Leah McCarthy On Leaving The West Village & Making The Perfect Bikini Top

A quick scroll through Leah McCarthy’s Instagram will confirm she knows bathing suits. When she’s not hard at work on her candy company or moving from the West Village to the Lower East Side, McCarthy loves to post up on a beach, boat, or in an Italian seaside town. Her new collection of pareos, bikini tops, and coverups with Baobab, however, doesn’t require sand or water: It looks just as good in Central Park as it will, say, in the Cayman Islands.

After a trip to Kenya, her first trip to Africa, McCarthy became “deeply inspired by the landscape, colors, patterns, and of course, the baobab trees.” The Colombian-based swimwear experts — who took their name from the upside-down tree — used her inspiration to create the animal print, “Wilde,” which McCarthy says “became the base and energy of the collection, and we built from there.” The result is a line of richly saturated dresses, bikinis, multilayer bottoms, minishorts, and accessories that draw on nature with the use of mossy greens, beads, stones (McCarthy is a secret stone collector), and rich oranges that not only sit at a great price point, but are meant to last.

Her biggest inspirations, besides her wondrous Kenya excursion, were her sisters and friends, who she named all the pieces after. The collection was meant to accommodate all bodily forms and allows for customization with ties and, yes, the beads, and have well-fitting cups for larger chests. Beyond her nearest and dearest, she wants the collection to draw in people “who have found their true style, whatever that may be, and there’s no gap between the energy of the way they dress and their aura.” Below, NYLON sat down with the creative mind and talked about her love for swimwear, natural materials, and why she’ll never spend too much time in one neighborhood.

How did this collaboration come about?

I was invited to a gifting at their store. I wasn't expecting it to be what it was. I loved all of the garments and how eclectic it was. I met Isabella, the owner of the brand, when I went in. I picked out a bunch and it stuck with me; the quality was amazing.

I'm a huge swimwear girl. I'm originally from Australia. I have hundreds of swimsuits, I think. I probably have been through a thousand bikinis. I'm obsessive over the fit of bikinis as well. A big thing was adjustability. There are a lot of swimsuit brands that come out and look great online, but it doesn't fit bodies. There are cups that don't fit, there are straps that don't adjust. People aren't thinking of actually using swimwear: for swimming in the ocean, how the material changes, how things sit and hurt your neck and back. We thought of all of that in this collection.

Designers fit clothes, but swim is a whole different category.

It's completely different. I'm one of five kids, but I have three sisters, and we all have different body types. It's a constant struggle for all of us. It's not like fashion; it's underwear, and there's science in it. You have to be thoughtful when you're making it. Especially when you’re traveling, you only want to pack a few. They have to last you the whole day when you're exploring somewhere new, they have to get wet, dry, and look cute underneath clothes.

How would you wear this collection in the city?

Baobab said this is the most city-feeling collection they have ever done, and I was proud when I heard that because it does work in a city. The first time I got the bikinis in hand, I went and laid out in Sheep's Meadow in Central Park and I was like, “This is f*cking awesome.” You can transition them from beach to city, which works for me as a person. I wore it out last night in the Lower East Side and I was like, “This is great. I can sweat and I don't feel disgusting.”

For the city, I love styling a body chain with swimwear and having another piece in a contrasting material highlighting the silhouette in a different way. I love the way it breaks things up and turns it into a look. I tend to throw on a button-up and a pair of big oversized shorts that are breathable to balance out the tininess of a bikini.

What are your favorite summertime spots in the city?

I don't want to sound lame, but I go where my friends want to go. I don't chase hotspots. I had two friends in town from Australia, and I took them to hotspots and some corny spots. My favorite ice cream spot is Minus Celsius, where they rolled the ice cream. It's one of my favorite places in the city, and it's so lame and weird and basic.

I'm always down to do Lower East Side, but not all the time. I'm down for a nice dinner uptown. I'm down to go to Casa Cipriani and have a special dinner. I have a very eclectic group of friends, so I go wherever people want to go. I try not to get sick of a certain area. The other day, I rode a bike to the Upper West Side and went to a Chinese place I'd never been to. That was incredible.

I'm always down to try new things in the city that make it feel new. I've been here for a while. It can feel old if you spend too much time in one neighborhood. I lived in the West Village for the past year, and it kind of feels like Charleston. It started to make me feel like I was going to lose my edge. That’s why I moved back into Chinatown. People are so much edgier, cooler, and more themselves. It's a little more gritty, and I like that version of New York way more.

Are you feeling any summer trends?

My favorite summer trend is the lack of seasonal depression. It’s funny, though, at this age and this point in my life, I'm not attracted to trends anymore. The coolest thing to me is when people find their own personal style and embody it. Everything feels cohesive: their personality, their clothes, their aura, all of it feels the same. People are wearing what they need in terms of utility, or what they feel like, or even what they have access to. There's so much more mood, vibe, and creativity with that. It's been challenging me to define what my personal style is and what feels like it's my insides being worn on the outside. The summer trend for me is finding yourself.

Is there a particular piece from the collection you go back to that makes you feel the most yourself?

It's the Leah Bikini. It's my favorite one. It's a perfect fitting cup, which is really hard to do. A lot of cups normally flatten and compress the boob, but this one lifts, holds, and makes me feel confident. The bottom is one of my signature styles I normally do with two different bikinis. It's a layered bikini bottom. It looks riskier and more conservative at the same time. Technically, you're covering more of your body, but something about having four strings and a cutout feels naughtier. That felt amazing to me, and that's why I called it my name.

What was the thought process behind putting the stones on the pieces?

I am a huge fan of any natural material. I love giant shell necklaces, stones, and any natural elements. I asked Baobab to source some pieces we could use to put on the bikinis, and they matched my excitement for it. They started putting them everywhere. Then, I realized you could slip them over, pull them down, and make one side of the triangle smaller, and one a little bigger. I like that idea that you have agency in picking how the bikini fits you.

I'm a stone collector myself. I always pick up shells and stones everywhere I go. On any trip, I'll bring one back with me, and in all my handbags, there's a little stone or shell at the bottom of it, which feels really warm to me. It's just for me.

Where else will you be taking this collection this summer? Any fun trips planned?

I'm going to bring it with me everywhere I go. I am a last-minute traveler. I'm someone where if I book travel, I get deep anxiety about it. If I plan something six months out, then everything in my mind is in reference to that trip. So especially in the summer, I'm a last-minute person. If someone's like, “We're doing this, do you want to come?” I'll join.

I'll be back and forth between the Hamptons where my mom lives all summer, and I'll be wearing it the whole time. I love going to the beach, I love the farmer’s market runs, I love chilling at home with my family. I am not a big hotspot person in the Hamptons. I don't like elbowing anyone or being in space that's too tight. I like the big open fields and the more quiet beaches. I've gotten use out of the collection already in this heat wave, though. It's going to be on me all summer long and for summers to come.