This Year's Big Swimwear Trend Is Completely Unexpected

Swimsuits for spring may sound about as groundbreaking as florals. For the past century, swimwear to pack for holidays has been a staple of spring fashion shows ever since Gabrielle Chanel started a craze for knitted bouclé maillots with her costume designs for the 1925 Ballet Russes production Le Train Bleu, about Parisian vacationers on the Côte d’Azur. In more recent times, we’ve come to expect itty-bitty bikinis worn without much else on catwalks, save perhaps a pair of thong sandals and a loosely knotted pareo.

But at Tory Burch’s swimsuit-anchored Spring/Summer 2025 New York Fashion Week show in September, held just a few weeks after the close of the Paris Olympics, the vibe wasn’t beachy so much as it was sporty and sumptuous. Models strutted down a nearly Olympic pool–length runway lined with aqua-green tiles underneath the glass-vaulted roof of the former Domino Sugar Refinery in louche cotton-velour jacquard drawstring pants paired with sequined swimsuits that called to mind the bejeweled, bedazzling uniforms of artistic swimmers. “I was thinking about the precision and power of athletes,” Burch says. “I wanted to use sequins in a different way: we distorted them, twisted them, and did micro-crystal embellishments.”

Burch also drew inspiration from the Gen Z girls she sees on the street dressed in a mix of sleek performance activewear and more structured clothing. Finishing each look with sturdy closed-toe shoes, whether Reva ballets or Twisted pumps with undulating, sculptural heels, Burch set the tone for the season. Maillots became must-have layering pieces, and both Chloé and The Attico showed swimsuits under smartly tailored coats (the latter’s high-cut one-pieces are a collaboration with Nike). Beachwear transformed into chic streetwear before our very eyes. “It’s kind of one and the same in my mind right now,” Burch says.

23-year-old French artistic swimming Olympic team co-captain Ambre Esnault can relate. “Personally, I’ve already worn a swimsuit with shorts or a skirt for a casual and trendy look,” she says. “Swimwear is a versatile piece that can be both stylish and practical outside of the pool.” Always game to try clothing items in seemingly incongruous contexts, during Paris Fashion Week later in the month, Esnault and her teammates performed at the Christian Louboutin show held at the Art Deco landmark Piscine Molitor, twisting, flipping, and kicking in perfect unison in 120 mm Miss Z metallic pumps, all while holding their breath underwater.

At Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada’s signature youthful sensibility was in fine form, with nearly half of the collection’s fashion magpie looks making ingenious use of recycled polyamide swimwear layering pieces. “The Miu Miu runway looked like art-school students had picked up a load of 1960s beachwear and some other bits at a vintage shop, and thrown it all together into this very cool urban look,” says vintage expert Sarah Kennedy, author of The Swimsuit: A History of Twentieth-Century Fashion. Surf-inspired bralette tops and youthquake one-pieces with Swiss-cheese cutouts peeked out from underneath slips and tailored blazers. Classic navy maillots with contrast white trim were teamed with sheer white cotton dresses, knee-length skirts, chain belts, and bustier tops MacGyvered from a range of camisoles, sweaters, and shirts pulled down and folded or wrapped around the torso. 

Kennedy believes this expanded role for swimwear as a foundational wardrobe staple is correlated with the spike in demand for smoothing bodysuits over the past few years. Since swimsuits are made from the most advanced performance fabrics engineered to offer a “comfortable and flattering fit” even when soaking wet, wearing one adds another level of functionality and sophistication. “There’s something very pleasing about a sturdy, stretchy fabric that holds a strong color and shape like a swimsuit,” says Kennedy. “It’s an instant look-and-feel-good factor all in one.”

Rebecca Saygi, a swimwear strategist at the trend forecaster WGSN, says the shifting role that swimwear plays in our lives has been heavily influenced by a growing interest in modular styling as a more sustainable approach to getting dressed,  and by new forms of travel. “Since the pandemic, lifestyles have become more hybrid and the ‘bleisure economy’ is growing, where lines between working, socializing, and vacationing blur, and swim and resort pieces are now required by consumers to do more,” she explains.

Designer Michael Kors captured that more relaxed spirit this season with his Michael Kors Collection lineup, which married the sophistication of the city with the mood and the attitude of a resort. “The collection offers a lot of things that feel like a swimsuit; whether it’s a bandeau or a maillot, there’s definitely some athletic inspiration that comes through,” he says. “No one I know says, 'I hate leaving New York; I just want to stay in the city and I never want to go to see the seaside.' I think people crave nature and they crave escape.”

Kors’ opening look set the tone: an alluringly high-slit, trompe l’oeil LBD comprising a black sweetheart neckline crepe swimsuit and a black asymmetrical pleated skirt crafted from a weighted techno canvas that creates playful movement, worn with a wide belt and pointy slingbacks. “It is in fact a maillot; you can swim in it,” Kors confirms. In his estimation, it’s “kind of the most sophisticated chic way to do a pareo and a maillot.” The collection featured a range of halter, criss-cross, and plunge maillots in tasteful neutrals, as well as a black-and-white floral chiné jersey bikini top paired with a coordinating softly flared cotton-silk skirt hemmed just below the knee that offered vacation vibes for those sweating it out in the city.

Want to maximize your own swimsuit styling potential? You’ll want opaque fabrics that can function as base layers under sheer layers, and that can also hold their own with eye-catching details. “Look for textured fabrics—think jacquard patterns or those that include fabric manipulation like pleating or ruching,” Saygi advises. “Shine or sparkle styles, and those with lingerie-inspired details or cut-outs, often have day-to-night styling appeal.” Chances are you probably already have a few great options in your swimsuit drawer.