Alice + Olivia Dives Into Swimwear
Alice + Olivia will introduce a swim collection on Thursday that will be available in the brand’s freestanding stores and online at aliceandolivia.com.
The collection features bold primary colors, chain detailing and silhouettes that retail from $90 to $225. Sizes range from XS to XL.
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The six-piece reversible collection includes a black one-piece with a built-in belt and a deep neckline; a scoop back one-piece in a tropical print with blue on the reverse side; a two-piece high-rise bottom and bandeau top in tropical print with blue on the reverse side, and a reversible string bikini with a wrapped strap effect around the torso and halter neckline in red, yellow, sky blue and white.
Stacey Bendet, founder, chief executive officer and creative director, told WWD, “Swimwear was really [business partner] Andrew Rosen’s idea. Living in Florida he felt there was such a year-round business for it there. It used to be swimwear shipped twice a year and it was really short windows, but it has really transformed into a year-round business. The sexiness of our clothes and our fun colors and prints really played well into that world.”
When Bendet started working on it what was most important to her was creating something different in the market, and she really wanted to create bikinis and one-pieces that had seamless elastic so the suits didn’t cut into the wearer. She said she dislikes when the stitched elastic forms a muffin top.
“My focus was how to construct the bathing suits to not have that stitched elastic. We decided to do the swimwear as reversible without that elastic top-stitch, so that it has a little bit more of a tubular feel to it. All of the swimwear is reversible. It’s all constructed in a way that has a seamless effect. It’s clean finish and double-faced. It’s really comfortable and it is really flattering on. It’s not cutting into you like a regular singular layer bikini, it’s almost like wearing something tubular that sucks you in but doesn’t grab you,” Bendet said.
She said she used “high-technology construction in really beautiful Italian swimwear fabrics, and they’re reversible so they’re so fun.”
“One is white and yellow, one is red and blue. You get like a two-fer. I think going forward, I will turn some of the solid ones into a bodysuit,” Bendet said. She only did one print that’s a blue-ground palm print and the other side is a solid blue. The black one-piece isn’t reversible.
The suits are made in Portugal.
Bendet plans to add a new collection for resort and a bigger one for next spring.
She said Alice + Olivia has always done kimonos and little cover-ups as part of her collection.
“Swimwear is such a natural extension for our customer. The way I always add things to the line is I ask, ‘what is the women shopping with us online or coming into our stores looking fo?'” Bendet said.
“Swimwear should be fun, you’re at the beach,” she said.
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