Bikini Week Highlights

Miami

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bikini, cooljunkie, fashion, L*Space, mercedes benz fashion week, mercedes benz swim show, miami, Red Carter, south beach, Tibi, Vitamin A

home > arts,culture&fashion > Bikini Week Highlights

July 22, 2009 12:09 PM
by Bridgette Prentice

This past week you might have noticed an over abundance of bronzed models and skimpy swimwear strutting around South Beach. While these sightings are common for Miami, they were on overload due to the much-anticipated Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. This was the fifth and biggest year of swimwear shows which took place Wednesday, July 15th through Sunday, July 19th at the Raleigh Hotel.

The whole week had a total of 16 designers showing, such as Tibi, Red Carter, L*Space and Vitamin A. While each line had its own vision and great designs we picked two of our favorites and made sure they would not be obvious choices. While many don’t see the need for a whole fashion week just dedicated to bathing suits, we made sure to spotlight designs that would change the most unenthusiastic of minds.

On Thursday, July 16th at 8pm, Caffe Swimwear showed for the first time in the US. This is a Columbian based company headed by designer Paula Saavedra. The line is sold in 11 countries around the world and decided to break into the US market during Swim Week 2010. The entire line is very detail oriented. Caffe stays true to its Columbian roots, boasting bright colors and patterns with floral prints and skimpy cuts. Each look was styled to have a breezy bohemian feel. To pull this look off models wore wide brim, floppy hats and big straw totes. Saavedra used a lot of mix ‘n match, putting solid tops with printed bottoms. She also made bold statements with metal accessories and closures. The entire show was very chic, but the daring cuts allowed for her sexy Columbian culture to prevail.

On Saturday, July 18th at 6pm, Mara Hoffman showed her third consecutive swimwear line. Before 2008 Hoffman had only been designing clothes, but not just any clothes, innovative, note-worthy designs. This year her swimwear is just as inspired and artistic. Hoffman’s show was a tribute to North Africa and the desserts that envelope most of Egypt. Her designs were covered in experimental prints with psychedelic colors and traditional African beading mixed with neon Lycra fabrics. She played with many beading techniques in jewelry and put them together with braided fabric and turbans. Not forgetting the billowing caftans and cover-ups. Each look was perfectly put together. This line is not for the timid. It boasts a very ethnic taste for a brilliantly bold woman.

These are our two extraordinary swim picks for Resort 2010. The swimwear industry is very competitive and also very repetitive, so it’s refreshing to see newer designers coming at us with fresh takes on the ever essential bathing suit.