A model wears a swim suit designed by Red Carter during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim in Miami Beach,

Swim Week show-and-tell bodes well for next summer

source: Miamiherald.com

By AUDRA D.S. BURCH
aburch@MiamiHerald.com

The beaches of next year may look something like this: Lithe bods in one- and two-piece uniforms dramatically dressed in so many jewels, sequins, stones, ruffles and fringe that swimming will seem beside the point.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, staged at the Raleigh Hotel — and the simultaneous trade show at the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center where the business of bikinis is transacted — marched into Miami Beach this time last week for the annual swimwear extravaganza that essentially plans what the most stylish (and brave) among us will wear poolside in 2010.

“Miami is such a sexy and exciting environment for this kind of show because swimsuits are sexy and exciting,” says Amy Smilovic, designer of Tibi, the high-wattage contemporary label that launched its swimwear collection at the shows last year. “The city has the ability to influence swim design. It’s hot and sultry, the perfect backdrop — and what every swimsuit should be.”

With an ambitious 20 shows and a smattering of satellite events, established and emerging swim labels — including White Sands Australia, Ed Hardy, Poko Pano, Vitamin A and Miami-based Red Carter — offered a dizzying patchwork of swimsuits, playful cover-ups and rompers, breezy sundresses and the occasional ‘kini that ventured deep into Lingerieland. For better or for worse.

The runways were filled with bikinis that were belted, knotted and buckled together with gold hardware. Some of the one-pieces felt especially bold, with abstract, cut-out and graphic patterns. A few designers went the rock-glam route, kitting out swimsuits with studs and skull designs, even denim-inspired top stitching.

Harem pants, sheer enough to play peek-a-boo, continued their retro return. Gone this year, thankfully for most women, was the once-ubiquitous thong. Designers had already started their retreat last year to more modest bottoms. The biggest exception: Luli Fama, whose skimpy bikinis had heart shapes daringly cut out of the back.

Solid-color Lycra generally fared better than patterned fabrics at the shows. Predictably, variations of tribal patterns and metallics turned up, notably from Aqua di Lara, Mara Hoffman, Luli Fama and the Boheme boutique show. Lava-lamp bikinis by Tibi, an outer-space galaxy wrap by Mara Hoffman and a slew of psychedelic motifs — along with summer-scarves and beaded necklaces refashioned as headdresses — brought the Age of Aquarius back, and not always in a good way. Animal prints, especially bold zebra looks by Red Carter and sheer, muted pastels from Aqua di Lara and Marysia Swim showed nicely.

Lots and lots of gold — presumably to match the hardware on the suits — adorned necks, wrists and even feet of models on the runway. And Red Carter’s mod heart-shaped sunglasses and chunky plastic bracelets brought a bit of theater to his show.

Buyers took it all in, but some wondered if a still uneven economy may affect the market.

“People might buy a little closer to the belt this year because they don’t know what the economy is going to do,” Heather Taylor, owner of A Tropical Affair, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based boutique and online retailer, said from the front row of the Aqua di Lara show.

Taylor’s favorite part of Swim Week? A trunk show of monokinis, bikinis and cover-ups in the Raleigh’s penthouse by newcomer Crystal Jin.

“Her designs are just beautiful, very sexy, clean lines,” she said.

Now that the runways and tents are broken down, the cocktails dried up, the imports flown home, and we have sufficiently recovered from a merciless South Florida sun (which unfortunately had perfect attendance last week), here are some other highlights of the invitation-only five-day affair.

• L Space by Monica Wise and Miami native Mary Fanaro of OmniPeace, a humanitarian fashion brand, partnered to produce a capsule collection of swimwear. The pieces, inspired by the African desert and ocean, feature the OmniPeace logo. Twenty percent of proceeds go to charities dedicated to education, human rights and fighting poverty.

• Beyond the runway, the Raleigh cabanas were the best place to hurry-up-and-wait with hair-straightening or curling, massages and a nice selection of spirits. Nightside, South Beach hosted parties at the Raleigh, the newly christened W South Beach, Mondrian and the Gansevoort South. Guests invited to a Swim Week pre-party hosted by KRELwear at The Standard kicked off the week by attending clad their own swimwear.

• Lastly, what’s a spectacle without bona-fide celebs, brand-new celebs and celebs-in-training?

Among the names spotted at various shows, lobbies, lounges and bars: actress Tara Reid, Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan, Entourage’s Perrey Reeves, artist Romero Britto, director Michael Bay, rapper Lil’ Jon and actor Gilles Marini from Sex and the City. Reality show chicks and dudes were also in the house, including Olivia Palmero and Whitney Port (The City); Kelly Bensimon (The Real Housewives of New York); Dina Manzo (Housewives of New Jersey); Maria Lankina (Miami Social) and Glenn Douglas Packard (Brooke Knows Best).

Miami Herald staff writers Sara Frederick and Juan Lopez contributed to this report.

A model wears Mara Hoffman swimwear during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim in Miami Beach, Fla.

Photos by Lifestyle.sg.msn.com