Roundup
Fertile New Ground
Four area companies find a niche in the fashion market
34
MAY 2016 (201) GOLD COAST
bud & june, Weehawken
A former women’s fashion designer in New York City, Buffalo native and beach lover Melissa Cassidy
launched bud & june, a line of boys swimwear, in April 2015. A mother of two young boys, she noticed
that “all of the boys at the beach were wearing board shorts and walking around like cowboys trying to
keep up their sagging shorts,” Cassidy says. “Their movements were restricted by the long length and an
uncomfortable excess of wet fabric just hanging off their bodies.”
Her quest to find better-fitting swimwear for her sons, now 2 and 5, led to her begin testing customprinted Italian fabrics and patterns for her own line of swimwear, which includes swim shorts, rash guards
and swim pants in sizes 18 months to 6 years old.
“The latest additions are formfitting swim pants that are just adorable,” she says of the lightweight,
quick-drying, all-purpose pant that offers 50+ SPF. Currently, the collection, which is made exclusively in
New Jersey, is available online at budandjune.com and, by September 2016, Cassidy expects her fall
resort line to be in tri-state area boutiques and specialty stores.
The line is named for Cassidy’s grandparents, who were “world travelers and great adventurers; they
were always coming back with wonderful stories from their travels and misadventures on the road,” she
smiles. “Right now, we’re fulfilling the ‘bud’ part of our name, and plans are in the works for a line for
swimwear for little girls so we can fulfill the ‘june’ part, as well.”
MOM: COURTESY OF MARY LAUREN/@MARYLAUREN;
SWIMWEAR: COURTESY OF BUD & JUNE
N
ew
Jersey’s
Gold Coast
is fast
becoming
a hotbed
of high fashion, with an
array of startups finding fertile ground for their inspired
takes on everything from
menswear to swimwear.
All the activity delights
Desha L. Jackson, the Jersey
City attorney who founded
and coordinates Jersey City
Fashion Week. Now in its
fifth year, the five-day event
shines the spotlight on
fashion and the community
while raising funds for local
charities that support the
mission of her Give To Live
Community Foundation. In
2015, proceeds from Jersey
City Fashion Week were
donated to Covenant House,
Habitat for Humanity
Hudson County and Hope
House, a program of
Catholic Charities of the
Archdiocese of Newark.
Tentatively scheduled
Sept. 21-25 at locations
throughout the city, the 2016
theme is Fashion Festival:
Celebrating Five Years of
Fashion, Entertainment and
Community.
(201) Gold Coast caught
up with four emerging talents – in Hoboken, Jersey
City and Weehawken – who
are putting their stamp on
modern fashion.
WRITTEN BY BROOKE PERRY