TVISUAL

BODY CONFIDENT : SHANICE VITALIS

Shanice Vitalis Shot by Terrance, Wearing Afrodisiac Boutique, Make-Up by Lynda DLM shot at the Kerby Young Studio

Written by Anastasia Tomkin

Shanice Vitalis has a deliciously stalkable page on the Insta. And I don’t mean for the guys. Ladies of all ages, shapes and sizes will swoon over her sizzling swimwear collection. A lot of folks might come for the views, not even realising that behind the dougla-in-paradise motif is a hard-working, risk-taking businesswoman.

As Shanice reveals that she handles every nitty-gritty aspect of Monochrome Swimwear, from the administration, to the social media management, to making the tricky decision to model the pieces herself, I interject with a compliment.

“Well you lucky you had the body for it, could model your own stuff and make it look hot!”

“I mean, I would have done it with whatever body I had!” Shan clarified gently.

I had unwittingly struck on a value central to Shan’s retail philosophy - that women of all body types can wear whatever the **** they want (my words).

She passionately explained that society really needs to stop policing women’s bodies, trying to dictate their sexuality, and determining that certain women can’t wear certain things.

She recalls one customer falling in love with a sexy bikini, but not finding herself “skinny enough” to pull it off.

“I told her “You don’t have to be skinny to wear it!” People feel like you have to be a certain size to wear swimsuits, or a certain cut of swimsuit and I’m like you can literally do whatever you want.”

Helping ladies to get wet and wild was a whole new wave for Ms. Vitalis. She holds a degree in Graphic Designing and secured a job in her field, working full-time at NALIS in Port of Spain.Then one day, a friend who was opening up a business suggested that she try her hand at selling something.

“I legit sat on my bed and looked around. And I saw, I have this huge drawer of swimsuits,and I was like, “I does rel wear swimsuits!” I had like over 50 pieces,and I felt like that was something I could probably get into, something I’m comfortable with, something that I know really well. So I decided, well ok! I’m just gonna sell swimsuits.”

This impulsive move turned into Monochrome Swimwear. She was able to import merchandise through her friend’s business, and the side hustle began to blossom. Now, she is able to dedicate most of her time to Monochrome.

“I just knew I needed to find another way to make a living, I couldn’t work for someone the rest of my life, it just didn’t fit my personality.”

Shanice Vitalis Shot by Terrance, Wearing Afrodisiac Boutique, Make-Up by Lynda DLM shot at the Kerby Young Studio

Shan gushes over her family and friends’ relentless support of her business. Apart from offering loving encouragement in times of distress, they even help out with the day-to-day operations whenever necessary, from making deliveries to modeling.

“They have more faith in me than I have in myself,” she says.

And when it comes to aesthetic goals for her brand, Balmain, and Olivier Rousteing especially, represent the ideal. She believes that Balmain empowers women through clothing; showing that women are warriors, that they are strong and powerful. Shan found her own inner strength when she finally decided to model her own pieces. Growing up, she was taught to be quite conservative and wary of her online image. So initially, she feared that people seeing her in swimsuits on social media might judge her and assume that she was doin’ it for the likes...But as her brand evolved, so did her confidence, and eventually she no longer cared for the opinions of others.

“My personal IG is a reflection of Monochrome, mostly pictures of me in a swimsuit, because I want to show people that it’s okay to be in a swimsuit and to be an entrepreneur or a businesswoman, and get RESPECT... I don’t need to wear a suit to get respect.”

Her advice to others is straightforward: Expect the unexpected at all times, know that your passion takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but that it will be worth it in the end.

When all's said and done, Shanice’s law of power is no surprise:

Self-love and power go hand-in-hand.