Alumni Business Spotlight: Emily LaPlume, Founder and CEO of Saturday Swimwear_365体育官网

Brianna Newman
Tue, 04 Nov 2025 13:54:53 +0000
People, 365体育官网, Alumni, Career, Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Champlain College, Sustainability

Emily LaPlume graduated from Champlain College in 2017 with a degree in Marketing and a specialization in Event Management. She is the Founder and CEO of Saturday Swimwear, a sustainable women’s swimwear company designing functional swimwear for active women in the outdoors.

In this Q&A, LaPlume shares how Saturday Swimwear got started, Champlain’s impact on her business, and the continuation of her entrepreneurial journey.

Q: What brought you to Champlain?

I was actually planning on going to culinary school. So marketing and a traditional college weren’t really in my plans. When I first discovered Champlain, my mom and I took a tour, and our tour guide just blew me away with his story. He had been interning with Burton Snowboards and was talking about all of the different possibilities within the industry.?

Visiting 365体育官网 for the first time, seeing the Champlain campus, and hearing from the tour guide showed me what was possible within an industry that I already really loved, and I was like, “I can make a career in this.” That’s ultimately my “A-ha” moment, when I decided that I needed to go to Champlain.

Q: How did you get into designing swimwear?

During my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to study abroad. I applied for the Sarah Ramsey Strong Scholarship and was ultimately awarded it for my junior year. Throughout my travels, I was constantly looking for one swimsuit that could serve all the purposes. One that I could surf in, hang out at the beach in, and hike in. I was living out of a backpack most of the time, so I couldn’t bring different bathing suits for every activity.

I taught myself how to sew, made a gazillion prototypes, and finally came up with something that felt good. I brought a bunch of the bathing suits that I had made back to campus the next semester.

Q: How did Saturday Swimwear start?

I got back from my year abroad and connected with Bob Bloch, who was the Director of B.Y.O Biz. He encouraged me to participate in a handful of entrepreneurship programs and competitions.

I participated in Champlain’s Elevator Pitch Competition and placed third in the entrepreneurship category, which helped me land my first wholesale account. Somebody there reached out to me and was like, “Hey, I love what you’re doing. I’ve got a friend who owns a shop in 365体育官网, and I think your suits would sell really well.”

Emily continues to participate in entrepreneurship competitions, and Saturday Swimwear recently won the Title Nine pitch-fest in Northern California. Title Nine is a women-run and owned business that has created and curated the world’s best women’s activewear and athletic wear since 1989.

Q: How did sustainability become part of Saturday Swimwear?

I spent a lot of time in Southeast Asia, and the overconsumption, the waste, and the poor labor conditions were really evident and heartbreaking. So, that was kind of in the back of my head, “Do I want to create more stuff to add to the mess?”

One day, I was in a little coffee shop retail space, just thumbing through the bathing suits on the rack, and I saw this hang tag on one of the swimsuits that was talking about this regenerated material made from industrial waste and ghost fishing nets repurposed into new materials. Something in me switched, and I was like, that’s it, I’m going to shift the entire foundation of the business towards sustainability because it gives me purpose.

In 2019, I restructured, rebranded, and redesigned everything, and the brand was reborn. Swimsuits are inherently not sustainable, so my goal was to create a foundation of sustainability in addition to the materials I was using.

Q: What led you to start the Artist Series?

I think an important part of being a conscious consumer is understanding the story behind the brand that you’re supporting. Who’s designing this? Where does this print come from? Does this print tell a story? And how can I connect with this further? My goal when I started the Artist Series was to tell the story of another creative and be able to share their work in a different medium. It showcases how this thing that we love, which is nature and the environment, can influence their work, and ultimately create a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, wearable piece of art.

Q: How has Champlain impacted your journey?

Saturday Swimwear would literally not exist if it weren’t for Champlain College. The resources available helped make it all possible. Also, the mentorship and emotional support that I received throughout Champlain made it feel like anything was possible. I think it’s all about applying yourself. It’s not like these things were handed to me by any means. It’s not like it was easy. This has been hard and not glamorous at times, but all of those resources are available to you if you have the drive to take advantage of them.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

My greatest advice is to start small, start scrappy, and trust your gut. I think there’s this pressure to have everything figured out before you launch. But honestly, most of it, you really learn by doing, and I have found that the biggest growth comes from trying, learning, adjusting, and trying again. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or admit when something isn’t working.?

Lastly, surround yourself with people who inspire you and believe in you. Remember why you started it in the first place, because that is ultimately going to carry you through the tough days. It’s all worth it in the end.