Australian designer of the so-called 'burkini' has slammed the full-body swimsuit being banned on French beaches and being labelled by former French President Nicholas Sarkozy as a "provocation".
Sydney designer Aheda Zanetti created the swimsuit 12 years ago.
"I think I would love to show him what a burkini swimsuit really is and what it identifies and what's the symbol of a burkini swimsuit - because my symbol is freedom, flexibility and confidence," she told SBS.
"I don't want to pick and poke, and I'm not into politics. But I am into women's rights."
Zanetti has sold 700,000 swimsuits worldwide since 2008. She has seen a recent increase in sales that she believes is connected to the bans in France.
Despite the name, the swimsuit was designed with all women in mind.
"I wanted to give power back to them, I wanted to make them more confident," Zanetti said.
"She could be athiest, she could be anything. She could be a cancer survivor. It doesn't matter why, so you should not judge this swimsuit on one race because that one race is not the only race that's wearing it."
