BattleBorn Beekinis — Empowering All
Kytanna Crawford Prokosch — fashion designer, plus-sized model and owner of Battle Born Beekinis — has redefined the swim brand market in Reno, Nevada, since 2013. Located on South Wells Ave., the store stands out amongst local and global competitors with custom fabrics and handmade designs, all locally made in the Reno/Tahoe area. When driving down Wells, I always noticed the storefront letters of BB Beekinis stand out next to other neighboring businesses. With online shopping being a huge part of bikinis sales, seeing a bikini-based store was refreshing after only shopping online for about two years. Walking into this store, the interior was up to date with beautiful racks of swimsuits and other various items. Kytanna’s goal when a customer walks in is to ultimately feel empowered and comfortable in anything they decide to check out.
BattleBorn Beekinis has provided swimsuits for every body type over the last 10 years. With the summertime approaching quickly, Kytanna has big plans for the business to thrive in Reno, while also keeping the body positivity movement alive and well. As more competitors start to sell swimwear and other miscellaneous items, BB Beekinis continues to raise the bar on what it takes to make unique, authentic and ethically made swimwear.
“OUR MISSION IS TO EMPOWER EVERYBODY AND HELP THEM FEEL AMAZING IN THEIR OWN BODY!”
Kytanna had a vision for her business and what exactly she needed to do in order to stand apart from local competitors. After dominating the swimsuit market in Reno, she decided the next step was to take on the rest of the world. Battle Born Beekinis always had some sort of social media presence. Purchasing a domain after beginning their start on Facebook, Kytanna soon then wanted to change the e-commerce site the business would thrive on for years to come. “We’ve been through many changes and are now with Shopify, which is an amazing e-commerce site.” Shopify is a subscription-based software that a person can use to sell their products online. It is claimed to be one of the best e-commerce sites that allow a business to start, grow, and manage sales. Wix, the website software Kytanna started with and still uses today has always been successful when posting products, news, and other items on her website. The BB Beekinis main socials include Facebook and Instagram. Kytanna runs all things social media as well as modeling her own swimwear from time to time. The way in which makes BB Beekinis a standout social media page is the diversity it continues to share to 14.7 thousand followers. Every BB Beekinis model represents more than just one body type. That is what makes brands stand out as inclusive and aware in terms of their buyers. When selling to a vast, diverse audience, representation of all ethnicities, genders and body types is something BB Beekinis strives for. Many businesses who try to expand their target demographic fail easily due to lack of proper materials, messaging, and knowledge of their audience.
More than just another swimsuit brand
Overtime, swimwear has become this worldwide phenomenon. From different designs to thousands of styles, this market has changed for the better. To continue the change for inclusive swimwear, Kytanna has created a swimwear line that offers multiple sizes for any body type. Being a plus sized model herself, she wanted to advocate more on the body positive movement in the swimwear world. “I started sewing swimwear in high school to fix a “problem” with swimwear that never fit a 5'11" frame. It’s grown since having 2 daughters too,” says Kytanna. Having children, Kytanna plans on instilling the growth of the body positivity movement to continue to be accepted and shown in the fashion industry by starting the teachings at home. She makes this possible by hand-making and selling custom swimwear to others with the same vision of inclusivity.
With dominating the swimwear world, Battle Born Beekinis decided to offer multiple of other merchandise for all types of customers. Offering scrunchies, lotions, men’s trunks, children’s swimwear, candles, cover up, hats and other miscellaneous items…this business has single handedly expanded their target demographic. Many other swimsuit based companies tend to expand slowly overtime with various merchandise but Kytanna knew in order to be different as a swimsuit brand, she had to take on making new items that would allow all customers a chance to shop at BB Beekinis.
As for their swimwear, what makes this business stand apart for competitors is their custom fabrics, designs and true authenticity. Interesting enough, Kytanna only knows of one other local suit company in the Reno area. However, the two sell completely different styles to customers. Using nontoxic dyes, and biodegradable fabric, all collections are eco conscious when being made. With many other swimsuit brands falling behind with inclusivity, Kytanna has always had this vision from the start that swimwear is for everyone. “I advocate for body positivity,” Kytanna says, “and with doing so I hand make and sell my custom swimwear to others with my same vision.” Other ways in which Battle Born Beekinis stands apart from local to now worldwide competitors online are her creative design talents. She designs all fabrics in house and has them printed all the way from North Carolina. BB Beekinis offers more on trend budgets and options for suits in which she private labels and bulks through a manufacturer. Using all US based materials, ethical options in the swimsuit world lacks heavily.
Covid-19 seemed to knock out many local businesses throughout the country, but BattleBorn Beekinis looked at this as a way to strengthen the business as a whole. With trips on hold, many people found other ways to enjoy the summertime. Kytanna says, “Swimming pool sales as well as hot tub sales were through the roof which domino affected the swimwear industry. More people were spending time in their backyards instead of vacationing. It really was perfect timing.” She saw an immediate boost in sales and was able to open her own brick and store front in June of 2020. I found it quite surprising that with most small, local business tended to shut down due to the immediate effects of the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. With BB Beekinis, the business had the right audience to sell online to during this time spent at home. I myself took the time at home to indulge in online shopping due to the closing of in person stores and discovered many small businesses from that point on, including BB Beekinis. As for beaches and community pools closing, the rate of pool installments in home steadily increased over the months of the lockdown. With a pool, you need a swimsuit to partake and BB Beekinis saw this first hand and went through a spike in sales and immediate sold out selections.
Future goals
As summer is just a few months away, swimsuit season is approaching quickly and Kytanna is more prepared than ever. With dropping a new collection on February 12, 2022, BattleBorn Beekinis is the swimsuit brand of the Reno Tahoe area this upcoming summer!
Short-term goals are definitely easy to reach when envisioning the long term goals ahead. For, Kytanna , she wants to, “ — grow our online presence and empower everyone to love themselves.” The reason she started this business started with this goal. It is not relatively easy for one to put on a bikini and feel 100% confident. However, with an extended line of sizes, beautiful patterns, and a welcoming business team, can begin the baby steps towards the ultimate confidence a person deserves to feel.
As for long term goals, Kytanna says, “To sustain annual growth and empower everyone to love their own body no matter what journey they’re on.” As BB Beekinis heads into the summer, the growth of the company continues an upward trend in showcasing the talent, heart, and soul that Kytanna puts into her company.
To find out more about Battle Born Beekinis and how to check out Kytanna’s variety of pieces, visit https://www.battlebornbeekinis.com/ for more information.
You can also follow Kytanna and BB Beekinis on Facebook and Instagram: @battlebornbeekinis to check out more!
Reporting and story by Hallie Borgel for Reno Tahoe Business Report.
