Despite her impressive resume and extensive experience in the lingerie space, Zuccarini had never worked on swimwear before. It’s something she’d been thinking about for a decade or so, she explains. However, she didn’t get the ball rolling until her sales director announced to clients that Fleur du Mal would be selling swim for resort in 2015, thus giving her a definitive deadline.

There were a lot of firsts involved in Zuccarini’s swimwear foray; she worked with new fabrics, production processes, and suppliers. But working on Fleur du Mal’s inaugural swim collection gave Zuccarini one satisfaction she doesn’t always get from creating lingerie: She’ll be able to see her designs out and about. “Even if someone you love is wearing your product, if it’s lingerie, they might not ever show that to you,” she says.

You will, indeed, be able to actually spot Fleur du Mal on the beach, especially if it’s worn as Zuccarini intends: “When I travel, I love being able to wear swimsuits and cover-ups out.” This sort of dual purpose informed many pieces in the collection that can be worn to the beach or to a party — or both. “I feel like there’s a gap in the market that kind of brings those two things together,” she says. “I wanted to create a collection that was chic enough to wear to a party, but playful enough that you could still wear it at the beach.”

Ahead, Zuccarini tells us more about navigating these new waters (seriously, we can’t stop) and how her time at Kiki de Montparnasse and Victoria’s Secret prepared her for her latest venture. Plus, get intimate with Fleur du Mal’s dreamy resort ’15 collection.