Bikinis and One-Pieces To Pack

Bikinis and One-Pieces To Pack

Bikinis and one pieces to pack for a beach trip, from Isabel Marant and Polo Ralph Lauren to Agua Bendita, Johanna Ortiz, Ulla Johnson and Maygel Coronel, with notes on support, leg lines and mixing tops and bottoms.

Swimsuits that look deliberate

Johanna Ortiz started her label in Cali in 2003 with a small resort collection built around swimwear, and she still designs swimsuits as if they were evening clothes. That is the standard I used for this edit: every bikini and one piece here should look deliberate on its own, not like something you put on because the hotel has a pool.

 

The page is in two halves now: bikinis first, then one pieces. Left On Friday was started in 2017 by Shannon Savage and Laura Low Ah Kee, who spent more than a decade on the product team at lululemon, and Hunza G is the London label Georgiana Huddart relaunched in 2015. Both turn up in each half.

 

Pack for the swimming you will actually do. If the trip is mostly lying by a pool, a bikini is fine; if there are waves or a boat ladder involved, take at least one suit that stays put.

Bikinis collage: Hunza G, Isabel Marant, Left On Friday, Onia, Polo Ralph Lauren, Rat & Boa, SIMKHAI, cynthiarowley.com

Bikinis to mix and match

What decides a bikini is support, the leg line and the weight of the fabric. Rat & Boa's Isabeli and red Vinnie bikini pants show how much a higher or lower leg changes the look, and Left On Friday's plunge top with the Hi Hi high waisted bottom and Onia's Brigitte top with the Lucie bottom are the pairs I would pick for actual swimming. Rat & Boa's Calypso is the easy top, Hunza G's Julia hoop bikini is the one I would pack first, and Cynthia Rowley's Amalfi string bottom and printed Bella top go with almost anything.

 

Agua Bendita began in Medellín in 2003, when Catalina Álvarez and Mariana Hinestroza made swimsuits for friends from factory offcuts on a grandmother's sewing machine. Their Huerta Anhelo, Hacienda Valle, Nopal Wild and Magdalena Ceiba tops carry the embroidery and prints the brand is known for, and any one of them is a piece I would build a whole holiday around.

 

JUILLET's Lee bandeau and Sea's Leila top are in broderie anglaise and eyelet, and Zimmermann's Aster and Hunza G's Cassie add beading. A detailed top like these wants the simplest bottom you own. Black, cream or a color pulled from the embroidery all work.

 

The two pieces are where you can mix. BAOBAB's Lula and Roa tops share the Rio bottoms, LE BOP's Tamera top and bottoms are color blocked, and Beach Riot's Nani top and Marcella bottoms are the sporty pair. Lioness's Bella bandeau and bottoms and Frankies Bikinis' Nick satin top and Dove satin bottoms are the ones I would buy as sets.

 

For something dressier, Maygel Coronel's Brezza ruched set and La Isla Solea bikini, Oseree's Bubble bandeau and Ulla Johnson's Zahara top with the Mallorca bottoms all look finished without trying. Eres has made swimwear since Irène Leroux founded it in 1968, and the Mouna ruched top with the Malou bottoms shows why. Johanna Ortiz's Bolero one shoulder top and Palms at Sunrise triangle top lean toward evening, and Missoni's knit bikini is the one people will ask about.

 

ALÉMAIS's Lucky square neck top and high waist brief, DES_PHEMMES's double bikini, Agua by Agua Bendita's Primavera bandeau and Olmo top, Zimmermann's Aster high rise bottom, SIMKHAI's Gracie shell bottom and Ay Que Calor's Beatrice top fill out the rest. Ksubi's Itsy Bitsy bottom, That's So Fetch's Liza bottom and the PQ English Rose embroidered triangle top are the easiest pieces to mix with everything else here.

 

Elie Saab's python print comes as a bikini here and as a swimsuit further down, and there are plenty of separates to mix: Staud's La Mer top, Hansen & Gretel's Ottie top, RESA's Kyle, Onalaja's Zusi bottom, Dôen's Mina bottom, Tiger Mist's reversible Emerson bottom and Bessette's high briefs.

 

Hanne Bloch launched her label in Copenhagen in 2008 after leaving a design job at Missoni, and she now designs it with her daughter Olivia. You can see the Italian knitwear training in her knit triangle and pom pom sets, which sit near Missoni's own knit bikinis in the grid. Hunza G's Gina, Xandra, Bonnie and Alicia add more of the London label's shapes, and Maygel Coronel's Vesper, Melao, Pica and Gola carry on from the ruched Brezza set above.

 

Some of the newer pairs are sold as separates, so I have put each top next to its bottom: Bond Eye's beaded Ingrid top with the Vista tie side bottom, Lovers and Friends' Chasing Sunsets, Frankies Bikinis' crochet Elena top with the Clover bottom, Tularosa's Amy in a yellow dot, Camila Coelho's Bruna in animal print, La Porte's Kendall top with the Aurora bottom, lovewave's Porshia in forest green and Vix's Paige. Lisa Marie Fernandez's Magdalena high waist bikini and Zimmermann's Indra are the two I would wear to a lunch that runs long.

 

What I would skip: a strapless top for a beach day with waves. Save the bandeau for the pool.

Bikinis

One-pieces that double as bodysuits

The one pieces lean toward a point of view. Johanna Ortiz's Tropical Gaucha, Ulla Johnson's Monterey strapless maillot, Onia's Arya, Agua by Agua Bendita's Gema Uchuva, Cala de la Cruz's Vienna and Bond-Eye's reversible Felicia all work as bodysuits with a pair of trousers at dinner, and Veronica Beard's Paradisa and BAOBAB's Guapi are the brightest.

 

Isabel Marant's Sicilya swimsuit is the one I would pack if I could only take one, Polo Ralph Lauren's Kennedy is the classic, Left On Friday's Peak is built to stay put, and SIMKHAI's Laine ruched one piece and Mona scoop neck are the dressier choices. Summersalt's Gulf gathered keyhole one piece has the most support of the lot.

 

Eres's Cassiopee and Aquarelle and Missoni's knit one piece are the dressiest additions, Pucci's printed suit and Jacquemus's Sole are the loudest, and Agua by Agua Bendita's Limon Paramo keeps the embroidery going. Ay Que Calor's Vera, Camila and Martina, Meridian's Azimuth, La Porte's Halle and Agnes, Onia's Gabriella, MARE PERPETUA's Seek, SIMKHAI's strapless Ottilie and Left On Friday's Weekender are the plainer shapes I would actually swim in.

 

Diarra Bousso was born in Dakar and taught high school math before she built DIARRABLU, and she still generates many of the brand's prints from equations she writes. The Maai swimsuit is the most graphic thing on this half of the page. Elie Saab's python print swimsuit matches the bikini above, and Reformation's Joy, Mati the Label's Milos and Le Bop's scoop neck one piece are the simplest shapes here.

 

A one piece that doubles as a top saves room in the case. Look for a scoop or square neck and a back you would not mind showing.

One-pieces

What I would pack

I would pack three: one bikini for lying in the sun, one one piece for swimming and one piece with a print or embroidery for the day you want photos. Everything else on this page is a variation on those three.

 

Rinse every suit in cold water after the pool or the sea, and dry it flat in the shade. That one habit makes a good swimsuit last for years.