Pool Position: the relaunch of Estefanía de Mónaco's brand under Pauline Ducruet's direction

The swimwear brand Pool Position, created by Estefanía de Mónaco in 1985, was relaunched by Pauline Ducruet, daughter of the princess and Daniel Ducruet. The official relaunch took place in June 2026, during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, according to the La Nación article. That note is the only journalistic source provided to reconstruct this story. No company statements, corporate documents, or direct statements from the protagonists were provided.

Who leads the relaunch and what the new collection includes

Pauline Ducruet, 32, took on the role of CEO and creative director of Pool Position. She had previously studied Fashion Styling at the Istituto Marangoni in Paris and in 2018 launched Alter, her own ready-to-wear brand. In 2025 she made a first approach to the brand with an Alter capsule inspired by Pool Position. A year later she completed the official relaunch.

The new collection includes bikinis, one-pieces, and other beachwear options, designed and produced in Monaco. One of the standout models is Le V, inspired by a black and white swimsuit that Estefanía wore in the 1980s. The new version is reversible, with adjustable straps, and costs 250 euros. To present it, Pauline recreated in Monaco’s waters the photos her mother had taken in the Mauritius Islands in the 80s.

Estefanía accompanied her daughter in the front row during the presentation. The princess had created Pool Position in 1985, when she was 20 years old.

The origin of the brand in the 1980s

Estefanía de Mónaco, youngest daughter of Rainier III and Grace Kelly, began an internship at Dior, in the jewelry and fabrics area, under the direction of Marc Bohan. There she met Alix de la Comble, with whom she shared an apartment in Paris and later partnered to launch Pool Position. De la Comble brought a more sophisticated eye; Estefanía, a younger and more sporty one.

The idea of making swimsuits arose, according to the note, from a everyday experience: Estefanía couldn’t find a swimsuit she liked and for a time wore one inherited from her sister Carolina, although she hated it. The first models were one-pieces, in bright colors and very low-cut, with a mix of sporty and sensual. She herself starred in the campaigns.

The official presentation was in Monaco in 1985, before 150 guests, including Karl Lagerfeld and Helmut Newton. The show ended with the two creators jumping into the pool while I’m Just a Gigolo played. Lagerfeld described the collection as colorful, modern, and chic.

By April 1986, more than 28,000 swimsuits had been sold, with prices ranging from 80 to 150 dollars. That same year they presented the collection at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Estefanía was 21 and arrived in jeans, cowboy boots, a green leather jacket, six Louis Vuitton suitcases, and a Mickey Mouse backpack. More than 350 people came to see her and some models sold out quickly.

The note records that Estefanía made a point of clarifying that her father had not put a single dollar into the project: she and Alix had financed Pool Position with their own money. The brand operated until 1987, when Estefanía began to focus on music.

What changes for the industry and for consumption

The relaunch of Pool Position means the return of a niche brand with its own history to the luxury swimwear market. Production is done in Monaco, suggesting a limited scale and costs associated with that origin. The price of Le V, 250 euros, places it in a high segment within the category.

The brand has no confirmed mass presence according to the sources provided. No points of sale, distribution channels, production volume, or sales projections for the new stage were reported. It was also not detailed whether the firm maintains a relationship with Alix de la Comble or with the heirs of that original project.

The 1986 precedent — more than 28,000 units sold — corresponds to the original brand under the direction of Estefanía and De la Comble, not to Pauline Ducruet’s new management. The source does not allow establishing corporate continuity or equivalence of scale between both moments.

Immediate, conditioned, and still uncertain effects

• Immediate: the brand became active again with a collection presented in Monaco in June 2026, during the Grand Prix weekend.
• Immediate: Pauline Ducruet holds the roles of CEO and creative director, with a design and production structure located in Monaco.
• Conditioned: commercial performance will depend on the distribution the firm achieves outside the Principality, a fact the source does not specify.
• Conditioned: comparison with the success of the 1980s requires considering that that volume corresponded to another management and another market context.
• Uncertain: no information was provided on revenue, number of employees, initial investment, or sales goals for the new stage.
• Uncertain: it is unknown whether the brand plans to reissue other historical models besides Le V or whether the collection will expand in coming seasons.

The data point to follow

The next relevant data point will be Pool Position’s distribution strategy outside Monaco and the sales results of the first collection under Pauline Ducruet’s direction. The source consulted does not provide information on marketing channels or agreements with retailers. It also remains to be seen whether the brand maintains exclusively Monegasque production or expands its manufacturing to other countries, which would affect prices and volumes.

Value module

Type: list

• Document: La Nación, article on the relaunch of Pool Position.
• Organization and date: La Nación, September 11, 2026 (according to URL).
• Unit: units of swimsuits sold.
• Values used: more than 28,000 swimsuits sold by April 1986; prices from 80 to 150 dollars per unit in that period.
• Operation: no currency conversion or equivalence calculation is performed because the source does not provide historical exchange rates or an updating factor. The original values in dollars and euros are kept as published.

Note on sources: the only source provided for this note is the La Nación article. No primary sources — company statements, corporate documents, or official statements — were provided that would allow independent verification of the data on the relaunch, the company structure, or the sales of the new collection. The secondary source alone does not confirm the commercial magnitude of the current project.