How Katie Sturino Turned Her Fictional Swimsuit Line Into a Real-Life Collection

Even if you aren't one of Katie Sturino's 800K Instagram followers, you've probably come across the body acceptance advocate before—whether through her viral series #SuperSizeTheLookwhere she recreates celebrity outfits in plus-size fashion, or through her cult-favorite beauty brand, Megababe. Now, Sturino is diving into not one but two new ventures: her debut novel and the swimsuit line it inspired.

Sturino is this week's guest on the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk". She joined editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike to discuss her book, Sunny Side Up, and how it led her to bring the swimsuits designed by her fictional protagonist to life.

"You know, I've done a lot of things in my career, and this is something that is new for me," Sturino says of her novel, which hit shelves June 24. "It's so scary to have that kind of first time thing happening."

She started writing the book after her divorce, when she couldn’t find the kind of inspiration she was looking for. "Someone who was, like, not telling me just to lose weight and get on a dating app," she explains.

"I wanted to write the fiction book that I needed when I was going through my divorce," Sturino continues. "Sunny Side Up is a very fun beach read, and it really is, like, a how-to manual for getting back to yourself and embracing your female friendships—because they’re really what get you through most of those hard times."

In the romantic comedy novel, the main character, Sunny Greene, designs her own swimsuits after struggling to find one in her size that she actually loves.

"Sunny decides—as she's shopping at [Bergdorf Goodman] and has a total breakdown in the fitting room, as so many of us have—she's like, 'You know what? Eff this. Why are there no swimsuits for curvy bodies like mine, for plus-size bodies?' And she decides that she's going to make a swimsuit line."

And Sturino decided that she was going to do the same.

"As I was writing the book, I was like, I want to wear these suits. So, I approached Kitty and Vibe, which is a small woman-owned brand that does size-inclusive stuff. It's slow fashion." The brand was into the idea "so we made the suits from the book."

The line includes a shimmery green one-piece, tomato-print swimwear in multiple styles, and a colorblock long-sleeve swimsuit.

“You can wear the suit from the book, read the book at the beach... the whole thing,” Sturino says.

For more of Sturino’s favorite size-inclusive fashion picks, her secondhand shopping hacks, and how she copes with the “cringy” side of posting online, check out this week's installment of "Nice Talk". The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.