City College business student Suzanne Silva and her boyfriend Cody Dragon launched their new bikini company Mprint Swimwear in January.

Silva and Dragon’s bikinis feature patent-pending technology that creates a small, reinforced cutout on the hip of all their bathing suits. A tan line emblem is left behind on the wearer in accordance with the shape of the design on the swimsuit.

Silva, 20, is from Lompoc, CA, and Dragon, 22, is a Santa Barbara local. Mprint Swimwear uses all local residents to carry out their production needs.

Both are working to promote their business using marketing tools such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to generate popularity for their product.

Since their launch, Mprint has generated a buzz in the market with specialties orders like personalized cutouts for sororities. Since they still work from home, Silva and Dragon do all the cutouts for each bikini in their apartment before sending it off to the factory for completion.

As a new and upcoming business, the pair says they have had ups and downs. About $15,000 has been put into the business and roughly $2,000 has been generated in sales since their launch. Silva and Dragon are confident, however, that the upcoming bikini season will bring them success, and that their investments will pay off in the long run.