Five Australian swimwear brands to hit the beach in this summer
With 85 per cent of the population living within 50km of the coast, Australians are in the perfect position to gauge what is the coolest thing to wear over the summer. Here are some of their most influential swimwear designers today
Australians live for the beach and the pool – 85 per cent of the population lives within 50km of the coast. The country boasts more than 10,000 recorded beaches and over 1.2 million backyard swimming pools, reportedly the world’s highest per capita ownership of private pools.
Although both have long since moved into offshore hands, two of the world’s most iconic surfwear and swimwear brands – Quiksilver and Speedo – were born in Australia. In 2014 luxury behemoth LVMH snapped up a 70 per cent stake in Sydney swimwear brand Seafolly, Australia’s largest swimwear brand, which sells in 41 countries.
Of course, it’s a lot easier to launch a swimwear brand these days than when Seafolly debuted in 1975. For starters, you can now use Instagram, whose monthly active users grew by 789 per cent to 800 million from 2013 to 2017.
Coincidentally, the past decade has also witnessed an explosion in new Australian swim brands, which don’t need much of a travel budget to be able to produce their own aspirational, Instagram-worthy images of pretty girls in bikinis in spectacular locations. Getting your product onto the ultimate influencers, the Kardashian-Jenner clan, offers next-level exposure. More than one new Aussie swim brand can tick this off their wish list.
Here’s a round-up of five new Australian swim brands to launch since 2014, their founders a combination of It girls and fashion insiders, second- and third-generation dressmakers and even a property developer.
