A swimwear brand has come under fire due to the custom bikinis the company made for a young child. The drama all started when a woman took to social media to share that she had ordered swimwear from the company, but ended up receiving someone else’s order instead. When she opened the package, she was surprised by what she found inside: revealing bikinis for a toddler.
The woman said she might be “old school,” but to her, the bikinis the brand made for toddlers seemed “crazy” to her.
The woman, who goes by Brooke on TikTok, said the receipt indicated that the package contained multiple swimsuits for “a baby size 12 to 18 months.” She didn’t realize that the brand made swimsuits for babies or children, she explained in a video shared on TikTok. However, that’s not the only reason the bikinis in the box came as a huge surprise to her.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Call me a prude, I guess. Call me old school, but I’m not gonna lie, I do think this is a f—ing crazy top for a baby.”
In the video, she held up a yellow string bikini top. She hid the tag on the bikini in her initial video because she didn’t “want to put the brand on blast,” but still, she thought the bikinis were “weird.”
She then revealed the second piece of the two-piece swimsuit and questioned the ruched butt design. “What baby needs scrunch butt bottoms and little tiny string bikini tops?” she questioned.
The package contained several bikinis for toddlers.
The woman went on to show that there were two other bikinis for toddlers in the package. The two other bikinis also had ruched bottoms. In addition to questioning the brand, the woman also seemed to wonder why parents would want that kind of swimwear for their young children. “As a mom, you’re spending money to dress a baby, a 12-month old baby, in a string bikini and scrunch butt bottoms?” she questioned. “Why?”
“Sending back today but….” she captioned the video. “Sorry let’s let kids be kids & dress like kids..”
She said she ended up canceling her order.
@brooke_cornell Sending back today but…. Sorry let’s let kids be kids & dress like kids.. #fyp #letkidsbekids #weird #parenting ♬ original sound – brooke
After receiving the bikinis for toddlers by mistake, the woman sent them back to the brand and ended up asking for a refund. “Overall, it’s just weird,” she concluded in a follow-up video. “Obviously there is a market for this, unfortunately.” She added that “a couple moms” commented on her first video saying that they think the bikinis are “cute.”
The brand also responded.
@maheliheli We are all entitled to our own opinions- We are extremely grateful for all of our customers, the opportunity to make your swimwear and for all the love we receive on a daily basis.🫶🏻
♬ original sound – MAHELI HELI
After Brooke’s video went viral, the brand, later identified as Miami-based Maheli Heli, responded to the backlash with its own video. Rebecca Vazquez, owner of Maheli Heli Swimwear, introduced herself in the video and said that “there’s basically a customer who I think is using a situation to kind of get popularity on TikTok. I don’t know where she’s going with this or why she’s choosing this topic as clickbait.”
She explained that the bikinis Brooke showcased in her video were custom-ordered. Then, she went on to say that the swimwear made by the brand is “not for everybody” and people might have different opinions. However, she suggested that Brooke’s criticism went too far. To Rebecca, it’s not acceptable to “attack a brand that we have worked so hard to build for ten years on nothing, just based on an opinion.”
“I don’t believe you have anything to stand on. I believe that it’s very dangerous and very backwards,” she continued. “Calling my customers pedophiles and my team pedophiles is just insane, unnecessary. It’s a far stretch.”
She added that “it’s unfortunate that one person’s opinion could create all of this chaos on our social platforms.” While she thinks it’s totally acceptable for people to have different opinions, she urged people who “have something to say” or who “disagree with something” to contact the brand directly.
Many people said they were ‘disturbed’ when they saw the swimwear.
Those who reacted to Brooke’s original video wondered why the brand would sell bikinis like that for babies or toddlers — but also wondered why parents would want to buy them for their children.
“I was ready to think you overexaggerated,” one person commented on the video. “But I gasped.”
A second person wrote, “Looks like it’s for a build a bear.” Some people noticed other issues with the bikinis, with a few people pointing out that the bikinis would “provide next to no sun protection.”
“That is incredibly impractical,” another person wrote. “like… weirdness aside that would not hold up to swimming/play on the beach which makes it EXTRA WEIRD!!!”
Someone else who was clearly baffled by the swimsuits pointed out that it seems like “you can’t even fit a swim diaper under those?!”
“The over sexualization of kids is outrageous,” another critic commented.
