The Story
If you ask Mariia when the idea for INFLOW really began, she usually laughs and says something like, “Probably the moment I realized summer only lasted eight weeks where I grew up. You spend your whole childhood waiting for a season that disappears in a blink.”
It’s funny how deprivation can spark obsession. While most kids counted down to school breaks, she counted down to sunlight. To beaches she had never seen. To the version of herself she imagined she would become near the ocean. She didn’t know what she would do with that feeling, she just knew it mattered.
Years later she finally moved to South Florida with her son. And something clicked. This wasn’t just a location change. It felt like opening a window that had been shut her whole life. Warm air, real waves, and thousands of people who lived in swimsuits for half the year. She remembers thinking, “If there was ever a place to try building the life I dreamed of, this is it.”
Where the Idea Took Shape
Like most people who adore swimwear, Mariia also knew how frustrating it could be. You either found beautiful pieces that cost as much as rent or cheap pieces that felt like they’d last exactly two swims. Everything looked so perfect on Instagram but arrived in real life looking nothing like the photos.
So she started sketching lines with no harsh edges because she was obsessed with the idea that swimsuits should echo the ocean. Nothing forced. Nothing stiff. No sharp geometry. Just forms that flowed. She loved the idea that a swimsuit could feel effortless, but still structured enough to make a woman feel held.
She often says, “Swimwear is not just for the beach. It’s a little piece of freedom we get to wear.”
That became the north star. Freedom in design. Freedom in price. Freedom in how women see themselves.
A Very Real Beginning
INFLOW didn’t start with investors or glamorous business meetings. It started with late nights, tiny budgets and a founder who refused to rush the details. The idea wasn’t to join the world of luxury swimwear. It was to rebuild it into something more accessible.
She experimented with production across continents until she found the craftsmanship she wanted. She worked with factories that understood her obsession with clean stitching, firm yet flexible lines and fabrics that behaved well in real life.
At first she only hoped that the brand would reach a few customers in the US. Then orders started coming from Europe. Then Australia. Someone in Dubai tagged her. That was the moment she realized she didn’t need a giant office. She needed a laptop, a passport and a brand that could travel with her.
“I realized the beauty of building online” she says. “You can talk to women everywhere. You can be anywhere. That sense of freedom keeps me going.”
A Brand That Feels Like Something You Can Touch
INFLOW was never meant to be loud or overly trendy. It was built on small things that matter. How the fabric hugs the sides without squeezing. How the straps sit cleanly. How a simple cut can look like it was designed individually for each body.
She often jokes that people underestimate how spiritual swimwear design can be. You’re designing for women at their most honest. No layers. No armor. Just skin, sun and confidence. And if you do it right, the woman wearing it feels more herself, not less.
Looking Forward
Today INFLOW is still growing from that original feeling: warmth meeting structure, elegance meeting accessibility. The next dream is a line for surfer girls, pieces that honor movement as much as beauty. And more collaborations with hotels and boutiques around the world. The goal isn’t global domination. It’s global connection.
But above all, Mariia wants to keep the thing that made her start in the first place: freedom.
“The future of fashion will be a mix of digital and real life. Technology and soul. And I want INFLOW to always stay somewhere in the middle of that.”
The Heart of It
INFLOW isn’t a story about luck or overnight magic. It’s a story about a girl who grew up craving summer and ended up creating a brand that carries that feeling into every season. About building something with love and detail. About believing that swimwear should fit your life, not the other way around.
And most of all, it’s a reminder that the smallest dream, if carried long enough, can turn into something that moves like water and reaches across the world.
