On April 3, Clarisse DeJohn opened an online store for the first collection of her swimwear line, KicKini California Bikini. On April 28, the 17-year-old Sherman Oaks resident attended her senior prom. It’s a fitting end to her tenure at Notre Dame High School and the perfect transition into the next phase of her career in fashion, which will take off this fall at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. DeJohn is more than a few steps ahead of the curve: She complemented traditional coursework at Notre Dame with classes in fashion design and sewing at Academy of Couture Art, Otis College of Art & Design and the Pasadena Arts Center. “It’s definitely been a challenge,” DeJohn said. “You have to manage time well and have your priorities set.” Having supportive friends helps a lot – especially when they also serve as sounding boards, muses and models. KicKini’s designs are made for young women like DeJohn and her friends, who prefer swimming and surfing to lounging on the sand. “The suits we would buy always needed to be adjusted or fixed,” she said. “It’s hard to find a cute bikini that’s also functional.” KicKini’s two inaugural bikinis feature deliberate details that make them ideal for surfside frolics. The ties on the “Cora” top, which retails for $82, are positioned under the arms rather than around the neck or back. The “Shelli” top, sold for $79, offers added coverage by way of extra ruching on the front. Both products were made to flatter every body type, a consideration that DeJohn took very seriously. “My friends all have different body types, and their opinions represent my target market,” she said. “I took their feedback about what they wanted from a bathing suit and considered how it would move with your body.” Finding the intersection of fashion and function required more than one trip to the drawing board, DeJohn said, and building a bikini business was no day at the beach. She missed more than a few nights out with friends in order to work on KicKini, but the sacrifice was worthwhile, she said. While she is unsure whether the brand will be her main focus down the road, she feels the experience has prepared her well for the next step in her career. “I miss out on hanging out with my friends sometimes, but they’re always there for me,” DeJohn said. “FIT has been my dream school for so long. I’m really excited to just learn and explore.” – Helen Floersh