OUR FOUNDER: Sit down with Chelsea Bell, Founder and Head Designer, as she unfoldsher journey with Stone Fox Swim.
For founder, Chelsea Bell, Stone Fox Swim is more than just brand –
it’s a journey of self-discovery, growth and creativity that she has been joyfully riding for fifteen years. To celebrate the next evolution of the Stone Fox Swim brand, Chelsea sat down with Lila Theodoros (her longtime brand designer) to chat purpose, determination, lessons learnt and what the brand truly means to her, then and now.
LILA: Can you take us back to the moment Stone Fox Swim was born. What was the first image or feeling or spark that inspired it?
CHELSEA: I was just out of college and I knew I wanted to start my own business – and to be honest, at the time, I never would’ve guessed that it would be swimwear. I thought I would open a surf shop or something similar. I was living in Santa Cruz and surfing a lot – I grew up by the beach and was definitely a beach girl and very into bikinis already. At that time, I became fascinated with Brazilian swimwear. I hadn’t really seen that style around and it felt very feminine and elevated. I was just obsessed and so I took that obsession to the next level and started my own swimwear brand.
Once I started, I realized how much creative energy I had inside me – I’d always been very into art and design and colors, but it was never applied or directed at anything. And when all of a sudden I had this channel, this thing to funnel it through, my purpose in life was born – maybe without me even really understanding how deep that was at the time.
LILA: What did those early days look like? What were the challenges and the realities of loving swimwear and then trying to make it come to life?
CHELSEA: In the beginning I came with no background in fashion and had no contacts, so my first decision was to keep things simple and produce locally in the States. At the time I was living in California and knew LA was a hub for manufacturing so I started researching local makers who could help with sampling. I ended up connecting with a company just outside of Los Angeles in Compton. One of my big goals right at the
beginning was to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, which was really ambitious because I hadn’t even made anything yet. So the pressure was on to meet this self-imposed deadline and create a collection. I brought my ideas to a small manufacturer run by two brothers and they were so helpful and made my samples just in time for me to submit them to Sports Illustrated. They also put together a tiny test order to get things started and my first collection was finally out there, albeit with no real reference or direction and barely a brand behind it. But I was doing what I dreamed of and that summer, with my mini collection in hand, I decided to go to a trade show at Miami Swim Week. I wasn’t ready to be in any kind of fashion show but I wanted to be there to show my designs. I was determined – I had my little room, I was there repping my brand with all my suits on a rack, and that was it. And then I got the news that half the suits I sent in to Sports Illustrated actually made it into the magazine. I was really making this happen
LILA: You made it in?
CHELSEA: Yeah. It was destiny.
LILA: That was determination. It was determination and hard work.
CHELSEA: Yeah, I know. I will say that’s definitely one of the characteristics about myself that makes all of this possible. If there’s something I want to do, it will get done. I am very tenacious and determined. So there was just no stopping it.
LILA: Was there a particular woman that shaped your vision for the brand?
CHELSEA: I feel she’s always been a kind of reflection of myself, at different stages of my life. So in the beginning, when I would think about her, she was the Beach and Bonfire Girl. I was a California surfer girl so that’s what my inspiration was. It was very light-hearted, fun and free in the beginning. And as we’ve grown and evolved, I feel the brand has transformed into this feeling, this image or essence, of a very powerful, strong and confident woman. She is a stone fox – that’s a saying for a reason and I feel the brand and everything around it embodies that so much. She is a force.
LILA: I’ve been very privileged to watch part of the journey of Stone Fox Swim with you – we started working together back in 2019 and now, in 2025, we’ve just completed another beautiful brand evolution. Stone Fox Swim remains true to herself but there is always change and growth. She is who she is, but she experiences life. She evolves.
CHELSEA: I get chills when you say that because I feel like we’re talking about a real person. She has this essence and is on her own journey. Growing the brand has been such an incredible and personal experience for me – Stone Fox Swim is such a creative outlet for myself and to watch it transform and feel how meaningful it feels is truly special.
LILA: How has the vision and the brand itself evolved creatively and personally over the years?
CHELSEA: There have been major chapter turns over the past 13 years, for the brand and for myself. In the beginning, the brand was very young, fun, adventurous and free-spirited – like life was just beginning. And then when you and I started working together, I felt I had changed, personally – I wasn’t a kid anymore and I really felt like I was stepping into my womanhood. I was older, I was more mature, I was more accomplished. I was realizing what types of things were actually important to me and what my values were. There was an evolution in maturity and also spiritually, and we got to explore what that meant for the brand. The initial work we did together made everything feel connected. It brought a kind of spiritual undertone and deeper meaning – we were more than a bathing suit. It was about what we were trying to make people feel, and I loved seeing that come to life.
And then, fast-forward to now, there’s another chapter turn. I’m a mom and I’ve entered a new phase of life – it’s changed how I view things in the world. And that, again, applies to Stone Fox Swim because I feel that, as my creative outlet, as my purpose, I need those values to match.
There are so many things that have evolved in my life over the last couple of years and I feel the most recent visual brand work we developed for Stone Fox Swim so beautifully encapsulates all of that. She’s still a wide-eyed, youthful woman, but there’s also this greater depth and a level of maturity that’s come from life experience.
When I see the new branding, when I read through the poetry, my heart explodes because I really feel it – it feels like me. And I am so lucky to be able to have this type of beautiful reference for what’s going on inside me. Not a lot of people get to do branding like this. They don’t have a brand or a business that emulates themselves this much. And I get to actually see on paper the depth of my own self-growth by looking at the work we’ve done for Stone Fox. It’s really special.
LILA: WHAT LESSONS OR TURNING POINTS HAVE SHAPED YOU?
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CHELSEA: There’s been so many lessons, not only in business, but also personal self-growth too. Just learning how to manage problems, stress and all the things that come up – I remember in the beginning being so overwhelmed by production, worrying over whether I was going to make this actually happen and just crying in a corner of the factory. I’m so much stronger than that now.
I think one of the biggest things I’ve learnt when it comes to myself and how I deal with the business is to have faith and trust, and to surrender to the idea that everything will be okay. Everything will work out how it’s supposed to, because it only ever has.
The biggest shift in the business for me was when we transitioned from manufacturing in Los Angeles to Indonesia. In the beginning, I felt very proud to be manufacturing at home. I grew up in California, I was living in California. Production was very close to me, literally, I could just drive there and check in.
But when I met my partner Bayu, it was kind of destiny in play, like it was always meant to be this way. We’d been dating for about six months and he’d learned more about what I do and suggested that I talk to friends of his in Indonesia – they were basically his second family and owned a factory. So immediately, there was a connection and trust. I know these people, I know their values, I know what they stand for. It’s not just this invisible factory halfway across the world. And that element really helped me to trust that moving production to Indonesia was the right decision. It felt right in my heart.
At the same time we moved production, we were also making this huge shift to do things as sustainably and eco-friendly as possible. We changed product materials, switching our fabric to recycled nylon, and implemented sustainable packaging choices. I knew the impact my industry had on the world and it was time to consciously choose better ways to do things inorder to minimize that impact.
LILA: What do you want someone to feel when they wear Stone Fox Swim?
CHELSEA: I want them to feel confident, feminine and connected to something. The brand has this beautiful story and power, so when women wear Stone Fox Swim, I want them to feel connected to that beauty, to that story, to the earth. The statement in the new branding, “She is the sun”, is a powerful truth that I fully embody.
When you sent me that, I was already in this place, where I was really kind of digging in and leaning into my connection with the sun, specifically spiritually. It’s really my thing – put me in the sun spot in the corner and I’ll happily lay there for 12 hours. It recharges me. I feel it’s where I get my downloads, my power, my information.
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LILA: OH, THAT'S SO WONDERFUL.
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CHELSEA: It’s really serious for me. Like it’s a connection to the cosmos, to something bigger, to all of that. I want women who wear Stone Fox Swim to feel that too. “She is the sun.” She is this force, this power, this beauty, this rawness, all of it.
LILA: I think there’s always been a poetic energy behind Stone Fox Swim. What role does story play in your process?
CHELSEA: Growing the brand story and defining who she is, particularly with this rebrand, gives me this clear pillar, a clarity. She has this kind of foundation, so when I design, or think about the colors, the prints, or even when I think about the feeling of the collection as a whole, it all stems from this story, this place. It gives it such an anchor. And it adds this extra level of beauty into the process. Within this poetry, I feel like I’m doing something real. I’m not just in front of my computer going through the motions – it’s a creative dance in play.
LILA: WHAT DOES BEAUTY MEAN TO YOU?
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CHELSEA: Beauty is something that makes you feel good. It’s a feeling and it’s different for everybody. It’s subjective. I might think that a particular flower is beautiful but then my daughter might think it’s the ugliest flower in the world. So it’s not about the physical, it’s about the personal feeling something gives you. It’s a feeling of happiness, warmth and a kind of tranquility.
LILA: IF YOU COULD WHISPER ONE THING TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
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CHELSEA: I would remind her how powerful she is. I would tell her that she’s capable, she’s strong – I would tell her she is a true force.I think it would also be that you’re where you’re meant to be. That too, because I think in the beginning that reassurance of knowing you’re exactly where you’re meant to be eliminates so much worry and doubt about what’s going on around you.
LILA: Can you describe a moment where you felt you were exactly where you were meant to be with Stone Fox Swim?
CHELSEA: First was in the beginning, when I finally discovered this channel for creativity that was inside me and I could apply it to something real, tangible, physical. I had this idea, I made this thing and now I’m holding it. And that kind of creative rush really showed me that this was the path for me – that I’m meant to be doing this. And that felt so good.
And then, the second moment was when we first met and did that initial brand creation together, that real first branding. When we took everything that Stone Fox was from inception until that point – everything she had been through and accomplished and who she had grown into – and really defined it, packaged it, put it into this story with this reflective kind of piece of who she was. I feel like the meaning and depth of that moment really solidified everything for me and made me feel that the work I do is a lot more important and meaningful than I initially thought it was. That was the turning point where it became so much more connected for me. We uncovered so much feeling and a real spiritual connection to a bigger purpose.
LILA: What does the next chapter of Stone Fox Swim look like?
CHELSEA: I feel I’m in it and am so excited about it. The next chapter feels slow, it feels intentional, it feels meaningful. There’s a lot of ease and flow. It’s all about how I use my energy for my brands, which is soft, yet powerful – no pushing, no pulling, no pressure, just embracing the flow. I’m working from a place of pleasure as opposed to pressure, and that’s how I want the brands to feel – just easeful, light and beautiful.
