Nancy Looking through the hundreds of 2019 spring collections on Vogue Runway, we calculated at least 53 bikinis, maillots and rash guards mixed with this season’s loose blazer and crochet dress. At Chanel, Cris Herrmann’s two-tone one-shoulder ladies swimming costume and loose jeans feel strange like a revelation; the exterior even became one of the top ten looks of Vogue Fashion Director Virginia Smith in Paris. Why is it so deeply resonating? This chic black and white swimsuit and low denim make it so luxurious and practical, just like you can wear it anywhere – not just on the beach. Advanced sign accessories definitely help, but it’s easy to imagine Herman putting on a jacket (and some shoes) just in her day. Anyway, who said you must swim in a swimsuit?
Today, we are not surprised to see swimwear on the runway. It has become a versatile styling technique – but still strangely inexplicable. Maybe it’s related to the spontaneity of the swimsuit: If you’re wearing a bikini under your clothes, maybe that means your life is so exciting and so unpredictable that you can’t expect you to know when you find yourself. Swimming pool or beach. Maryam Nassir Zadeh, this is definitely a part of the charm, even though it is “closed” – the feeling of wearing a swimsuit on the street is particularly deeply rooted in her aesthetic. Her 2019 spring show opens and closes with a swimsuit: first, a striped crochet belt layered under bicycle shorts and a glass and leather belt, and finally, a small zebra striped bikini decorated with bougainvillea. Elsewhere, she designed a bikini top with a full-high waist skirt that looks like her own summer uniform. “My collection is always about my life, and [I] is obsessed with New York and the speed and intensity of the city. This is also an important step in my life, going away and traveling,” she said. “So I like the idea of integrating these two worlds.”
Much of this comes down to our obsession with travel and “escape”. When we are on vacation, when we unplug, are we not the best self? If we want to recreate this feeling in a fast-paced, over-used “regular” life, our clothes are a good starting point. It’s like muscle memory: Put on a bikini that is related to happiness and good resonance, and your attitude should follow. Veronica Etro even provides a new role model for our swimwear: the glowing Victoria Vergara and Maribel Koucke, real-life professional surfers who exude warm and positive energy.
