The Salt Side Fashion

Brazilian Swimwear & Surf Lifestyle | California

The Salt Side is a Brazilian swimwear brand with operations in Brazil and California, connecting Brazilian-made bikinis, surf culture and conscious fashion with the U.S. market. Founded by Brazilian entrepreneur Julia Martinson after discovering surfing and island life in Florianópolis, the brand later expanded to California, establishing a cross-border operation with headquarters in both Brazil and the United States.

The company’s identity is built around a particularly authentic international trajectory: The Salt Side did not begin with the objective of simply exporting a Brazilian product. Its development followed the founder’s own relationship with the ocean — from the countryside of São Paulo to Florianópolis and, later, to the California coast.

Today, its bikinis are handmade in Brazil, U.S. orders are fulfilled from a California warehouse, and the American operation also ships to Canada and Europe.

São Paulo roots → Florianópolis surf culture → Brazilian production → California → international e-commerce.

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🇧🇷 FROM SÃO PAULO TO FLORIANÓPOLIS

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The Salt Side originated from a personal transformation experienced by founder Julia Martinson.

Julia left the countryside of São Paulo searching for a life closer to the ocean and eventually settled in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, one of Brazil’s best-known island and surf destinations.

There, she began surfing and developed a deeper connection with the slower, ocean-oriented lifestyle that would ultimately define the company.

The brand was launched during the same year in which Julia caught her first wave.

Rather than treating surf culture as a marketing theme adopted after the company’s creation, The Salt Side therefore emerged directly from the founder’s experience of that lifestyle.

That origin remains central to its identity:

ocean + movement + simplicity + Brazilian swimwear + conscious living.

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🏄‍♀️ ROOTED IN BRAZILIAN SURF CULTURE

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Surfing plays an important role in distinguishing The Salt Side from conventional fashion-oriented swimwear brands.

The company describes itself as shaped by island living and guided by a deep connection with the ocean.

Its current product universe reflects that positioning.

Alongside traditional bikini tops and bottoms, the brand offers one-piece swimsuits and dedicated surf suits designed for active use in the water.

The result is a brand positioned at the intersection of:

Brazilian beachwear → surf lifestyle → functional swimwear → contemporary design.

That positioning gives The Salt Side a particularly clear identity within the international Brazilian fashion market.

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👙 HANDMADE IN FLORIANÓPOLIS, BRAZIL

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The company’s Brazilian origin extends directly into manufacturing.

The Salt Side states that its bikinis are handmade on the island of Florianópolis, Brazil.

This is an important distinction in an international market where the term “Brazilian bikini” is frequently used to describe a particular cut regardless of where a garment was designed or manufactured.

In this case, the Brazilian connection exists throughout the product story.

The brand originated through its founder’s experience in Florianópolis.

Its swimwear maintains Brazilian cuts.

Its bikinis are handmade in Florianópolis.

And Brazilian textile technology is incorporated into the fabrics used by the company.

The Salt Side therefore represents an actual Brazilian fashion production chain rather than simply a brand using Brazilian beach culture as an aesthetic reference.

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🌱 BRAZILIAN BIODEGRADABLE FABRIC TECHNOLOGY

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One of The Salt Side’s strongest product differentiators is its use of Amni Soul Eco®, a biodegradable polyamide technology developed in Brazil.

The company uses the material in its swimwear as part of a broader commitment to reducing the environmental impact associated with fashion and synthetic textiles.

According to The Salt Side, the fabric is designed to biodegrade considerably faster under specific landfill and marine conditions than conventional polyamide.

The fabric used by the brand also carries the CO2 Control® seal and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification.

For the dMix Brazil ecosystem, this creates an interesting dimension beyond fashion itself.

The international product combines:

Brazilian design + Brazilian manufacturing + Brazilian textile innovation.

It demonstrates that the Brazilian component of an internationally sold product can include technology and materials as well as aesthetics and labor.

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💧 SMARTER WATER USE IN TEXTILE PRODUCTION

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The company’s sustainability strategy extends into textile processing.

The Salt Side states that reclaimed rather than drinking water is used to dye its fabrics through a system involving its textile supplier and SABESP, São Paulo’s state sanitation company.

The water is treated and reused through a continuous closed-loop process intended to reduce waste.

This provides a more concrete sustainability narrative than generic environmental positioning.

The company identifies specific interventions involving:

• biodegradable textile technology;
• reduced-carbon fabric production;
• textile safety certification;
• reclaimed water;
• plastic-free packaging;
• slow-fashion production;
• durable product design.

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♻️ SLOW FASHION FROM A BRAZILIAN ISLAND

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The Salt Side explicitly positions its manufacturing philosophy around slow fashion.

Rather than pursuing constant trend cycles, the company emphasizes relatively timeless silhouettes, solid colors, clean lines and products designed for repeated use across multiple seasons.

Its swimwear is handmade in Florianópolis, and the company associates its production rhythm with the smaller-scale lifestyle that inspired the brand.

This approach also influences packaging.

Orders are delivered in reusable cotton pouches rather than conventional plastic packaging, supporting the company’s objective of reducing unnecessary disposable materials.

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👙 BRAZILIAN CUTS & MIX-AND-MATCH SWIMWEAR

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Brazilian swimwear proportions remain a recognizable element of The Salt Side’s product identity.

The company explicitly promotes Brazilian cuts within its bikini-bottom collection.

Tops and bottoms are sold separately, allowing customers to combine different sizes, colors and silhouettes rather than purchasing only predetermined sets.

The current product architecture includes:

• Bikini tops
• Bikini bottoms
• One-piece swimsuits
• Surf suits
• Multiple fit and coverage options
• Collections organized around colors and seasonal concepts

The ability to purchase tops and bottoms independently also addresses an important practical aspect of swimwear: customers frequently require different sizes or fits between the upper and lower portions of a bikini.

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🌊 DESIGNED FOR LIFE IN & AROUND THE OCEAN

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The Salt Side’s product strategy is not limited to passive beach use.

Its expanding collection of one-pieces and surf suits reflects the brand’s origins in surfing and active coastal living.

At the same time, minimalist silhouettes and solid colors allow individual pieces to move between surfing, swimming, beachwear and casual resort environments.

This intersection between performance and lifestyle helps differentiate the company from brands built primarily around decorative resort fashion.

The ocean is not simply the background of the brand.

It is part of the product logic.

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🇺🇸 THE CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

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After establishing The Salt Side around her experience in Florianópolis, Julia’s journey eventually led to another major surf destination: California.

The company describes this move as the beginning of a new chapter for the brand, bringing Brazilian identity and surf-inspired simplicity to the American coastline.

Today, The Salt Side states that it maintains headquarters in both Brazil and the United States.

Its U.S. inventory is fulfilled from a California warehouse, which allows American customers to receive orders domestically rather than importing individual purchases directly from Brazil.

That structure is strategically significant.

The production remains Brazilian.

The American distribution has been localized.

This creates a practical cross-border fashion model:

Made in Brazil → inventory in California → domestic U.S. fulfillment.

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📦 CALIFORNIA-BASED U.S. FULFILLMENT

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Orders placed through The Salt Side’s U.S. operation are packed and dispatched from its California warehouse.

For American customers, this eliminates the need to manage international duties or direct-import procedures when purchasing products already held in U.S. inventory.

The company currently promotes local delivery availability in Dana Point and San Clemente, reinforcing its operational connection with Southern California.

Its California warehouse also serves customers beyond the United States.

The company confirms shipping from the U.S. operation to Canada and Europe, while customers in Brazil are directed to a dedicated Brazilian store whose orders are fulfilled domestically.

The resulting logistics architecture is unusually clear for a relatively small Brazilian fashion company:

Brazil → manufacturing
California → U.S. and international fulfillment
Brazilian store → domestic Brazilian fulfillment

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🌎 A SMALL BRAZILIAN BRAND WITH A CROSS-BORDER STRUCTURE

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The Salt Side illustrates a form of internationalization particularly relevant to small and medium Brazilian businesses.

The company does not require dozens of international stores to establish a genuine foreign presence.

Instead, it has divided key functions strategically across two countries.

Brazil maintains the cultural, creative and manufacturing foundation of the product.

California provides the company’s American operational and distribution presence.

E-commerce connects both structures with consumers across additional markets.

For Brazilian entrepreneurship, this represents an increasingly relevant international model:

retain distinctive capabilities in Brazil while positioning inventory, logistics and customer access closer to the international market.

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🌎 STRATEGIC LOCATIONS

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🇧🇷 Florianópolis, Santa Catarina — Brand Origins & Production

Brazil

Florianópolis is central to The Salt Side’s identity. It is where founder Julia Martinson discovered surfing, where the lifestyle behind the company developed and where the brand states its bikinis are handmade.

🇺🇸 California — U.S. Operations & Distribution

United States

The Salt Side maintains its American presence in California, where U.S. inventory is warehoused and orders are fulfilled.

The company currently advertises local delivery in Dana Point and San Clemente.

I would not assign either city as the company’s official headquarters without stronger corporate confirmation. For the Listing, California is the accurate verified geographic level.

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⭐ WHY THE SALT SIDE?

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• Brazilian swimwear brand with headquarters in Brazil and the United States.
• Founded by Brazilian entrepreneur Julia Martinson.
• Brand identity developed through the founder’s experience in Florianópolis.
• Strong connection with Brazilian surf and island culture.
• Bikinis handmade in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina.
• Brazilian-cut swimwear.
• Bikini tops and bottoms sold separately for flexible sizing and combinations.
• One-piece swimsuits and surf suits.
• Uses Brazilian Amni Soul Eco® biodegradable polyamide technology.
• Fabrics carrying CO2 Control® and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 credentials.
• Reclaimed water used within the textile-dyeing process described by the company.
• Slow-fashion positioning.
• Plastic-free packaging using reusable cotton pouches.
• U.S. operation established in California.
• U.S. inventory fulfilled domestically from a California warehouse.
• International shipping from California to Canada and Europe.
• Separate Brazilian e-commerce fulfillment for customers in Brazil.
• A strong example of small-scale Brazilian fashion internationalization.