Danika Lee, Founder & Creative Director

Danika Lee is the founder and creative director of Akua Swim, a luxury swimwear and resortwear brand based in Kelowna, British Columbia.

She designs every piece herself. From the first sketch to fabric selection to the hand-placement of each mother-of-pearl shell, the creative decisions are hers. She doesn't follow seasonal trend cycles. She builds collections around materials, textures, and the places that stay with her long after she leaves.

Akua started as an experiment in colour and raw energy. Over time, it became something quieter, more refined, shaped by the ocean, by movement, by the way natural light falls on skin. The Shell Collection, hand-sewn with mother-of-pearl on recycled Italian fabric, has become the brand's signature. Each shell is placed individually, so no two pieces are the same.

Before Akua, Danika studied design and built her creative practice around a simple principle: make things that feel right on the body. Not trend-driven. Not disposable. Pieces that a woman reaches for again and again because they fit her life, not just her measurements.

She sources recycled fabric from Italy. Production runs are small. Packaging is compostable. These aren't marketing decisions. They're the way she chose to build the brand from day one, because it felt like the most respectful way to make something new.

Danika also hosts wellness events that bring women together around movement, connection, and the kind of conversation that happens when you slow down. Sound baths, cold plunges, yoga on the water. The events grew naturally from the brand's community and now run regularly in British Columbia.

She photographs much of the brand's campaign work herself. Recent shoots have taken her to Bermuda, Costa Rica, and across the Canadian coast. The images are part of the product, capturing the feeling that Akua is designed around: sun on bare skin, salt air, the quiet confidence of being exactly where you're supposed to be.

Her work has been worn and shared by creators with audiences of over 2 million followers. She doesn't chase partnerships. The relationships form because the pieces speak for themselves.

Connect