‘Cheer’ Star Gabi Butler’s Favorite Summer Bikini Trends: Interview

Bikini babes! CheerStar Gabi Butler is one of the most well-known cheerleaders of our time — but did you know she’s also a fashion entrepreneur?

The Bikini Block was founded by Amanda Butler, a 24-year-old athlete, and Ashley Gaffoglio–Ricardo, her two sisters. The swimwear brand, which was launched in 2019, has been a favourite of athletes and big-name influencers alike. Simone Biles!

The trio have just unveiled the Bandana print collection, just in time for summer. The collection includes string bikinis in a classic pattern of paisley-print in a wide range colors to suit everyone.

The sisters are very Y2K about how they wear the styles. To complete each look, they like to wear headbands and scrunchies with their bikinis — particularly ones from their collection, to match the print and pattern of their suit, which Amanda says is the perfect way to embrace the matchy-matchy trend. “And we also love little wraparound skirts and kimonos — even body chains and bucket hats.”

So what separates the sisters’ bikinis from others on the market? For starters they’re made for movement (yes, even cheerleading, if the opportunity presents itself) .“Our suits would often move around or loosen while we were active, whether we were flipping by the pool or jumping off the boat or working out and running on the beach,” Ashley exclusively tellsUs in regard to the brand’s inspiration.

As for the brand name — the story behind it is quite literal. “We would buy bikinis for ourselves and then all of our friends wanted them,” says Ashley. “And then the next thing you know, everybody on the block was wearing our suits. So it went from bikinis for the block to The Bikini Block.”

Brazilian bikinis were made by them. They only work with a mother-daughter duo, who they found by chance. “We were looking for bikinis for ourselves and we knew they came from Brazil. We found an amazing brand and loved the quality of their suits. And then we ended up buying so much that the mother and daughter actually reached out to us and were like, “Hey, did you just buy all of our bikinis?” The rest is history.

But the brand isn’t just pretty! The brand is the official sponsor of the event and donates a portion from each sale to the nonprofit Bikini beach Cleanup. “Our goal is to create a cleaner world, cleaner oceans and cleaner beaches” and “promote mindfulness, kindness and planetary awareness.”

Continue scrolling to view the new collection.