June 25, 2008, Updated September 13, 2012

A bathing suit that protects your skin – and your modesty.The beach is the ultimate place where women can strut their stuff – and turn heads — in teeny-tiny bikinis. But not all women want that sort of attention. That’s what HydroChic founders Daniella Teutsch and Sara Wolf had in mind when they founded their sun-protective swimwear company.

HydroChic’s swimsuits are made from bathing suit materials and in designs that give the feminine form shape, but not exposure. Some designs come past the knee and cover the elbows, while others are mini-skirts and halters that “look” like beachwear, but not the kind normally available in swimsuit stores.

HydroChic suits have become popular for different reasons: overweight teens and women uncomfortable in standard bathing suits can lose the frumpy clothes and feel comfortable in gear that suits their body type; the fashions speak to women who have just given birth and haven’t yet lost the extra weight, and they are also suited to religious women who need extra coverage at the beach. They also appeal to women who want to protect their skins against the sun.

Sun protective swimwear

Comfortable, fashionable, with sun-protective SPF/UPF 50+, Teutsch and Wolf are getting orders placed online from around the world, including America, Australia, and the UK.

The idea came to Wolf, an Israeli-American, when she was sitting on a beach in New Jersey. She was struck by the lengths women would go to in order to cover themselves up on the beach. The idea came to her in a flash — she would create a line of swimwear that covers up, but which blends with the kind of gear one would find on the beach.

“How many times have you seen a woman who is small and thinks she’s a double X?” Wolf says to ISRAEL21c: “Sometimes there is someone really heavy who wants to cover up. We are offering the mainstream another alternative. Not every woman wants to wear a bikini and we are there to fill that option.

“They are happy that there is another alternative in the market,” she explains: “Everyone has different standards of modesty and what they want,” she adds, noting that she’s personally met women with great bodies who have bought HydoChic suits because they simply prefer to cover up while at a public beach or pool.

Based in Israel and New York

Founded in 2006, HydroChic has outfitted thousands of women. Based in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel and in New York, the suits are manufactured in both countries, depending on need. Prices vary because the suits are made to mix and match, but the average cost of a full suit is about $100 to $150.

Made with high-quality materials imported from Italy, the suits are comfortable in the heat and dry quickly. Thanks to HydroChic the days of clingy oversized t-shirts may be over for good.

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