Friday night, the tents of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim at the Raleigh were packed with fashionistas, industry types, editors, boutique owners and socialites documenting 2013’s swimwear trends. Stand-out designs spotted on the models strutting down the runway included bandeau tops, high-waisted bottoms, ruched bottoms and sexy monokinis in neon colors, tribal prints and tie-dye patterns. Like mesh? You’ll be seeing a lot of it in the new collections. And believe it or not, basic black is back. Here’s a look at these and other trends featured at each of the shows.
Eclairee
It was all about color-blocking in the Penthouse at the Raleigh for Eclairee’s 2013 collection. The homegrown collection from designer Kelly Carrington featured colors on the more reserved side (read: no neon) Black mixed with beige and coral, even pastel peach with pops of teal and green at this somewhat ‘80s-inspired show. Mesh made a debut on more than a few of the one-pieces, creating the illusion that there’s more than meets the eye, while maillots with zipper-fronts, a la dive suits, actually allowed for more or less to be revealed.
Agua Bendita
The first of the shows on the catwalk for the night, Agua Bendita, a Colombian brand, kicked things off with neon colors and tribal prints paired with sneakers. The vibe was beach-meets-athletic gear, complete with models in visors. In keeping with the initial tribal theme, cowboy and Indian-inspired prints paired with moccasins and bold neon ponchos worn as cover-ups also found their way down the catwalk. Another theme of the show, military-esque, lent to bikinis covered in badges and medals and paired with vests, military jackets and tanks baring the word “Army” to blatantly spell out in the trend, just in case the audience didn’t catch on. The final feel of the show was a vacation-inspired theme, featuring high-waisted postage stamped-adorned bikinis, suits covered in birds, nautical stripes and mesh.
Poko Pano
Picking up where Agua Bendita left off with the tropical getaway trend, Poko Pano, a Brazilian brand, sent mosaic bird-adorned bikinis and cover-ups in basic black down the runway. Bandeau tops with high-waisted bottoms paired nicely at the show. Turquoise suits with tribal prints, as well as tops with shimmer, sparkle and cinching gave this getaway a hint of glam.
Dolores Cortes
At Dolores Cortes, a European brand, the hues green, blue and pink ruled the runway. Models even sported the shades in their bee-hive hairdos with color-blocked spray paint. Whether tie-dyed, tribal prints, gradients, leopard prints or solid shades, these colors came in the form of bandeau tops, ruffled bottoms and hour-glass shaped one-pieces. Anchoring the bold hues were black mono-kinis with shredded detail. Standouts from the show included a top with an attached flowing cape in bright tie-dye hues, as well as sheer cover-ups with crochet detailing.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A, a Laguna Beach brand, kicked things off with basic black in not so basic shapes. Ruched bottom bikinis, high-waisted suits and uber sexy one-pieces started off the show. Gold details, be it in the suits themselves or the amazing oversized gold-toned accessories, livened things up. Color came in the form of blues bottoms paired with oxblood maroons fringe-covered triangle tops The overall vibe of the show was bohemian, down to the flowing beach waves in the models’ hair. Keeping the metallic theme alive, Vitamin A also showed a selection of suits in gunmetal and silver sparkles. Diamond and chevron-patterned suits stormed the catwalk, while coverups came in the form of breezy tops and jumpers. The show closed out with colorful tie-dyed suits in neon limes paired with teals and corals paired with bold oranges, found again in colorful animal prints. Instead of leopard, this time around it was snake. And it was divine.
By Ginger Harris, author of the Miami fashion and beauty blog Electricblogarella.com.
