Ana Aguilar Aguirre: Anitya

LOT: How did you start your swimwear line?

Anitya: My mother and my sister have been sewing together ever since I can remember. And my sister started an activewear line with my mother 10 years ago. I was interested in what they were doing especially since, when it comes to activewear, we were kind of in the same line—my sister’s a dancer, I’m a yoga teacher. I got a lot of inspiration from them because I saw them creating stuff, and I’ve always wanted to be self-sufficient—like, grow my own food, create my own clothing, build my own house.

When I arrived in Saladita, I couldn’t find swimwear for surfing that felt really comfortable, that would hold everything in place and that was also pretty. Everything I found was functional or pretty, but not both, so I ended up going in the water with my yoga clothes because they were the most comfortable, for surfing and movement. Then, I started to make some swimwear for myself and people started to ask me about it. I was like, “Oh, I think it’s time I develop my own line.” So, with my mother and my sister, we started Velour Surfwear. We started with very small batches, then there was more and more demand. People have been very happy with it. It’s been growing a little bit.

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LOT: What’s the story behind the name?

Anitya: Velour was my sister’s favorite fabric when she was a kid. We shared it a lot. And, in the logo, we have two A’s—for Ana and my sister Alejandra—and two P’s—my mother is Patricia, and I’m Ana Patricia. It’s a union of the three of us.

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LOT: Why Saladita?

Anitya: Before I arrived here, I was traveling for, like, six years. At the university, I studied marine biology. I’ve always wanted to be close to the ocean, and I’ve always envisioned that for my living place. For those six years, I was traveling mostly outside of Mexico and I met so many people who were, like, “Wow, your country is amazing”. I felt like I didn’t know that much of my country, so after Covid, I came back to Mexico and started traveling in a van. I was thinking, “I’m gonna do the coast, and find a place where I can settle down and where I can surf”. I’d surfed a little bit here and there, but I was never serious enough to really improve. When I arrived here, I found a very beautiful and long wave that was easy to learn on. I stayed committed to being here, to surfing.

LOT: Where did you grow up?

Anitya: I was born in Guadalajara and, when I was a teenager, I moved to Colima [the city], which is a little bit closer to the coast. I always say I grew up in Colima. For university, I moved from there to live in La Paz in Baja. I spent six years there. So, I’ve kind of been here and there. I didn’t have a fixed place where I grew up. I was always moving around.

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LOT: You said you were looking for a place where you could settle down. What else attracted you here besides the surf?

Anitya: The security. I find this place to feel very safe. There was a point when I came back from traveling that I went back to Guadalajara. It was too dangerous. I felt like I could never live my life freely there. I came here and I found that feeling of security, of safety. Also, there’s very good soil here and a good amount of water to grow food. I volunteered on a farm outside of Saladita—Finka Kona—where I now have land with my husband. For me, it was everything in one place—a good place to grow food, a safe place with a very nice wave. I was like, “I don’t need anything else.”

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LOT: What keeps you here? Is it the farm?

Anitya: I used to work way more on the farm. Right now, I’m more of a full-time yoga teacher. That’s also another thing I found here, a bit of community where I could bring my yoga teaching to. I’m teaching at The Templo in Saladita three times-a-week now. Yin yoga and yoga flow—that’s after practicing Ashtanga for many years. I’m also involved with the local surf camps. All of that keeps me here—teaching yoga, helping with the camps and working on my surf-wear line.

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LOT: Do you still work at Finka Kona?

Anitya: My husband and I bought a little piece of land inside the farm. That’s where we built our house using bio-construction. We’re not that active with the garden right now, but we’re looking forward to continuing growing our food on the land as we establish ourselves there.

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LOT: What kind of farm is Finka Kona?

Anitya: We planted a syntropic forest there. It’s a regenerative approach to horticulture. We help the soil replenish itself. It’s also called “permaculture”. We’ve created an environment for banana, papaya, mango, moringa, lemons, oranges and lemongrass. We used to have chickens, for eggs. And we grew tomatoes, cucumbers and arugula. The idea was to be as self-sufficient as we can. We even put in solar. That was the dream. Now, it’s our home.

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LOT: You’ve been here four years, have you seen a change in the community?

Anitya: There’s way more construction right now. A lot of people that arrived just stayed, permanently. Still, for me, it’s still very chill and safe, which I really appreciate. And there are way more facilities now, like Hacienda, more shops and places to go. Saladita is growing fast and it’s growing slow at the same time. It’s still very unique.

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LOT: What do you want this area to hold? Not to lose?

Anitya: Its own integrity. And the wave. I hope all the development doesn’t change anything on the wave. I want to see Saladita grow, but at the same time I want it to stay small and safe. I’ve seen it in other places, that once it’s growing, it’s more and more parties and everything gets more uncontrolled. The main thing to hold onto is the respect for the nature we have here. That’s amazing.

LOT: What excites you the most about being here?

Anitya: It’s been nice to see the community growing. Even since I’ve arrived, which wasn’t that long ago, I feel like there’s been a new generation. Everybody was way younger then and now there’s a new creativity, a lot of entrepreneurs getting involved in more things.

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LOT: What's next for you and your brand?

Anitya: Reaching more and more women. That inspires me. What I love about having a surf-wear line is that I get to connect with a lot of women who are very good at surfing. I would love to do some women’s trips for surfing with the brand. I would also love to help conservation programs. As a marine biologist, I’m always looking forward to getting involved in those, especially with whales.

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LOT: Is there a secret to your fabrics? Aura says they lay flat, that there’s no elastic. She says that’s really good.

Anitya: I’ve had a lot of help from my sister, honestly. She’s a very advanced dancer and she’s very familiar with what feels safe. She likes doing aerial dance, so she’s always upside down. She’s helped me find what will work. I look for fabrics that create good structure, that don’t stretch out. You know, my line isn’t just for surfing. I love all water sports, like kite surfing and diving. I want something that will stay with me. The truth is, they do have a little bit of elastic but it’s inside, it's hidden.

LINKS

Velour Surfwear: https://www.instagram.com/velour_surfwear

Templo Saladita: https://www.instagram.com/templosaladita

Finka Kona: https://www.finkakona.com/about-us