Aussie surfwear brand Rip Curl made headlines this year when it launched its Bikini Fit Guide, using its own staff as models for the tool.
Speaking to Ragtrader, senior swim designer Natalie Bortolotto detailed why the business opted to using its own staff.
"We put out a notice to look for some real women who wanted to get involved," she said. "But we weren't really getting much back.
"In the meantime, I'd been researching and looking at catwalks and a couple of the designers had very cleverly pulled together their shows using their in house models, so it was really personable and I loved it.
"Then I thought, 'the team are such advocates, we really love the brand,' so I just asked them; 'How would you feel if we all modelled for the guide together?'
"It was really nice to put ourselves forward for it.
"We believe in the brand, we want to show women what real women look like and it's a real nice way to have an inward look into who we are and what we do," she said.
The Bikini Fit Guide showcases six different body types, allowing customers to choose the body type that aligns best with their own, to choose the best fitting swimwear.
The inclusive and innovative nature of this tool caught the attention of our readers, making it the third most-read story on the Ragtrader site this year.