239: I'm ready to talk swimwear
Plus Du Ciel's La Dragée, Studio Nicholson's summer sale, and 20% off &Daughter sweaters for office air conditioning.
What makes swimwear so hard? None of the big brands we typically rely on to make at least one banger per category (The Row, Bottega, Khaite, Dries, Maryam, Toteme) are really doing the department right, and when I was commiserating with Emily Dawn Long on the bikini offerings of the season, neither of us could ID a smaller brand that was making two-pieces that are HOT but also, you know, cool. Something like what Minimale Animale was in the 2010s, or when Miaou first launched swim. (I actually think it should be EDL herself, but that’s a nag for another time.)
Since then, I’ve done a bit of asking around and dug a little deeper on my own, and I can report that the scene isn’t as grim as we’d thought. Some brands I had simply forgotten about over swim’s sleepy season. Like when I texted Mari Giudicelli (a Brazilian and a professional-league beachgoer) and she said Haight, and Haight only. She did a collab with the brand last year that’s since sold out, but the new-in is excellent—the Gabi bandeau in red is one of my favorites. Victoria Yamagata, another in-the-know Brazilian, also cosigned the brand (which, itself, hails from Brazil).
Eres came up a lot when asking around, Monica Mendal and Miranda Levitt among its purist wearers (“exclusively,” per Monica and “the only bikinis I buy,” per Miranda). Chloe Wise is a die-hard Skims fan, she told me she has two in black and two in nude of the triangle top and thong-ish bottom; stylist Ava Van Osdol says the brand is “shaped dumb flattering”; and stylist Jessi Frederick is another proclaimed wearer.
Lido and Hunza G were mentioned multiple times each—the former through brand strategist Giedrė Kazokaitė and the writer Alexis Cheung, the latter from herbalist Rachelle Robinett, artist Sasha “Bonita” Sheehan, and Courtney Wittich of Lucien Pagès—just as I myself was getting caught up on their latest. Lido’s Soeur collaboration is one of the best and most restrained of the season, but its core collection remains outstanding (its gradient and chain bikinis are favorites). As for Hunza G, Sasha specifically called out its new triangle bikini, which has become my personal park go-to at this early point in the season, I have it in black.
When I asked stylist Sachiko Clyde about a tangle of string bikinis she’d posted on IG—Gimaguas and Skims, apparently—she told me she only wears “tacky, Miami-style bikinis with rhinestones or metallic,” which I related to hard. My favorite swimwear is all flashy, thongy, and garish, and so many of my own picks for the season could easily be classified under “poor taste.” This leopard-print Christopher Esber was the first suit I was drawn to this year. Du Ciel’s painfully hot lingerie would of course make way to provocative swim. When I couldn’t track down this Oseree “microkini” from last season, I was happy to discover La Reveche via Whitney Port. And I can hardly wait for this skimpy and hypnotic two-piece from Fruity Booty on its way to me (side note: check out their brilliant backgammon sarong).
A good handful of people I spoke to turned me on to brands I’d never come across: Simonett Pereira was emphatic about Sara Cristina and Adriana Degreas, which she stocks at her always spot-on retail concept Simonett. Ilirida Krasniqi pointed me to Swim By Di, an ‘80s and ‘90s reissue brand. Kat Henning who does footwear at Tory Burch called out Yasmine Eslami, who was apparently a major stylist in the ‘90s.
And a bunch more known and new-to-me recs came when I put a call out on IG (it got 117 replies, lol). Handmade-in-Spain brand Gua Gua. LA’s Galamaar. Mare Perpetua who I wore a lot of last year. Nu Swim, an evergreen excellent choice out of NYC. The Great Eros, which just dropped new black and Missoni-esque prints. Horse & Berries, who I’ve had a suit from for years that I still wear. Belle the Label (I’d categorize it alongside Gimaguas and Paloma Wool for those unfamiliar). Also, no one said Paloma Wool, but I’ll say it myself after seeing a really great bikini at their pop-up in New York that was out of my size. J.Crew, of course!
What I also learned in my deep dive was that good swim is still on its way: I’m most interested in a new collection currently in production from Patricia Torvalds, a Cafe Forgot-stocked designer, and the launch of Alipo, a project coming from designer Emma Stern Nielsen. I think this is all just the beginning of a very strong season.
With News Editor em seely-katz
What’s new
I hope we’ve made this a safe enough space for the unconventional bride that when we share news of Du Ciel’s La Dragée—its expansion into the category—readers will recognize that the puff-ball bra and floating knit garters aren’t scandal-bait, but a natural progression of the brand’s experiments in body-as-composition. The archstone of the collection is the Dragée dress, handmade to order in knit viscose that dives down the bust and froths around the ankles. Pair with veils ranging from Mini to Medium to Long, depending how coquettish or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus you aim to be.
As photo manipulation becomes ever more sophisticated, product photos often take on an unearthly sheen, making it difficult to understand what exactly you’re paying for. It’s heartening, then, to see Kallmeyer’s PF24 pre-sale, punctuating the Year of the Blazer with one boasting a breezy wrap front and a sleek, collarless iteration in rich caramel, plus subtly screwy knit tanks and more transitional pieces, with stitching, drape, and warp all clearly visible—you can tell these clothes are meant to be worn.
What little of Fforme, New York’s painstaking minimalist operation with roots in The Row and Bottega, we’re granted, we’ll accept. The brand’s nine-piece FW24 touched down so softly, it could easily have been missed. Among the limited drop are an ultrafine Merino sweater with a uniquely exaggerated U-neck; a fully reversible button-down shirt, which, worn either way, creates an insouciant, slung-back collar; and unapologetically big pants in Fforme’s signature sheeny-matte cotton.
The 25-piece edit that is Nanushka’s summer “Sun Shop” expands upon last summer’s Meredith Blake fixation, creating a uniform for the universe in which she’s debonair as ever but also down to hang in the craft tent with the kids—cut-out swimsuits get an earnest crochet treatment at the edges, a silk scarf’s print mimics folksy wood carvings, a crisp white leather tote folds like a cootie catcher, and so on.
COS’ limited edition collaboration with Japanese shibori artist Kazuki Tabata is the circling ‘round of frenetic early-pandemic tie-dye compulsions into something much calmer and more deliberate—a fully matching outfit of high-necked tank plus pull-on pants plus long, languorous blazer dyed in strips of beige and blue equals an easy contender for uniform of the summer.
Another Tomorrow’s HS24 collection is fodder for a heartwarming “Buttoned-Up Business Woman Lets Her Hair Down” human interest story, with sharply tailored shorts crimped into playful pleats, a stark column dress gathered into a swingy sarong shape at the hip, and more pieces that get playful within the bounds of office-friendly propriety.
Like Tory Burch’s sleeper comeback, Rachel Comey has suddenly never seemed more relevant, with PF24 arrivals like a black sundress in crisp cotton that cinches and floats around its ingeniously gathered waist or fleece terry “underwear” that asserts itself as a viable pants replacement with the knowing inclusion of belt loops and a matching short-sleeved sweatshirt that serves to legitimize the under-as-outerwear agenda beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Camille Surault’s eponymous jewelry brand has been around for less than a year—though jewelry is the family business—and it’s already among the best new bids for sterling silver pieces priced below $1,000 (and often much less). Suralt’s background as a photographer lends the twisted and orb-like shapes of SS24 a past-meets-present timelessness, marrying definitively 2020s tropes (the jewel-strung cord belt) with ‘90s Vogue-style imagery.
The Katie Holmes x A.P.C. “interaction,” as they call them, has been talked about a bunch—it should be! It’s a match made in heaven—but I’ve yet to see anyone mention these insane T-strap flats the collaborators pulled from the archives for this collection. And me? I simply had to get this sailor blazer.
Usually firmly planted in the wardrobe department, designer Carly Cushnie extends into furniture, collaborating with Lulu and Georgia on nubby-textured chaises, carved oak side tables that look imposing but not old-money stuffy, tightly woven wraparound benches, and more genuinely fresh-feeling furniture that riffs off of Mid-century Modern into its own unique style.
Photographer Alessandro Furchino Capria is perfectly matched with Paloma Wool in a capsule that sees his slightly unsettling photos of quiet, quotidian objects—a phone under a running faucet, a piece of fabric damp with who knows what—printed on sheer sweatshirts, bikini bottoms, and more unassuming garments.
Eckhaus Latta’s PF24 sunglasses slant up, martian-style, toward the sun they’re designed to protect your eyes from, some in clinical shades of angular acetate and embellished with tiny, deliberate screws, and some the saturated, translucent hues of a fruit-flavored lozenge.
Frankie’s Bikinis x Djerf Avenue adapts the demure, Swedish sensibilities of the latter to the beachy agenda of the former, offering bikinis trimmed in tiny strips of lace or covered in Scandinavian-seeming stripes, plus Flore Flore-adjacent baby tanks and other simple, feminine comfort wear for apres-beach lounging.
The fresh collaboration between Studio Nicholson and Paraboot might be the fall/winter answer to this summer’s boat shoe, with hand-stitched nubuck suede or white leather fashioned into the perfect center point between loafer and sneaker.
There’s also: The How Long Gone fellas did a unisex suede boat shoe with Morjas (the Swedish-Spanish leather brand I visited in Stockholm last week) that may be the best, perhaps the only, navy blue version I’ve seen; Melissa has a busy month, collaborating with Bimba y Lola on glittering jelly fisherman sandals and with Marc Jacobs on platform slides and transparent ballet flats in its signature PVC; Goop’s G. Label June collection drops with sundresses, caftans, and sailor stripes aplenty; iconic LA influencer Cierra O’day collaborates with Geel on a capsule of simple tops and slip skirts, all bearing subtle touches of ruffles or ruching; Sister Morphine joins the Maimoun lineup with three pairs of edgy, abstract bio-resin earrings; Wales Bonner launches the Cadence sneaker and creeps ever closer to making a glorified (and glorious!) bowling shoe; Noah links up with Timex for a limited-edition watch, shockingly romantic with an illustrated sun or moon detail displayed depending on the time of day; one of Mother’s best-selling jeans, the Hustler Ankle Fray, is now available in petite sizing in a bone-white colorway; and U Beauty collaborates with Tinx on a “lip compound” (read: hydrating balm) in a shade of post-kiss-like peach.
What’s on sale
I made a big deal about these Studio Nicholson pants this weekend, but did I also mention they’re on sale? These and what looks to be the entire SS24 collection and beyond (including my oft-posted Denali coat) are up to 30% off on the brand’s site. Pas mal!
It’s blissfully far from sweater weather, but offices and studios get cold and time does inevitably march on, so for better or worse the &Daughter sale is perennially relevant, with camel cardigans, nouveau Fair Isle, shrunken sweater vests, and more at a healthy 20% off, all a reliable 100% wool.
Farfetch is adding an extra 20% off a selection of its sale items, meaning a paneled Proenza top rounds out to $523 down from over $1k, an upside-down sunhat-made-tote bag by Balenciaga is more than half off, a sweetheart neckline dress (the rare find appropriate for both weddings and funerals) is $119 down from $425, and more summer-friendly discounts await.
Lots of ready-made outfits populate the Co summer sale: a raw denim dolman top pairs with patch pocket jeans and a work jacket for a hardy everyday uniform, while cinched cotton dresses and collarless wool blend suits cover nights.
It’s always a relief when a dress comes pre-crushed, and this pleated sundress from the Vince summer sale is lazy-bait, as are a pre-frayed slip dress and a loosely-knit v-neck sweater—it seems there always comes a time when summer renders the closet less interesting than The World Outdoors, and the 200+ items in this sale are ready to be neglected until needed.
A rare Martine Rose sale on its SS24 is a sign to stock up on safety-striped trousers, beautifully blue plaid boxers, $123 logo bikinis (for top AND bottom, a real treat in a dark world that has decided the two must be sold separately) and more treats that carry the gender-inclusive “tomboy” torch into the present day.
The Acne summer sale leaves no room for warmth, vaulting us abruptly into jacket-land, from crinkled (again, bless this mess) trench coats to buff, padded bomber jackets, with a sprinkling of crunchy, cropped suit jackets (ok, maybe there was simply no iron on set when the product photos were taken?) and acid-green jeans to feign warm-weather relevance.
Can a purse be slutty? With its cherry-red, somehow-sensual Marlboro Trivia Bag, Kiko Kostadinov explores the question in its SS24 private sale—use 20SS2024 for 20% off the somehow-sexy baggage, plus abstract black crepe going-out tops, perversely color-blocked “brogue” flats, and more IYKYK pieces.
Speaking of going-out tops, Nanushka’s seasonal sale offers a discounted boatload, from doily-like crocheted tanks to pale green terry cloth bandeaus and cut-out camp shirts in pleated poplin, plus dozens more summer-appropriate pieces at up to 40% off.
If you liked what you saw last week in our ode to the Browns summer sale but needed an extra push to pull trigger, does an extra 20% off nicely neutral Salomon sneakers, Lemaire croissant bags the color of actual croissants, sly little Jacquemus LBDs and more sweeten the deal?
There’s also: Take 30% more off Sunnei’s mid-season sale (if a color can be called “genius,” this blue bodysuit is it) with the saccharine “SPECIALCLIENT”; Filippa K’s sale starts now and takes 30-40% off a host of the ubiquitous “elevated basics” plus some pieces in the snake print that seems to haunt us at every turn this summer; Elysewalker’s designer sale is largely off-season but takes up to 60% off a ton of Ulla Johnson, Nili Lotan, and more weather-transcending designers; KkCo’s summer sale shaves 30% off the brand signature bright-colored babydoll dresses, weirdly wearable harnesses, and more; use PRIVATESS24 for up to 40% off in the Camper private sale with chunky sandals and strappy flats aplenty; Fred Segal’s 50% off sale has almost as much St. Agni and Low Classic as the brands’ sites themselves; last-minute bathing suit emergencies call for the Solid & Striped 30% off sale, featuring select Sofia Richie Grainge collaboration styles; and the Atelier Delphine archive sale takes 20% off a swath of workwear with a sense of humor.
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Professional league-beachgoer LOL. So good! and yes, Haight is a very good swimwear brand.
Would recommend Sommer Swim for those who like bikinis on the skimpier side. Really nice Italian lycra in rich colors.