NIKII MAKES A BIKINI; LANDS A JOB

“I guess my ass was too hot for YouTube”
Interview by Zach Weisberg
Online Editor

After an attention-grabbing video of a cute blond making a bikini from SURFER Mags spread through the office and was subsequently banned from YouTube for being too risque, we had to get the skinny from the source: Nikii Swiss.

How'd you get the idea to make a bikini from a SURFER mag ad?

My friend Sara and I were looking through her boyfriend’s mags and saw the fabric square and thought it was cool and we could make something out of it. We thought a bikini would be perfect for a little fabric piece like that so we went out and bought a bunch of magazines and broke out the sewing machine and got creative. It was just a fun thing to do.

Is the recession hitting you that hard too?

It’s not really a recession thing; It wasn’t really cost effective…I like to be creative and I’ve been sewing since I was a little girl. I’ve made like all of the costumes I’ve ever had and I like to make clothes so we just thought it would be fun.

Why'd YouTube take the video down?

I guess my ass was too hot for YouTube. It didn’t give a specific reason, but it said I violated the terms of use for YouTube and they removed the video.

What'd you have to do to get it back up?

I just assumed it was the shower scene where you could see my ass that was the issue so we just edited it out and reposted it. I’m going to put it on my MySpace soon.

So will you really wear that bikini?

Yeah, definitely. I’m definitely happy with how it came out.

Do you surf?

I have surfed; I don’t do it on a regular basis, but I’ve surfed around here in LA and I grew up in Orange County. I wouldn’t say I’m a surfer but I’ve gotten in the water here and a few times in Hawaii…

Who's your favorite surfer? You call out Dane Reynolds in your video.

Yeah...Dane’s really hot and Kelly Slater is obviously hot too…

So did you end up getting the job at Quiksilver?

Well, they haven’t given me a job offer per se, but it’s done what I wanted it to do in that it got me in contact with people over there, and they’ve talked about getting me involved at ASR and a few other things so it’s definitely served its purpose.

Did they mind that you spelled Quiksilver wrong?

They said that even their employees spell it wrong – not everyone knows how to spell it, especially the people starting out so luckily that wasn’t a big deal.

Any advice for girls who want to make bikinis from mags?

Just be creative; there just has to be one thing that can give you inspiration. Think about how you want it to look in your head, draw it out, then go for it. Have fun!