Holidays have been booked; cars rented and "out of office" automated e-mails written. But what most women systematically put off until the last minute before they head off on vacation is buying a new bathing suit.
In general, women who have spent season after season looking for the perfect suit and finally find something they feel comfortable wearing in public, return to that same suit every year whether it's in style or not.
But this summer fashion houses and designer swimwear brands have reinvented the asymmetrical swimsuit in hopes of enticing women back into stores to try on something decidedly new in a fashion field with inherently limited possibilities.
Until now, updating a swimsuit's style was restricted to the type of print used, the fabric chosen or slight variations to the same basic cuts. But the big push of this one-shoulder style by brands like Gucci, Hermès and Gottex - on both one-piece suits and bikinis - is giving women a new range of inventive swimwear to replace the traditional halter-neck or double-strap styles.
"There were asymmetrical gowns in the show and I wanted to bring that to the bathing suit, which is usually so banal," said the Gucci designer Frida Giannini. "On the runway I wanted to make it look more like a shirt, or something that can be worn with pants," she added, referring to one of her bathing suits that she topped off with an oversize bow at the shoulder.
"We wanted to give a new point of interest," said the Gottex fashion designer Gideon Oberson, who also noted that the novelty of a single-strap suit focuses the eye on the upper body and away from problem areas most women want to detract from. "It's a very feminine look with all the soft draping of fabric. It has that goddess effect," he said.
Indeed, one of the appeals of the asymmetrical swimsuit that should not be underestimated is its glamour factor. The suit can be easily transformed into something more than basic swimwear - slip on a skirt and beachwear becomes streetwear with minimal effort.
This new elegant and feminine cut is arguably also a mini-backlash by designers who want to offer a fashionable alternative to the overwhelmingly sporty and sleek styles that are dominating the summer season, thanks in most part to the Summer Olympics, with its many water sport competitions saturating the world's collective psyche.
For the designer Tomas Maier, who has an asymmetrical suit fittingly called "drape" in his collection this season, this new trend is sweetly familiar. "This summer it has been 10 years since I started the Tomas Maier brand," he said. "I had a single-shoulder style in my very first collection and I wanted to revisit the style."
While Maier's take on the suit, in keeping with his aesthetic, has a minimalist vibe, most of this season's one-shoulder suits are adaptations of a style that, although not commonplace, has been seen before.
On the catwalk this year the innovations of asymmetrical suits came in a number of different forms from international designers. At Preen they were given a twist of color and paired with a matching oversize sweater and belt; at Jeremy Scott they were shown with a single flowing sleeve, and they had a sculptural curve at Carlos Meile. Gottex showed resourcefulness in graphically mixing colors and cutout fabrics while Hermès used a gold horse bit clasp to highlight its strap. Most intriguingly the suit came draped across the body and anchored by a cutout circle in the debut show of the young British designer Danielle Scutt.
The reaction so far from women this season to these new styles has been decidedly positive and the suits are selling well, according to Gottex, even when faced with hurdles that the more generic one-piece suits and bikinis don't have to confront.
"There is the hanger problem," said Oberson; "they just keep falling down and don't look as good on the hanger as the other suits." But if presentation is a problem for stores, the more complex cut of the asymmetrical suit also guarantees that it is well constructed with built-in support to counteract and balance the loss of a strap.So this year these one-shoulder wonders might finally get their turn to go on vacation
In general, women who have spent season after season looking for the perfect suit and finally find something they feel comfortable wearing in public, return to that same suit every year whether it's in style or not.
But this summer fashion houses and designer swimwear brands have reinvented the asymmetrical swimsuit in hopes of enticing women back into stores to try on something decidedly new in a fashion field with inherently limited possibilities.
Until now, updating a swimsuit's style was restricted to the type of print used, the fabric chosen or slight variations to the same basic cuts. But the big push of this one-shoulder style by brands like Gucci, Hermès and Gottex - on both one-piece suits and bikinis - is giving women a new range of inventive swimwear to replace the traditional halter-neck or double-strap styles.
"There were asymmetrical gowns in the show and I wanted to bring that to the bathing suit, which is usually so banal," said the Gucci designer Frida Giannini. "On the runway I wanted to make it look more like a shirt, or something that can be worn with pants," she added, referring to one of her bathing suits that she topped off with an oversize bow at the shoulder.
"We wanted to give a new point of interest," said the Gottex fashion designer Gideon Oberson, who also noted that the novelty of a single-strap suit focuses the eye on the upper body and away from problem areas most women want to detract from. "It's a very feminine look with all the soft draping of fabric. It has that goddess effect," he said.
Indeed, one of the appeals of the asymmetrical swimsuit that should not be underestimated is its glamour factor. The suit can be easily transformed into something more than basic swimwear - slip on a skirt and beachwear becomes streetwear with minimal effort.
This new elegant and feminine cut is arguably also a mini-backlash by designers who want to offer a fashionable alternative to the overwhelmingly sporty and sleek styles that are dominating the summer season, thanks in most part to the Summer Olympics, with its many water sport competitions saturating the world's collective psyche.
For the designer Tomas Maier, who has an asymmetrical suit fittingly called "drape" in his collection this season, this new trend is sweetly familiar. "This summer it has been 10 years since I started the Tomas Maier brand," he said. "I had a single-shoulder style in my very first collection and I wanted to revisit the style."
While Maier's take on the suit, in keeping with his aesthetic, has a minimalist vibe, most of this season's one-shoulder suits are adaptations of a style that, although not commonplace, has been seen before.
On the catwalk this year the innovations of asymmetrical suits came in a number of different forms from international designers. At Preen they were given a twist of color and paired with a matching oversize sweater and belt; at Jeremy Scott they were shown with a single flowing sleeve, and they had a sculptural curve at Carlos Meile. Gottex showed resourcefulness in graphically mixing colors and cutout fabrics while Hermès used a gold horse bit clasp to highlight its strap. Most intriguingly the suit came draped across the body and anchored by a cutout circle in the debut show of the young British designer Danielle Scutt.
The reaction so far from women this season to these new styles has been decidedly positive and the suits are selling well, according to Gottex, even when faced with hurdles that the more generic one-piece suits and bikinis don't have to confront.
"There is the hanger problem," said Oberson; "they just keep falling down and don't look as good on the hanger as the other suits." But if presentation is a problem for stores, the more complex cut of the asymmetrical suit also guarantees that it is well constructed with built-in support to counteract and balance the loss of a strap.So this year these one-shoulder wonders might finally get their turn to go on vacation
2 comments:
i like this trend - it's different! There are some cute bikinis that just came out from frenchfifty and odabash that are this asymetrical look too . . i personally can't wear the one piece very well!
It should be noted that designer swimwear has been specifically designed not only to make women look feminine, sophisticated, and beautiful, but also to make them feel comfortable about themselves and their body while basking under the sun.
Thanks for sharing!
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