F  L  A  U  N  T

 [Andru Wallace](https://www.instagram.com/andi_ism/) is the proud founder of [HAUS OF PINKLEMONAID](https://www.instagram.com/hausofpinklemonaid/?hl=en), a gorgeous, challenger swimsuit brand curated to help people celebrate their bodies and feel their absolute best. What began as a small ripple of an idea back in 2013 has since blossomed into one of the most sought-after swimwear lines in the industry worldwide, as seen on celebrities from Ariana Grande, Megan Rapinoe, Chrissy Teigen, Ashley Graham to Kylie Jenner to Nicki Minaj and Emily Ratakowski.  Going to fashion school before becoming a stylist as the Los Angeles native, Andi remembers his initial dreams of wanting to work for someone else. The Los Angeles native recalls having a hard time pulling from showrooms because he was a new stylist on the scene, joking how “they want a credit card that has $10K to borrow stuff.” With the brand’s ethos focused on embracing diversity of thought and celebration of different bodies of all shapes and sizes, HAUS OF PINKLEMONAID gives consumers a drive to thrive and a distinct feeling of sexy — igniting the self-love and confidence that lies within each and every one of us. This isn’t about the money or the fame, Andi is truly driven by that irreplaceable feeling when enhancing your body and overall mood. Flaunt caught up with Andi to discuss how he fell in love with fashion, celebrity clients, the inspiration behind the name HAUS OF PINKLEMONAID, how the pandemic affected him, collaborating with [NOVUL,](https://flaunt.com/content/novul-runaway-baby) goals, and more! * * * **Where are you from originally?**  I’m from Orange County. When I was ini middle school my dad got a new job and we relocated to the Bay. After I graduated college, I came back to LA. Eventually, I’d love to move to New York or Paris. I love Paris, one of my favorite cities.  **When did you fall in love with fashion?**  I loved Barbies. I wasn’t allowed to play with them, my dad wouldn’t let me. My sister was a bit of a tomboy, we had a plan like you buy what I want, I buy what you want. From that point I was always making clothes and fell in love with fashion. A real pivotal moment when I really understood the transformation powers of fashion was in the movie _Clueless_. When they gave Brittany Murphy her makeover, I thought “oh my god, I want to give people makeovers.” **At what point did you realize you could do it for a living?** In design school. The cool thing was I wouldn’t present on a mannequin, I’d have a friend come wearing my designs. One of my friends worked at Mac so she’d do the makeup. My teachers would always gas me up because I went above and beyond. I also loved _America’s Next Top Model._ I started to work with my friends in the atmosphere of creating with local models, local photographers. One day, I came to realize that I wanted to be a stylist. Came to LA, started working as a stylist, then became a designer!   **When did you first get the idea for HAUS OF PINKLEMONAID?** I was going to a beach party, and my friend asked “can you design me a bathing suit?” I said “sure, absolutely.” I had no idea what I was doing. I took fabric, a pair of earrings, and a bamboo bracelet, wrapped it all crazy and said “okay this is the bathing suit.” She entered the “hot body contest” and placed runner-up. During the contest, the 2 girls before were asked by the host, “what's your regime?  What do you do to stay fit?” responding “I intermittent fast, I don't eat carbs,” etc. But the first question my friend was asked was “who made this swimsuit?” She pointed and said, “oh my best friend, he’s over there.” Woosh, all the heads looked. It was a self realization moment.  Towards the end of the party, a stylist who worked with Kim walked up to me. “Hey, you design swimsuits?” I had only made this, but I said “yes I do.” He said, “I’m styling Kim for a cover shoot, can I see more of your stuff?” I said, “yeah I just finished my line, I’m not back home for 3 more days, but I’ll send it to you once I get back.”  I actually was going home that evening, but needed to buy myself time. I went home, called off of work, and for 3 days, made tons of bathing suits, shot them, and sent them off. It was almost like a black out but living my dream. **Did you produce the product too in those 3 days?** I sketched, I drew, I sewed, I didn't go to sleep. I always take every opportunity that comes my way. It happens often, a stylist will call me and say “I'm doing a video for Ariana Grande, do you have anything in lime green?” I have nothing in lime green but my answer is always yes, absolutely. We’ll spend time making it as quickly as possible, send the pictures over**, and voila, AG in Haus of PinkLemonaid.** **How’d you get the name? It’s so unique.** The name came from a rap song. You remember that song “Right Thurr” by Chingy? “I like how you do it right thurr right thurr.” Trina’s in the remix, she says “rocks on my wrist like pink lemonade.” \[gasps\] I’ma call it PINKLEMONAID.  **How has the brand evolved through the pandemic?** I don't want to take away from the seriousness of what the pandemic is, but in a way, I was prepared already. Being an artist and a small business, having to pivot, having to hustle, it was almost a blessing to me. No traffic and nobody’s bothering me at my studio. I was able to re-inspire myself. Everything was a lot easier because there wasn't all the noise and chaos that normally goes on in my day to day life. Everybody was quarantined at home. I feel that in a way, we were all given a chance to take a moment and really focus on ourselves in terms of creative evolution. We actually did a pivot too. I feel like my entire life is a pivot story - I was doing my mask originally for Coachella. We created a _Hoe Kit_: a bathing suit, a mask, sunglasses, sanitary wipes. The idea was to allow you to be free to do and be whoever you want to be while you were protected. It was the perfect storm, we shot everything the day before the city shut everything down. During the pandemic, I was blessed to be able to still make sales when other businesses were closing. Really a beautiful experience, the light in the dark and we got to promote the seriousness of safety and health through fashion and design.  **Talk** [**about the collaboration you did with NOVUL,**](https://flaunt.com/content/novul-runaway-baby) **love her.**  One of my favorite collabs. As an artist and designer, it’s the direction I was hoping and looking forward to moving into. For her “Sticky” song, we did a custom design together, custom print, and custom bikini. We did a print for a sweatshirt and t-shirt that they used for their Instagram, and Tiktok videos. Really exciting to see the curated dance with these pieces we designed. We printed the fabric, did all the graphic design, produced everything locally. It was a lot of fun! She’s one of those artists that is just down to hustle and create.   **What collab are you most proud of?** One of my favorite collabs is with Sports Illustrated, I’ve been working with them for the past 5 years. I’m very thankful and so blessed for all of the opportunities from MJ, the editor, to place my designs on the most amazing supermodels of today.  and shot by the best fashion photographers. They’ve used my stuff 87 times in the past 5 years, really amazing and some of my favorite icons have worn my suits because of it.  **You’re expanding to clothing with Haus of PinkLemonaid, correct?**  During quarantine, I started to work on clothing. There was just breathing space to do more and create new. The biggest challenge for me is how do I infuse the DNA that’s very essential to my brand and my product, and translate it to something ready to wear? It's a little avant-garde, but still the same girl. My new collection I’m working on has every piece translating my brand regardless of what size you are, XS to XXL. It’s all about providing a product that fuels confidence in whoever’s wearing it.  **Is it one size fits all?** Not one size fits all, but it does look good on everyone. Seeing my product on any type of body excites me and fills me with so much joy. The same joy can be found in the person wearing it and that’s what I live for. Remember _Clueless_ is about transformation? The beautiful thing is the piece you put on, I want my clothing to transform whoever wears it to be the best version of themselves. What I aspire to avoid is the “oh I have to look like her to wear it.” mentality. I really pay attention to where style lines hit so it’s flattering for everyone to show the dichotomy between one size versus the other size is equally as gorgeous.  **How do you put yourself in the female body?** I always loved Barbies and all my friends are girls. I was always one of the girls: in school, everywhere. When I’m creating, I love to put on fabric and walk around the studio. See how it feels, how it fits. What's really important to me is to ask for feedback: not what you like about something, but what you don't like. I might agree with you, I might disagree with you, but I always keep the other perspectives in mind, so when I’m creating something empowering to someone, it’s not subject to one size or one body type.  **How do you position your brand against larger, more established ones and compete with them?** Always taking every opportunity. Literally, if you call me for something, I’ll say yes I don't care. You call me like, ”I’m doing this, do you have it in pink or purple?” I may not but I know I can produce something within an hour, get it done. \[snaps\] Me being a boutique brand, I have really big visibility, but am a small business. It’s me, my assistant, and my sample maker. We’re able to communicate with our customers directly, you can talk to us on Instagram. You’re talking to somebody in the direct office when you're emailing us. If you have an issue with fit, we’ll address it. Let's say you bought a piece and it's showing too much cleavage or you wanted more of a full butt, I'm willing to do the customization. It’s really great feedback, and I also now have that in my arsenal when I'm creating and curating things to empower other people. **Have you ever felt misunderstood as a designer? Tell us more.** I collaborate with really amazing people all the time: other designers, jewelry designers, shoe designers. There isn’t a strong platform for people to discover new artists. When working with big clients, they don't like to tag you. Which is frustrating because I put so much effort and energy into each individual piece. Imagine who the person is–Nicki, Kylie, Saweetie, huge people that I love or huge publications, and they don't want to @ you on Instagram. That’s the biggest struggle and disheartment: not having a platform for artists to be discovered. To give somebody a platform where they’re actually tagged for the work they do. It confuses me because I feel there's enough light for everyone to shine, and everyone should be willingly bringing people into the light if you can. **Goals for yourself and the brand?** I want to get into selling brick and mortar, into stores hopefully when everything opens up for shopping. Bella Hadid is definitely one on my list that I need to buy my swimsuit, absolutely my favorite model today. Her face, her body, her vibe, she's amazing. I love her look. She’s everything to me, I love Bella. Do some more collaborations, I’d really love to partner with Fenty or with Kim and Skims. Putting it into the universe and continuing to work hard!