Our Story
About The Owner
Hi, I'm Alexandria Buchanan, the owner of Sharai!
I was born in San Francisco, CA in 2002 and raised here on Oahu. In 2020 I graduated Summa Cum Laude from McKinley High School where I made history as the first female quarterback to start a varsity football game and throw a touchdown in the state of Hawai'i.
Currently I'm pursuing a degree in creative media at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Aside from running Sharai I'm also a video content creator for Mohala Eyewear; another locally-owned, female-founded brand.
In my free time I love spending my days at the beach, creating social media content, and spending time with the people I love.
I'm so grateful for all of the new and old faces that have been on this journey with me and hope you all love Sharai as much as I do!
Why I started Sharai
I started Sharai when I was 19 years-old from my bedroom with nothing but Google, YouTube, and a dream. (Yeah, that was corny, I know.) I was inspired to start my brand for multiple reasons, but the biggest one was my desire to see change. In high school a teacher told our class that women who wear bikinis/post photos in them were "unprofessional." I remember sitting through the lecture annoyed, and being the petty gal I am, used my Head Editor position at my school paper to write a lengthy article about why that was absolute bullshit. Fast forward to when I was creating my business. While researching I quickly recognized the lack of diversity in the swimwear industry. All over Pinterest, social media, and websites were just the same look.
Of course these women are beautiful, but so are all of the other people who love swimwear and aren't being represented consistently. Sharai was created with one goal in mind: to represent and empower all bikini lovers. Not during certain months or weeks, not just to get "diversity brownie points," but to show bikini lovers of all backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and body types the love and respect we all deserve. My promise to you is to constantly grow and evolve Sharai and push for more inclusivity in all aspects of our brand - from marketing to our products. To everyone that has shown our brand so much love, thank you. We truly appreciate you and wouldn't be here without you. Every body is a bikini body, and we hope that wearing a Sharai bikini reminds every one of you how beautiful you are.