I love that ViX began with a very practical mismatch between place and clothes. Paula Hermanny grew up in Vitória, Brazil, then moved to San Diego to study, and the cuts and details she knew from home were missing from American beachwear. So she started selling Brazilian bikinis to friends, and in 2002 that turned into ViX. The name comes from her hometown, and she still works from San Diego.

The clothes were never just lycra. Early suits mixed in acrylic, straw and metal, and later ones leaned on embroidery, hardware and careful fit. The Ripple bottom, from 2010, became a bestseller, and the resortwear is still made in Brazil, including in Petrópolis.

From swim it grew into cover-ups and ready-to-wear, but the instinct hasn't moved: beach dressing that can go from sun to city without losing its Brazilian roots. Paula remains founder and creative director, which you can tell.

I start with the Kieza One Piece when I want the swimsuit to be the whole outfit. The Yara Bandeau Bikini Top keeps things pared back, and the Blake T Back Triangle Bikini Top goes classic triangle. The X Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Tammy Sutton One Piece Brazilian is the collaborative side of ViX, and the Winnie Short Cover Up gives the walk back from the water a little coverage.

One practical note: read the cut names on the bottoms. Molly Brazilian Bikini Bottom and Blake Cheeky Bikini Bottom promise different coverage, and the Elsie Bandeau Bikini Top or Pam printed bandeau bikini top will sit differently again, so I would never assume a set feels the same. Part of ViX's charm is that it does not ask every woman to wear one silhouette.

The cover-ups are the bridge between a swimsuit and a longer afternoon. The Mila Short Cover Up Dress keeps the idea short and easy to layer, while the Hanna Long Cover Up Dress changes the proportion when I want more length. The Paula printed bikini top and Lesley T Back Triangle Bikini Top are what I would wear underneath.

Picture her taking the Hanna from a beach chair to a shaded table, with the swimsuit still on underneath and sandals by her feet. What I would skip: treating a cover-up as a dress for a city dinner. For that, I would carry a woven bag and go somewhere that expects sand.

These are the pieces I reach for in my head when the swim top needs to do double duty. The Paula Top and Bia Tube Top have enough personality to sit under an open shirt or with a high-waisted skirt, and the Aster Short Dress and Karina Short Cover Up Dress are the easy layers over them.

Picture her leaving a poolside lunch in the Bia Tube Top, a light shirt over her shoulders, sandals already on. ViX is about choosing a cut with intention instead of piling on decoration, and these show it. My fit tip is to size each top on its own, particularly if you mix silhouettes.

The matching pieces deserve their own look. The Paula Bottom Full is a fuller cut, while the Bia Tube Bottom Brazilian and X Rosie Livia Tie Side Bottom Brazilian each have a distinct shape. With them come the Page T-back Tri Top and X Rosie Livia Tri Parallel Top. I would pick the cut that feels comfortable for a long swim day, not the one that looks smallest.

Then there is the Pare Pant, the non-swim piece that makes this feel like a small resort wardrobe. Picture her pulling it on over a bikini after a saltwater swim, sandals nearby for dinner. The Zoe draped maxi skirt does the same job in a softer mood, and the x Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Lucie minidress is the glamorous one. If you pair a top and bottom, check sizing separately.

ViX comes from a real exchange between a founder's home coast and the California beaches she learned to dress. I keep coming back to how its details and cuts feel specific without leaning on spectacle. If I were choosing one thing, I would start with a swimsuit that fits my day, then add a cover-up that can stay on after the water. Although I suspect I would end up taking the whole bag of it.