Bikini & Swimsuit: From a single swimsuit purchase each summer, we now shop for a full wet-wear fashion wardrobe.
HERE is not a lot that a designer can do with .83 metres of stretchy fabric but, summer after summer, they manage to innovate anyway. Ruffles and buckles, bra snaps and O-rings must dance in their dreams. It is a genuinely sweet surprise to encounter retail racks packed with tiny design triumphs when, just last summer, you might have wondered: How can they top this?
The simplest innovations are invariably the most ingenious. In the US/European summer’s batch of catwalk shows, for example, a modest, wide-strapped navy maillot with its square neckline marked out in a thin thread of white, defined modern “chic” for me.
In the current Australian season, the twisting, crossing and weaving of ropes and bands of fabric into bra cups, shoulder straps, or linking tracts between a brief and bra to create a monokini, continues in new and clever ways. Zimmermann, for example, the first brand to twist or ruche excess metres of filmy-thin lycra into glamorous swimsuits, applied the technique to a classic, sculptured bandeau bra top (pictured), drawing the fabric up into a single, thick shoulder strap.
Red-carpet gown specialist, designer Lisa Ho also twisted and tied the linking bands of fabric in a halter-neck monokini. This is not particularly unusual, but Ho’s plunged neckline, with its four-way fabric junction and wide band to anchor the bra, gives the swimsuit a Versace-esque glamour that is striking and quite sexy without being tacky.
Most designers have mismatched fabric patterns, or simply offered bikini parts for separate sale. Sydney brand Berzelli went one step further in its monokini comprising a striped triangle bra and skimpy, side-tied floral brief linked by a band of fabric that conceals the navel (this is a key feature for many women) and which fastens to an O-ring between the breasts.
“Boy” briefs, like tiny shorts, are designers’ way of anchoring suits in summer 2006-07, but for those irked by the “shortening” effect of the style on legs, there are plenty of classic briefs cut high over the hip bone. Queensland designer Lana Ford, who sells her swimwear only online, also offers a “cake and eat it too” solution in a bikini “boy” brief that can be narrowed on the sides by shortening a drawstring.
And finally, if simplicity defines ingenuity, then Melbourne brand Flamingo Sands rates a special mention for its halter-neck bikini with Hawaiian lei-like frill, and its tri-triangle bikini with extra-long ties, both of which - don’t ask me how - evoke a wiggly, girly-girl look that is utterly, utterly charming.
