Chloe Fineman, the actress and comedian, will appear in an ad campaign for Andie, the Brooklyn-based direct-to-consumer swimwear brand, featuring The Riviera Collection.
Known for swimsuits designed for all body types, Andie was founded in 2017 and today does 85 percent of its business in direct-to-consumer, and 15 percent with wholesale accounts. In the past the brand has had sold-out design collaborations with Demi Moore and Mindy Kaling, but the Fineman partnership is strictly an advertising one.
The summer collection with Fineman looks to capture the glamor of the Italian Riviera. It was photographed in a townhouse on the Lower East Side. “The images look like she’s in a gorgeous pool house on the Mediterranean, on the Riviera somewhere,” said Melanie Travis, chief executive officer and founder of Andie.
Chloe Fineman models The Riviera Collection Majorca halter suit for Andie.
Courtesy of Andie Swim
“When Andie came to me with this collection, I was instantly obsessed,” said the 37-year-old Fineman, who’s part of the repertory on “Saturday Night Live.” “They had this whole Italian Riviera fantasy going on. Limoncello, cobblestones, terracotta, polka dots, this insanely pretty floral print. I love how playful and unserious the collection felt, which honestly is what I’m always trying to do with my work. And the collection totally gets that without feeling too serious, which is honestly how I try to approach everything.
“I’m a huge fan of great swimwear, and I think it’s a hard thing to come by. And I think especially stuff that you actually feel comfortable, but still sexy in, in a world of thong bikini bottoms that I feel a little weird wearing in public,” Fineman added.
Fineman said she’s a bikini girl, but also loves a great one-piece. “It just really depends on how you feel comfortable,” said Fineman. She said during the shoot, she was concerned about posing in bikinis, but then some bikinis appeared, and she tried them on, and “I was like, I can wear this bikini comfortably.
“I had my team with me, and everyone was like, ‘OMG, you look amazing,’ and they’re like, ‘I want this suit’ and I think that’s so rare, especially with swimwear, where there’s nothing cutting you off or weird, like everything is so comfortable and just flattering, and I felt so good. It was just like a perfect day,” said Fineman, who did the shoot in April.
Chloe Fineman in ad for The Riviera Collection at Andie.
Asked about her workout routine – especially to prepare for a swimsuit campaign – she said, “That was the thing. I was in the middle of ‘SNL’ so like workout is stress. I will definitely work out once a week, and realistically, I try to do two times a week.” She said her workout routine is Pilates, and when she’s in New York, she’ll go to Studio Boa in Chelsea.
Travis said that Fineman may design something for Andie going forward.
Asked what prompted Travis to reach out to Fineman, the CEO said, “I’m a huge ‘SNL’ fan and huge fan of Chloe in particular. I think she’s so funny and seeing her on set and being with her live was really incredible. In between every take she would be doing impressions. It made the whole set lively and fun and light-hearted. Hopefully that comes through in the images.”
The campaign was shot by photographer Huy Long, whom Fineman has frequently worked with. Starting Wednesday, ads will appear across the internet, along with a home page takeover and throughout social media.
According to Travis, teaming up with celebrities “expands brand awareness and helps us acquire new customers.” She said that when they work with celebrities inevitably their networks have people who have never heard of Andie. “And so when we’re able to partner with talent like Chloe, part of the agreement is always that in addition to being the face of the campaign, she’ll also be talking about the collection and the brand on her own channels, and inevitably, there will be people who are huge fans of Chloe who may not have been familiar with Andie, so it’s really a discovery tool for the brand.”
Travis said they’ll advertise on Meta, across Facebook and Instagram, and Google. “Given everything going on in the world, and the privacy changes that have come to social media, if we can partner with a celebrity like Chloe that really helps us expand our awareness, meet new customers and help women discover Andie.” She said that they conduct regular fan surveys of their audience and their customers tend to skew a little more intellectual “and they love comedy.”
“In fact, they love comedy even more than they love fashion really,” said Travis. “And so we thought Chloe would be a great fit for us, given what she does. And Chloe is very interested in fashion as well.”
Fineman has a current collaboration with Frank & Eileen (along with her mother, for a collection of limited-edition striped shirts), as reported, and last September had a collaboration with Mother for a retro-inspired capsule. She said her mother’s Frank & Eileen striped shirts sold out. “Mine are getting there,” said Fineman.
As for Andie’s business, Travis said they’re up double digits from a year ago. “We’ve had some great collections that have really resonated this year, and we had a big Target launch,” said Travis. “It sold out across Targets. It was a great partnership. It was huge for Andie. We saw on social media millions of hits of women walking into Target, seeing Andie, and talking about this brand. Some never heard of this brand and others saying, ‘Oh my god, I love this brand, I can’t believe it’s in Target.’”
The Riviera Collection will be sold exclusively online at andie.com starting Wednesday. Andie’s other collections are sold at stores such as Nordstrom, R.E.I. and Anthropologie, along with andie.com. There are 35 different styles in The Riviera Collection.
One-pieces retail from $122 to $142. Bikini tops are $68 to $78, and bottoms are $54 to $64. Sizes range from XS to XL.
Fineman said her favorite swimsuit is the Mallorca, which happens to be the first halter suit that Andie has ever designed. “It’s a one-piece bathing suit that’s sexier than a bikini, and it has an amazing black and white polka dot. I really like the one-pieces,” she said.
The Riviera Collection featuring Chloe Fineman for Andie.
Courtesy of Andie Swim
Fineman said she loves swimwear because summer is her favorite time of year. “I live by the pool, so I’m always in a bathing suit. I don’t ever want to promote something that I don’t use myself, and I’m a huge bathing suit person,” she said.
The Riviera Collection featuring Chloe Fineman for Andie.
Courtesy of Andie.
She said it’s hard to find great swimsuits, and she doesn’t like being wasteful. “You want to feel good and also want something that will last. So I was really excited about this. I’m a woman who’s easily influenced and also like to influence others,” said Fineman.
