Our Story
Born from longing. Made for feeling.
Orixah was not built from proximity to Brazil — it was built from something harder to explain. A pull. A love for a place that lives in the music, the colour, the way people move through the world.
This is not just swimwear. It’s a feeling. A way of stepping into the sun without asking for permission.
A Portuguese woman, a Brazilian soul
My name is Petra. I am 44, Portuguese, and I have never lived in Brazil. And yet — Brazil has always lived in me.
In the Bossa Nova that plays through my mornings. In the way their colours make me feel awake. In the lightness with which Brazilians move through life — that particular joy that does not wait for permission.
Some connections are not about geography. They are about the soul recognising something it has always known.
Why Orixah exists
“I did not start Orixah to sell swimwear. I started it because I was tired of watching women disappear into how they thought they looked.”
The frustration had been building for years. Not with any particular brand — with a culture.
Women measuring their bodies against an invisible standard before they even step onto the sand. The question was always How do I look? — never How do I feel?
And in the UK especially, I saw something else: plus-size women being handed beige. Shapeless. Covered. As if their only option was to take up less visual space.
I found that unacceptable.
Orixah was born from a simple refusal: You were never meant to disappear.
From the Orixas
Orixah takes its name from the Orixás — the divine forces of nature in Brazilian spiritual tradition.
They are elemental, powerful, unapologetically present. They do not shrink. Neither should you.
What we believe
• Every woman deserves to feel radiant — not just covered.
• How you feel matters more than how you think you’re seen.
• Colour is not a size.
• Joy is a form of resistance.
The Orixah woman
01 — She loves Bossa Nova
Not because it is fashionable — because it moves through her. She understands that beauty lives in rhythm, in warmth, in things that do not rush.
02 — She travels with intention
She does not holiday to escape — she travels to arrive. Every destination shapes her. She collects experiences, not things. Except, perhaps, an exceptional bikini.
03 — She is soft and she is a force
She has built things. Conquered fears. Held people up. And at the end of the day she is still tender, still curious, still alive to colour. She does not choose between strength and softness — she is both.
04 — She refuses bland
In swimwear, in conversation, in life. She has always known that coverage and colour are not opposites. That her body — whatever the size — deserves joy, print, and presence.
05 — She chooses things that last
She buys less and buys better. She cares where her clothes come from, who made them, how they were made. She trusts quality over trend — always.
Handmade in Brazil. Designed for every body.
Handmade
Every Orixah piece is crafted in Brazil by skilled artisans. Not because it sounds good in a sentence — but because it is the only way to achieve the quality, the fit, and the finish we refuse to compromise on.
Fabric
Premium, fade‑resistant, double‑lined fabrics chosen for longevity. A truly ethical swimwear choice is one you buy once and wear for years — not one that pills, fades, or falls apart by next season.
Curated
Some pieces are designed by me. Others are carefully selected from Brazilian makers whose aesthetic matches Orixah’s spirit. Every piece in this collection has been chosen because I would wear it myself.
You were never meant to disappear.
Orixah is for the woman who is done being invisible. For the woman who wants to feel the sun on her skin and not apologise for it.
Whatever your shape, wherever you are — You belong in colour. You belong in the sun.
For the women rewriting beauty on their own terms.
For you.
With love from the sea,
Petra B.
Founder, Orixah
Founded by a woman who moves through the world with softness, strength, and a carry-on full of colour.