IT ALL started with a trip to Brazil in 2003 to visit family, and a bag of 20 bikinis he brought back as souvenirs for friends.
Their enthusiastic response spurred Mr Aaghir Yadav to start an import business and then a standalone swimwear store that has sold more than 20,000 Brazilian-style bikinis in Singapore since.
Now, the Singaporean draws a comfortable monthly paycheck equivalent to an average junior lawyer's salary - and he's just 25.
Mr Yadav owns Buttcheeks bikini store, which celebrates its fourth anniversary this month.
Freshly graduated from the Singapore Institute of Management in 2004, Mr Yadav opened his first 350 sq ft store - about the size of half a three-room flat - retailing imported bikinis at the Heeren shops.
Though that store has shut - his sole retail space left is his second 190 sq ft shop which opened at the Cathay last year - he has kept himself busy chalking in more titles to his resume.
He now calls himself a bikini designer- retailer-fashion show producer. Mr Yadav has also started designing beach dresses.
His main product, Brazilian-style bikinis, are more revealingly cut than the usual styles. Mr Yadav's self-designed Super Brazilian bikinis have lower waistbands and wider bottoms to suit petite Asian bodies, he claimed. His swimwear cost between $60 and $200.
If he had to pick one among the three though, his true passion lies in retail, he said.
'Selling bikinis is half the fun. The best part of the job is seeing how people react to your designs.
'I like going up to women in clubs or on the MRT to say 'Hey, nice dress. Do you like the waistband' I made it',' the bachelor added with a cheeky grin.
Though his moves may be smooth, the business had its initial bumps.
Mr Yadav revealed that his bedroom is cluttered with boxes of rejected garments - from poorly chosen fabrics to over-ambitious designs that are impractical for wear.
'All the taught-in-school economic theories don't get used. You just have to spend time and money on trial and error to get it right,' he said.
His chief boo-boo, he recalled with a laugh, was designing men's trunks based on female designs just six months ago. More roomy designs of men's trunks now stock his store.
These days, he said he 'tortures' all his products before putting them up for sale. This means running over them with his car to test for durability, getting friends to do laps in the pool with them for wearability, and even - he admitted without a flinch - taking a shower while wearing his new designs to see if the colours run.
Besides expanding his retail line to include beach jewellery and waxing products, Mr Yadav said that a shop rehaul is in the pipeline.
To be ready in two weeks, the newly renovated Cathay store will feature a vibrating sofa and a constant free-flow of sparkling beverage for a comfortable shopping experience.
Curtains will also be installed so the store can be shut for 20-minute private shopping sessions, and ultimately, hen parties.
A coveted occupation among men?
Mr Yadav said: 'You have no idea how many guys have asked me, with a twinkle in their eyes, 'So do you see a lot of buttcheeks?''
