New Canadian Designed Bikini Heats Up Profits With Built In Sun Exposure Meter

So it’s ironic that a country famous for its colder climate should be a world leader in designing the one product you wouldn’t expect – a new kind of bikini.

An Ottawa company named Solestrom has taken the 60-year-old much celebrated bathing suit and added a new wrinkle that’s supposed to keep users from developing skin marks of their own.

The company has designed a model with a built in U.V. meter that tells wearers it’s time to get out of the sun. The removable alarm is built into the suit’s belt and beeps when it shows there’s been too much exposure to harmful rays. It can even be worn in the water.

There’s also a slightly less high tech and cheaper alternate featuring decorative beads that change colour from light to deep purple depending on ‘Ol Sol’s intensity.

“There’s so much concern about sun exposure and skin cancer that we saw the demand and designed something to be safe for the wearer,” explains Solestrom’s Emily Garassa.

The meter suit displays a U.V. scale that ranges from 0-20. Anything above 11, which is considered a high rate, prompts the warning. It sells for $139 but as our summer comes to an end, it may not be a huge hit here until next year.

But other markets don’t care about the change of season – just the risk of melanoma. The eleven year-old company has already seen high demand for its new product from Australia and South Africa, which have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

And while the suit heightens concern about the sun, its creators have also found a way to use the exposure to their advantage. They’re selling a beach tote bag that contains a solar panel which allows you to charge your MP3 player or cell phone battery while you’re at the beach. It costs just over $100.

Now if they could just invent a suit that makes summer last a little longer.

For more info on the products, click here.