“You said you hated the ocean, but you’re surfing now . . . ” So sings Camila Cabello to Ed Sheeran in her hit track “Bam Bam”, but she could just as easily have been telling me the same thing. I never hated cold, open water, but I was fearful of it.
Not any more. In the past two years, I’ve pulled on wetsuits to plunge into tarns, the Lake District’s waters and in the Irish Sea, surf at Watergate Bay in Cornwall and paddle-board on lochs in Scotland. On a recent evening, I bobbed around a swimming pond in London’s Hampstead, wearing a one-piece from activewear brand Perfect Moment. It had long sleeves and was crafted from a quick-dry recycled nylon but was otherwise cut like a swimming costume — a city-appropriate swim piece.
Jane Gottschalk, the creative director of Perfect Moment thinks the visibility of cold water sports and swimming online, as it grows in popularity, is encouraging others to dive in. “Everyone is talking about it, and you see so many people doing it on Instagram . . . it’s in people’s psyche now as something that is clearly trending.” The brand’s high fashion take on surfwear was serendipitously timed; stockists for its swim range (from £130) grew 200 per cent this season versus SS21, as luxury fashion retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Selfridges dial into demand.
Perfect Moment is just one of a number of brands surfing the wave for more luxurious kit. Dedicated surfwear labels such as Abysse, based in California, and Now_Then, from Spain, have both seen sales increase for pieces that marry performance and craft with slick design. Roxy, meanwhile, has collaborated with Liberty Fabrics, while Hurley unexpectedly teamed up with LoveShackFancy, the US-based purveyor of floral cottagecore that ordinarily sells frilly cotton dresses fit for Hamptons weekends.
And kit it is no longer something to just rent and return while on holiday. Sally McGee, founder of Yonder Surf, a female-focused school based in North Tyneside, UK, says many of her clients are buying their own — often from Patagonia (from £100) or Finisterre (from £125). “Borrowed suits are notoriously leaky, stinky, wet and cold.”
They’re also often unflattering and uncomfortable. “I remember with zero nostalgia when you could only get more masculine-cut wetsuits that didn’t make you feel beautiful,” says Andrea Salinas, a dedicated ocean swimmer and founder of Now_Then. “The only thing that made a wetsuit ‘women’s’ back then was that it was pink.” Today, she offers zip-front, panel-constructed costumes and rashguards that have seamless finishes and flat, raw edges that are “non-bulge” and don’t leave marks on the skin.
Female founders are overhauling the surf market with their attention to fit and feel — as well as function. “It’s wetsuits designed by women for women,” says Salinas. Abysse founder Hanalei Reponty-Gudauskas, a former pro surfer and model, says her Linda suit is cut to a slimline silhouette with a vest-style top and features cushioned knees for protection on the boards.
“Performance-wear doesn’t have to be bulky and ugly,” says Perfect Moment’s Gottschalk, who uses the Italian-crafted Carvico fabric that’s thinner, lighter and more sustainable than neoprene. “It’s got a two-way stretch that lifts and holds your shape without ever being restrictive.” Long-sleeved rashguards are also increasingly popular with those who just want to cover up from the sun. Salinas says her rashguards are “the most successful pieces in our line” and sell well in Asia.
Wild swimming’s popularity is influencing swimwear aesthetics more generally. Trendy sunbathing labels including Hunza G, known for its crinkly, colourful fabric, and Marysia, with its scalloped-edge silhouettes, are meshing their design signatures with surf-style silhouettes. Even Alaïa, the famed French couture label, has a handful of one-sleeved bathers. “We made sleeved swimwear one of our top five trends to look out for in 2022,” says Rebecca Saygi, a swimwear and activewear strategist at trend forecasting agency WGSN.
It’s a trend that’s set to continue: at Miami Swim Week in July, Saygi says even more non-performance brands were offering sleeved shapes for SS23. “In the past, swim brands tended to stay in their lane; premium labels have left sportier styles to outdoor and surf brands that are more distinguished within the performance arena.” But that’s no longer the norm. “Women want to have more practical options to swim in, be it surf, wild swimming, or a quick dip in the pool,” says Holly Tenser, womenswear buyer for Browns Fashion, which stocks Abysse.
And while a long swim in cold, open water needs proper performance suits, more fashion-focused sporty designs are ideal for sit-down paddleboarding or cooling off in say, Canary Wharf’s new open water swimming area in London. Swim as a category is evolving in the same way athleisure did, where non-performance brands are blurring the boundaries.
“It’s becoming more than a seasonal sector, but evolving into a lifestyle entity on its own,” says Saygi. “We predict more and more of this crossover product, with swimwear becoming more modular and versatile, thus having more longevity.” Lululemon’s just-launched hike-to-swim range has a hybrid versatility: zip-front shorts and crop tops, which look like ordinary gym kit but are ideal for cooling off in a waterfall when trekking.
I am all for ease of wear. And the next time I hit Hampstead ponds, fellow swimmers might spot me in Emilia Wickstead’s long-sleeved one-piece, covered in bright blue roses. With its belted waist and elegant design, it would be ideal post-pond, paired with trousers for dinner, and its quick-dry fibres would save me packing a spare change of clothes. Fashion and function, indeed.
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