georgia xx