By Brandon Palas
If anyone should know about the treacherous, unyielding waters of the fashion industry, it’s Tori Praver. The sink-or-swim mentality is exactly why the 5’11” Botticellian bombshell branched out from professionally posing to establish a brand of her own. Her eponymous swimwear line has since hooked a strong following and landed Praver on solid ground. The new mom to 1-year-old Ryan, wife to surfer and photographer Danny Fuller, and businesswoman has her sights set on the horizon.
At age 13, Praver was scouted by a photographer while shopping with her mother at Costco in Maui, where she grew up. “I remember I was with my mom,” she recalls. “And I was wearing my soccer uniform.” Shortly thereafter, the young athlete would wash over the fashion industry, swiftly submerging herself in projects with Guess, Yamamay, Tally Weijl and Liu Jo. She has also graced the covers of Cosmopolitan and Glamour magazines, although her biggest splash was her inclusion in the coveted spreads of Sports Illustrated’s “Swimsuit Edition.”
HOT STUFF: Model-turned-designer Tori Praver heats up the beach scene with her new swimwear collection.
It’s by no great surprise the IMG model, who grew up surfing, would create a collection of her own, Tori Praver Swimwear. It was really her close working relationship with le monde de la mode that allowed her to view fashion, form and functionality from a fresh, fruitful perspective.
“I spent so much of my childhood in a bikini, swimming in the ocean, surfing and just loving the beach,” Praver explains in 2012 to lingerie/beachwear magazine The Best of Intima. “I always keep where I come from in mind when designing and always try to incorporate Hawaii into my collections. Whether it’s a suit named after my favorite beach or a color named after a local fruit.” The name of her most recent children’s collection is Keiki, Hawaiian term that is literally translated as “the little one.”
Resort 2014, her first ready-to-wear collection, is comprised of relaxed button-down shirts, maxi skirts, shorts, harem pants, tiered crop tops, rompers and kimonos in natural tones—lilac, pewter, burnt orange, etc—shades expressed where water meets land. Praver also intends to create a sustainable, eco-friendly line soon.
Her collection has graced the pages of Vogue, Nylon, Lucky, Sports Illustrated, W and InStyle, and the fashion elite have responded to it with rave reviews. Actresses Jessica Alba and Megan Fox, singer LeAnn Rimes and fellow swimsuit model Marisa Miller are all fans.
Praver, 27, now splits her time between Venice, California, and New York, but perhaps it’s our very own Fort Lauderdale, the “Venice of America,” that she could soon set her sights on.
Originally appeared in the Premiere 2014 issue.
