Draya Michele Snatched In Bikini To Remind Instagram She's A Black Owned Business

Draya Michele/Instagram

Draya Michele doesn't need your little black square of darkness. The 35-year-old reality star and Mint Swim founder is backing Black Lives Matter in every way possible – and that includes ensuring that her 2011-founded swimwear line gets registered, quite rightly, as a black-owned business. Draya, who saved up $12,000 to found her Kylie Jenner-approved brand, watched it grow to be valued at $1 million in 2017. The "Basketball Wives LA" alum is nowhere near done with her empire, though. Her Wednesday Instagram stories reminded fans that Mint Swim is black-owned.

Draya Michele/Instagram

Something that Draya's 8 million Instagram followers would likely agree is 100% merited. Draya, whose collab with Oh Polly has just dropped, isn't abandoning the empire that's seen her "officially own the corner" in 2020 as a giant Mint Swim billboard over the Los Angeles skylines was featured on her IG. Her stories came as reposts from media outlets including Yahoo!, PopSugar, Style Caster, and The Zoe Report – all had featured Mint Swim as they themselves let readers know where to shop black-owned businesses. More below.

Draya Michele/Instagram

Draya – who has a lot of fingers in a lot of pies – has been packing a punch with the brand she founded after her 2011 stint on "Basketball Wives LA." Unique promo can see the brand's own boss warning shoppers against buying certain bikinis – Draya admitted hers was "roomy" recently – but the sales don't lie. By 2017, "Rare" singer Selena Gomez was wearing Mint Swim. By 2019, makeup mogul Kylie Jenner was featuring it as she vacationed in Turks & Caicos for the "Kylie Skin Sjummer Trip."

Draya Michele/Instagram

And this is a woman who knows how to milk social media. Draya famously washed floors in rubber gloves with Lysol during early parts of COVID-19 for her Fashion Nova promo. A string bikini saying she "likes 'em 6ft away" followed. Speaking to Refinery29 in 2017, Draya said: "I started with four styles of swimsuits and from there, things just grew via social media." She added: "If Selena Gomez feels like wearing [our swimsuit], which has happened before, it's going to sell out in probably 14 seconds. But I have the ability to make 3,000 more.” Scroll for that insane dress after the video.

Draya Michele/Instagram

It's packed with Draya right now. DrayaxOHPOLLY sees a collection crammed with bodysuits, pastel shorts, hoodies, and all things athleisure. The ex to Orlando Scandrick has also had collabs with clothing brand Revolve, plus she's a Ciroc vodka face, having recently appeared on rapper mogul Diddy's feed – he does promo for the brand. Draya also holds an ambassador status with 32-year-old Rihanna's SavagexFenty line, joining stars including Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, B. Simone, and Cardi B's sister Hennessy Carolina in promoting the best-selling label.