Color y Olas

Designed in Costa Rica

Swimwear that was touched by hands before it was ever photographed.

Color y Olas is a small Costa Rican label built around a simple idea: a bathing suit you plan to live in — on the water, at lunch after, on the walk back up the hill — should be made with the kind of attention that only a person can give it. Every piece in the collection is handcrafted by artisans, not assembled on a production line. That is the difference you feel the first time you put it on, and the reason a Color y Olas piece tends to outlast the season it was bought for.

The range spans swimwear, beach clothing, hats and sandals — designed to be worn together, in the colours of the coast they came from.

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Four things, made properly.

Hand-crocheted terracotta and cream bikini set

SwimwearEnquire

Woman in a long green hand-crocheted beach dress with a linen wrap

Beach clothingEnquire

HatsEnquire

SandalsEnquire

Because everything is made by hand in small batches, the collection changes. Some pieces come back in a new colourway, some don’t come back at all. If something here is what you had in mind, it’s worth asking early — availability is answered honestly, piece by piece.

Close detail of hand-crocheted stitching and applied floral trim

The craft

Handmade is a construction method, not a mood.

Look closely at a piece and you can read how it was made. Stitches close in tight where the garment needs to hold, open up where it should breathe, and finish in trims and edges that were shaped by a person deciding, in the moment, where they should sit. Mass production can’t make those decisions — it repeats one instruction thousands of times and hopes the average works for you.

That is why handmade pieces fit differently. The tension is even because someone kept it even. The edges lie flat because someone worked them flat. Ties are anchored rather than tacked on, and the places that take the most stress — where a strap meets a cup, where a hem turns — are reinforced by the same person who built the rest of the piece.

It also means each piece is very slightly its own. Two versions of the same design, made by hand, are sisters rather than twins. We think that’s the point of buying something like this.

Ask about a piece

How a piece comes to exist

Four steps, and a person at every one of them.

Designed here

Every silhouette and colourway starts in Costa Rica, drawn around how people actually dress on this coast — long days, salt water, heat, and a walk into town afterwards.

Made by artisans

Pieces are handcrafted by artisans who work with Daniela directly. No anonymous overseas supplier sits between the design and the finished garment.

Checked one at a time

Small batches mean each piece is looked at individually before it goes anywhere — the tension, the finish, the way it hangs. Anything that isn’t right doesn’t go out.

Sent to you personally

Orders are handled as a conversation, not a checkout queue. You’ll know what you’re getting, when it ships and what it costs before anything is agreed.

Made in Costa Rica

The colour comes from somewhere.

Costa Rica is not a marketing line on this label — it is where the pieces are designed and where the hands that make them are. The palette follows what’s outside: the rust of late afternoon light on the sand, the greens that sit behind the beach, the creams and shell tones that show up in everything from the reef to the rooftops.

Working this way also means the value of each piece stays close to home. When a garment is handcrafted by local artisans, the skill, the wages and the credit stay with the people who did the work. Buying one is a small vote for that arrangement over a cheaper one.

It has practical consequences too. Because production is local and small, a colour can be adjusted, a run can be short, and a piece can be discussed rather than simply ordered. That flexibility is only possible at this size — and we’d rather stay this size.

Artisan hands crocheting a piece by hand, with finished pieces and yarn nearby

Six things you can hold us to

Straight answers, before you spend anything.

Handmade means handmade

Every piece is handcrafted by artisans. If something in the range is ever produced any other way, you’ll be told before you buy it, not after.

Real prices, on request

Pricing sits in the mid-to-luxury range and is given to you plainly for the specific piece you’re asking about. No moving numbers, no pressure to decide today.

Honest availability

If a design is sold out or the next batch is weeks away, that’s what you’ll hear. Small-batch means limited, and pretending otherwise wastes your time.

Help with sizing before you order

You’ll get measurements and a recommendation for the actual piece you want, rather than a generic chart and a guess.

A person replies

Messages are answered by Daniela. No ticket number, no template, no chatbot standing in for a conversation about something made by hand.

No lists, no spam

Your details are used to answer your question. They aren’t sold, traded or dropped into a marketing sequence you have to escape from.

Living with a handmade piece

How to keep it looking like it did on day one.

Rinse before you do anything else

Salt and chlorine are what age swimwear, not wearing it. A cold-water rinse as soon as you’re out — before the piece dries stiff — does more for its life than any product will.

Dry flat, out of the sun

Hanging a wet handmade piece by one strap pulls it out of shape. Lay it flat in the shade instead. Direct sun is hard on colour, and heat is hard on stretch.

Wash it by hand

Cool water, mild soap, no wringing and no machine. Handmade construction is strong where it needs to be, but a drum full of zippers is a fight it doesn’t need to have.

Give it a day off

Rotating between two pieces on a long trip lets the fibres recover fully between wears. It is the least glamorous advice here and the one that makes the biggest difference.

Mind the rough edges

Pool ledges, boat decks and volcanic rock are the usual culprits behind a pulled stitch. Sit on a towel and a handmade piece will forgive almost everything else.

Ask before you fix it

If a stitch does pull, send a photo before cutting anything. Some repairs are simple and can be talked through — and a small fix beats retiring a piece early.

Styling notes

How the collection is meant to be worn.

One swim piece, three days

The range is built so a single swim set carries a whole trip. Worn alone on the water, under an open cover-up at lunch, and beneath a long beach dress in the evening, it reads differently each time without you packing more.

Let one texture lead

Handmade pieces have visible texture, and texture is a pattern. Pair a heavily worked swim set with a plainer wrap, or a simple set with a detailed cover-up — rather than asking two intricate pieces to compete in the same photograph.

Warm neutrals go everywhere

The palette is drawn from sand, clay, shell and the greens behind the beach, which is why the pieces sit together without effort. If you are choosing a first piece, a warm neutral will work with more of your existing wardrobe than a statement colour will.

Hats do the work of an outfit

A handwoven wide-brim hat is the fastest way to take a swim set from the water to a table, and it is doing something practical at the same time. It is the piece customers most often add second.

Sandals over flip-flops

Woven leather sandals hold up to sand and still look intentional on a restaurant floor. They are the quiet reason a beach outfit stops reading as beachwear the moment you leave the sand.

Buy for the body you have

Handmade construction can be discussed before it is made, which is a genuine advantage over buying off a rack. Say what usually fits badly on you and it can often be accounted for — ask before you order, not after.

Stockists, hotels & press

If you sell to people who spend their days near water.

Boutiques, hotel shops and resort retailers ask for handmade swimwear because it is the part of the rail that customers pick up and turn over in their hands. Color y Olas is produced in small batches, so wholesale works differently here than it does with a factory label: quantities, colourways and timing are agreed as a conversation, and honesty about what can actually be delivered comes before the order.

If you are a buyer, a hotel, a stylist pulling for a shoot, or writing about Costa Rican design, send a note through the form below and say what you have in mind. You will hear back from Daniela with what is possible, what it costs, and how long it takes — without a minimum being invented to make the conversation sound bigger than it is.

Start a wholesale conversation

Daniela, founder and designer of Color y Olas, in her studio

Our story

The idea was simple: make the kind of bathing suit people keep — designed here, made by hands she knows, in the colours of the coast it came from.

Color y Olas is Daniela’s label. It began with swimwear and grew outwards into the rest of what you actually wear at the beach — the cover-up, the hat, the sandals — because the pieces looked like they belonged together and customers kept asking for the whole outfit.

The label stays deliberately small. Working with artisans on short runs means fewer pieces exist, and every one of them can be checked properly. It also means you can write to the person who designed the thing you’re considering, ask a real question, and get a real answer back.

Write to Daniela

Questions

Before you ask, you were probably wondering…

Is everything really handmade?

Yes. Swimwear, beach clothing, hats and sandals are all handcrafted by artisans in Costa Rica rather than run through a mass-production line. It is the reason the label exists and the reason the pieces cost what they cost.

What price range should I expect?

Color y Olas sits in the mid-to-luxury range, reflecting handmade construction in small batches rather than mass-market pricing. Ask about a specific piece and you’ll get its actual price directly, with no obligation.

How do I know what size to order?

Send a message and you’ll get measurements plus a recommendation for the specific piece you want. Handmade pieces vary slightly, so a real answer about the actual garment beats a generic size chart.

Are pieces in stock, or made to order?

It depends on the design and where the current small-batch run stands. Ask about the piece you have in mind and you’ll get a straight answer on availability and timing.

Do you ship outside Costa Rica?

Ask when you reach out — options and cost depend on where you are, and Daniela will confirm exactly what’s possible for your location before anything is agreed.

What happens if a design sells out?

Because everything is made by hand in small batches, a sold-out design isn’t always repeated in the same colourway. If something here is what you want, it’s worth asking sooner rather than later.

Can I request a different colour or a custom size?

Sometimes — it depends on the piece and what the artisans can accommodate. Custom requests are handled case by case with Daniela directly, so ask and you’ll find out quickly.

Who actually makes the pieces?

Artisans in Costa Rica, working directly with Daniela on each design. There is no anonymous overseas factory anywhere in the process.

Is there a shop I can visit, or a cart to check out with?

Ordering is direct for now. Send a message with what you’re interested in and Daniela will walk you through what’s available, pricing and how to get it to you.

My question isn’t here — what then?

Send it through the form, or reach out by phone or email. Every message gets a personal reply from Daniela rather than an automated one.