Frankies Bikinis and Victoria’s Secret Collaborate for Swimwear Collection
Frankies Bikinis and Victoria’s Secret are teaming up for a swimwear collaboration, called Frankies Bikinis for Victoria’s Secret.
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It will launch on VictoriasSecret.com Wednesday and select Victoria’s Secret stores Thursday.
Victoria’s Secret made an $18 million minority investment into Los Angeles-based brand Frankies Bikinis last March, giving the company a larger piece of the fast-growing swimwear category, and marking a move in the lingerie giant’s comeback strategy, which began four years ago and included the reintroduction of swimwear.
The new collection includes a variety of one-piece swimsuits and bikinis, as well as a loungewear short and tank top set featuring details — including wings — and colors inspired by Victoria’s Secret. There are 13 different styles in total in prints, soft pinks, baby blues and whites. Prices range from $45 to $85, and sizing runs from XS to XL. The line is manufactured in Colombia.
The Victoria’s Secret collaboration is more affordable than the core Frankies Bikinis line, where bathing suit pieces start at around $80.
British-born Kate Bellm shot the campaign in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, inspired by Frankies Bikinis founder Francesca Aiello’s early memories of shopping at Victoria’s Secret. The campaign features seven different models with different body sizes and stories.
“It’s been a dream creating these pieces for Victoria’s Secret and such a full-circle moment. It brings back memories of when I was younger sifting through Victoria’s Secret swim catalogs with my mom every summer and finding pieces I knew I’d cherish forever. I hope to evolve that same sentimental feeling through this collection,” said Aiello, who founded Frankies Bikinis in 2012.
Victoria’s Secret has carried Frankies Bikinis since 2019. “I remember when they bought the brand the first time around, I was so excited, they were just a wholesale partner for us, so we did a whole shoot around it because I couldn’t believe that Victoria’s Secret was interested in carrying Frankies,” she said.
“My love and crazy passion for swimwear really started with Victoria’s Secret,” she continued. “I grew up on the beach [Malibu] and would flip through the catalogs with my mom from the time I was 9 years old. Every summer I would go through so many bathing suits. I didn’t care about anything in my closet, I just wanted bathing suits,” she said. “From the second I would leave my junior lifeguard practice and was in what I thought was a not-so-cute one-piece, I would leave and immediately put on my Victoria’s Secret bikinis.”
Aiello would order the smallest sizes when she was a child. “Actually, I found a photo recently when I was about [9 years old], and I could tell the suit was a little big on me,” she said. “It brought me so much happiness. That’s why I love being in the business of swimwear. It truly evokes happiness when you get your new bikini and you think about bathing suits you were in on a certain vacation and the memories made when you were in that swimsuit.”
Aiello was inspired by Victoria’s Secret’s heritage and ordered old catalogs on eBay for inspiration, looking to recreate some of the old styles in a modified way.
The collaboration is the first project the brands have worked on together since Victoria’s Secret invested in Frankies, she said. “They’ve shown me so much trust in my process. I wouldn’t say there’s been too much change. Frankies is still a semi-small business in a way.”
Victoria’s Secret’s customer loves Frankies Bikinis, said Kristen Lagoa, vice president of emerging business at Victoria’s Secret. “Working with Francesca and hearing her love for Victoria’s Secret swim as the inspiration behind the pieces brought amazing energy and authenticity to the collection, and we’re proud to continue to champion women and women-led businesses in this way,” she said.
Frankies will promote the collection on its social media, and will create a landing page online that directs people to shop the collaboration on the Victoria’s Secret website, Aiello said. She said they will be offering a new collection every spring.
Aiello said her favorite look in the collection is Dark Angel, which is black and has silver butterfly wings on the front and the back of some of the suits. Another is a top tank that has the joint logo on it. “Every time I look at it I’m so proud of it,” she said. “The black swimsuits will be super popular with the launch. They’re so cute.”
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