A former flight attendant is flying high on the world-wide attention her cheeky designs are getting.

Roberta Cheema, owner of Tush Swimwear and Lingerie, produces a line of bathing suits and underwear for women and men from a small manufacturing plant on her Chilliwack property.

Artsy photos of her racy and creative pieces made it to glossy fashion magazines, since the launch of Tush in Calgary during fashion week. There are five stores in the Okanagan that sell her line and she’s close to concluding a deal with The Bay.

“Things have really started getting busy,” Cheema tells The Progress.

It’s hard to believe it started in her basement about seven years ago when she worked as a flight attendant for West Jet.

She sold her flirty pieces mainly to co-workers back then.

“I took samples with me on the road when I flew,” she says. “I used to get notes and orders and it grew from there.”

Then the demand outstripped her ability to supply the fun wear. Now with a little help from her mom, and some contracted piecemakers, Cheema says she’s enjoying herself, as she strives to make it.

She’s totally driven to succeed in a competitive market.

“When started I really wondered how I would fit in, but it’s amazing how people are always drawn to something new and exciting,” she offers.

Tush swimwear is available in Chilliwack exclusively at Cheam Source for Sports on Young Road, but Cheema is also finishing up negotiations with The Bay for a special section to showcase the line. She’s joined forces with a Burnaby manufacturer to grow the operation, and has Tush reps in the Prairies, as well as in Montreal.

Part of the local entrepreneur’s business credo is designing for real women, “not for the models of the world, but for women such as us, so we can feel good about ourselves, good about our bodies and comfortable with who we are and what we look like.”

It’s important to her that all women can enjoy her work, and she sells tops and bottoms separately to help them fit better. Cheema is passionate about sewing and pattern-making. She’s been at it since the age of 12 when her mom, Peggy Hollibaugh, began teaching her to design and sew clothing.

“My mom was the perfect mentor for me,” Cheema says, adding that her mom spent years in high fashion design, and worked for the Bonmarche as a garment quality control specialist. Now she sews and runs the plant. Cheema’s dream of running her own business is finally coming true.

“I love that,” she adds.

Attention to detail is likely part of it. They print their own fabric for Tush, “which is unique” and it’s a blend of polyester and spandex.

“It’s really high-end but our price-points are in the medium range,” Cheema says. “We pay a lot but there’s nothing like it.”

They buy the base goods and have the chlorine-resistant fabric printed to their specifications.

Tush can be found in several Frozen Ocean outlets, a board store chain, as well as at Flesh lingerie in Yaletown.

Asked where she hopes Tush will go, Cheema said, “Hopefully we’ll become the Victoria Secrets of Canada.