LAS VEGAS — Former Vivid star Nina Mercedez announced the impending launch of her new limited-edition swimwear line, “La Scorpia,” on Twitter last week. La Scorpia is poised to officially debut June 15, at which point the pieces will be available for purchase online.
While Mercedez told XBIZ that the 15-piece collection will go well with Christian Louboutin shoes, she said that, aesthetically, La Scorpia really is its own arachnid.
“Swimwear is swimwear, but I’m trying to create something different,” she said, adding, “My life has an impact on [the collection], and my life is the adult industry and Instagram and the girls in the business.”
To accommodate two of her major consumer bases — her female Twitter fans and the stars of her production company — Mercedez decided to create a distinct curvy-girl-friendly line by offering plus sizes and separate garments to allow ladies to mix and match pieces to fit their unique body type.
“That’s the reason I’m doing extra large and the reason I’m doing F-sized busts — because some of the girls have come out and said, ‘Are you going to carry this and are you going to carry that?’ And I wasn’t before, but so many people have asked for it that I am now.”
Mercedez admitted that she is personally frustrated with the limited swimwear options for her own body type — a DD bust and a very petite waist. She mentioned that, based on the photos she sees on Instagram, girls’ bodies have changed; and yet, brands continue to gear their apparel towards waif-like women.
La Scorpia’s business model will continue to be based on consumer interactivity after the first collection is released. According to Mercedez, she is launching only 15 pieces in order to gather feedback from her social media base and then use it to inform her next 15 pieces.
“If you don’t have the voice of the people who are buying, and you’re not in touch with them one-on-one, then you could put out 50 bathing suits. But if it’s not what they want, they’re not going to sell,” Mercedez said.
Mercedez originally wanted to design a jewelry line separate from her swimwear line, but decided to combine them when she realized that wearing jewelry to the beach is too impractical and unwieldy for most poolside fashionistas. The result, Mercedez explained, is a “flashy and blingy and classy” hybrid collection bedecked with gold chains and “really big between-the-boobs jewelry pieces” already attached to the swimsuits.
While the pieces will be affordable, they will also be limited, Mercedez said.
Nina Mercedez left Vivid in 2006 to create her own production company, Heartbreaker Films. Mercedez continues to be active in the adult world and has previously owned online stores that sold exotic wear.
According to Mercedez, the girls of Heartbreaker films will be rocking her swimwear at pool parties — with Christian Louboutin shoes — come summertime.
