Selita Ebanks rose to fame rocking beachwear for Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated. Now she has designed her own swimwear line.

The model gives a peek at Sass by Selita Wednesday night on BET’s “Rip the Runway” fashion show, which she also co-hosts.

Sass stands for Selita’s accessories, shoes and swimwear. The swimsuits will be available first and she’s shooting for a fall launch.

“I wanted a name that covers all of my aspirations in the designing world,” Ebanks says. “Sass is basically the female version
of swag.

“I wanted something that will empower women and let them know that their sass is untouchable,” she adds. “It takes a certain kind of women to have sass — very confident, sexy and independent.”

The models sporting the skimpy suits on the show, pre-taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom, surely had to be comfortable in their skin. Some pieces are just thin links of chains that require something worn underneath. Even the most modest suits show plenty of skin.

“That’s definitely not for the timid,” she says of one chain link number. “But the great thing is that if you have a one-piece swimsuit that’s pretty boring, this is something you could just throw on top of it and reinvent it. It’s fun and sexy.”

Ebanks certainly knows sexy. She was a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2005 to 2008 and appeared in Sport Illustrated’s 2007 Swimsuit Issue.

Born in Grand Cayman, she moved to Staten Island when she was 15. Ebanks enrolled at Curtis High School, studying in their law programme and interning at Spin and Vibe magazines.

She had been told she should model her whole life and looked into it at different times, but it wasn’t until she was 17 and was scouted at Six Flags Great Adventure that her career took off.

The scout took a picture of her and handed off a business card. She took it home to discuss it with
her father.

“My dad is a corrections officer here in New York City, so he’s very strict,” Ebanks says. “It was school first, so he really didn’t give me much energy on it.”

They called the agency a couple of weeks later to schedule an appointment, and she got a contract on the spot.

“Rip the Runway” fuses fashion and music.

“If you see artists like Rihanna, Kanye West or Puff Daddy, it’s all about what they wear,” Ebanks explains. “When you watch, you’ll see that [the performances] added a completely different element to the show. Like any fashion show, there’s always music in the background, except this time it’s live, similar to Victoria’s Secret shows.”

Estelle, Robin Thicke and Diggy Simmons are among this year’s performers, with Lil’ Kim closing the show.

“It was the best closing ever,” Ebanks says. “She is unstoppable. Her new song is so dope, ‘If You Love Me.’ It was really cool to see her out there doing her
thing again.”

Ebanks has co-hosted the show two years in a row.

“If you watched last year, you’re probably going to think I’m a completely different girl,” she says. “Apart from now I have blond hair, my energy and confidence
[went up\].

“Last year I was so worried,” she adds. “You could tell I was reading from a teleprompter. This year it was more natural. [Co-host] Pooch Hall was so easy to crack a joke with, or do a little dance.”

Ebanks chose some fresh faces to show off her swimsuits.

“I love giving young aspiring models an opportunity,” she says. “I wanted different body shapes – really small mini minis and then I wanted big voluptuous, like just bottoms pouring out everywhere. So hopefully when people watch it, they can see themselves in it.”

Ebanks envisions different price points on her swim line, with a set of American-flag themed suits selling for $40 to $100 at department stores, and the chain pieces going for more at higher-end spots.

Don’t expect to see Ebanks wearing any of her suits in
the ocean.

“I’m afraid of fish and I’m from the Cayman Islands,” she says. “I don’t do ocean. If there’s an aquarium and you wanted to scare the heebie-jeebies out of me, just dunk my head in there with
the fish.”