Dangerous curves ahead

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TOO much flesh can be an issue for swimwear designers focused on less than reality, writes Sharon Krum.

ON Miami Beach there are two kinds of coveted oceanfront real estate. The first involves luxury hotels with spectacular views, while the second can be acquired via a day with a plastic surgeon: think C or D cup. Hollywood might have pioneered the surgically enhanced starlet but Miami stands out as the land of implants. (And it feels like no one is exempt: even the surf and the palm trees seem bigger on top.)

A model in Luli Fama
So seeing them on many models during Fashion Week's 2009 swim fair, held last week at South Beach's Raleigh Hotel, shouldn't have been a surprise. But for an industry that favours ironing board-shaped runway models, it was.

It was also a slight dilemma for designer Nicky Zimmermann, who with sister Simone was in Miami to show their Cruise 2009 collection, the only Australian label on the 15-designer schedule.

"We look for more editorial girls (and found them), somebody who can walk and wear fashion and not look catalogue," Nicky says of casting the show, later seen by buyers from Barneys, Saks and ShopBop, and editors from Vogue, Elle and InStyle.

"It's important to us that we don't cater to that. We don't want to show ourselves as a commercial brand, but as a fashion swim brand. It's more fashion than swim, and that gives us a really good point of difference here." It was Zimmermann's second appearance on the Miami runway. "Last year ... it cemented our credibility both editorially and with buyers," says Simone.

Styled by Tamila Purvis, the collection showcased vivid prints (diamond, feather, florals, Russian scarf), sharply cut swimwear and contrasting silhouettes: a babushka print triangle bikini paired with an oversized babushka shirt dress; a black bandeau spider bikini under a periwinkle maxi dress. While bikinis boasted frill or stud detail, resort wear included a drawstring playsuit, jumpsuits and harem pants.

"It was very cohesive, the colours worked very well together," says Andrea Tocco, an associate buyer for Barneys Co-op. "It's what a lot of girls want: feminine, colour, design. What worked was there were pieces you could wear out and to the beach."

Judging by the size of the trade fair taking place simultaneously with Fashion Week -- 350 exhibitors, 2000 lines and buyers from 39 countries -- swimwear and resort wear is booming. Buyers cite an increasingly fashion-conscious consumer, even possibly global warming, for this.

"A lot of people have started doing swim brands," says Nicky Zimmermann. "But (the demands are) extremely specific. It has to be cut well, it has to have beautiful colours, function and aesthetic have to be equal."

For Zimmermann, sales in the US have doubled in the past 12 months, while stockists Barneys, Bloomingdales and Saks are about to roll them out into more stores. "Australia is still our biggest market, but in the next two years we are thinking America and Australia will be even," Nicky says.

Miami is the perfect place for a fashion week dedicated to swimwear. Despite the small celebrity quotient at the shows -- Anna Kournikova, Dennis Rodman, Carson Kressley, Billy Zane -- it's a city that crackles with sexual energy, people who love to show skin (typically tanned, plumped, nipped and tucked), love to party, and has weather so hot you can't think of anything but the beach. (You could spot the out-of-town, maxi dress and gladiator sandal-clad editors by their sunburn. They misjudged the severity of the heat.)

Directions from the runway for 2009 revealed that while floral prints were present they were not ubiquitous; geometric, striped and tribal prints were popular, and in terms of colour a ripple of Pucci pink and purple was in the air.

"There was a trend towards Ikat prints and less of the typical Hawaiian florals and obvious aqua blue," says WGSN's senior editor Catherine Bell. "The silhouette was more Brazilian (small) and with a low-back one-piece. With cover-ups there was a lot of volume, whether shorter to the hips or long."

Bell cites Tibi's collection of floral and tribal print swimwear for "great cutting and placement of prints on the suits" and Zimmermann because "the styling was great, it was definitely a show that stood out", while also giving high marks to the Brazilians.

"In Brazil, swimwear for us is fashion," says Benny Rosset, designer of Cia.Maritima, who showed bikinis, one-pieces and cover-ups in art deco, tie-dye or animal prints in bronze, magenta, orange and lime.

"In the US, if a woman has a black bikini this year she might have it for the next five years," he explains. "In Brazil, the women have to have a different bikini every season, like clothes and shoes. This is what I am trying to change."

While fellow Brazilians Poko Pano showed polka dots and stripes, and ANK favoured animal prints and stripes, Spain's Custo Barcelona did bikinis in ethnic motifs, metallics and devore velvet, while Christian Audigier for Ed Hardy added embellishment to their signature tattoo print.

Asked why he thinks beachgoers might want some bling on their four triangles, Audigier says simply, "they want to be seen". For theatrics on the runway there was Red Carter with a tuxedo vest one-piece and British label Pistol Panties with a Swarovski crystal-encrusted monokini. Leave it to Diesel to ditch the (blissfully airconditioned) tents and show their collegiate-inspired collection on a runway built over the hotel pool.

With the heat and humidity testing every hair-smoothing product known to woman (and failing, frankly) the after parties proved the best place in town for some cooling cocktails. Just a few blocks away from the tents at the swim show, Australia was also waving the flag, with Anna & Boy, Zimmermann, Jets, Seventh Wonderland, Rochford Australia, Seafolly, Moontide, Bond-Eye and Billabong Girls all present.

"Every hour is booked," says Simone Zimmermann of their appointment schedule. "We made a decision about two years ago we wanted to be strategic about where we were selling," she says.

"We didn't have control for a while and we took it back. In making that change, we selected buyers who understand our brand and therefore customers who understood our brand." (There is also talk of a Zimmermann store in the US, probably New York first.) For Anna & Boy it was their first time at the tradeshow.

"We felt we should commit," says co-designer Anna Hewett. "We have had some pretty positive feedback from Barneys and a few biggies. The fact we design all our own prints has had a great response from buyers."

Six-month-old Sydney brand Seventh Wonderland decided to make the swim show its launching pad for its deco-inspired swimwear. "We needed people to understand the direction. Zimmermann and Anna & Boy do directional swimwear; we want to have our thing," says co-owner Carlos Aviles.

One notable sighting in Miami was Simon Lock, IMG Fashion Asia-Pacific managing director, there to see how the event might be replicated in the Asia-Pacific. "There's been a huge growth of the resort business in Asia-Pacific," he says. "Not a lot of buyers from Asia-Pacific come to Miami, so there is an opportunity to establish an event to service and support designers in the region.

"The key to its success in Asia-Pacific would be basing it in a resort environment," he explains. "Combining the glamour and sexiness of the shows in a resort location."

And where might that be? "You have to look at where people will travel to. We do have a Miami in Australia: it's the Gold Coast. Certainly Phuket, Thailand and China have amazing resort properties. Australian swimwear has a real point of difference, it's really fashionable, and this could be an opportunity for Australian designers."

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