Reviews

Roidal Sultan is more than just a classical print reproduced with care. It really is the Sultan of Swimwear. It is the modern design that will put Roidal ahead of the competition. The design, for the first few nanoseconds of your seeing it, looks like a million others. Earthy colours, nicely spaced and a little bit sparse in its scattering. Leopard, always a strong contender. But look for more than a moment and you’ll see the design is a hazy, phased-out cloning of the classical animal skin affair. This piece is shimmering, translucent imitation of leopard skin, which has been a constant fixture of the swimwear landscape for an age. Roidal has re-imagined what it means to make a classic swimsuit. This company has a tradition of not making the same old tired things, again and again. It’s all about stupendous and stunning works of art, but with their own individual stamp. What Goes Into A Design This Magic? Sultan has defied even more of the swimwear industry’s wisdom by throwing out the standard colour scheme. You might see from the picture that Roidal is using an entirely new set of shades and hues. If not, take a look at this close-up. The fabric is rendered in more of a bone white than a faded gold. This colour revolution leaves this swimsuit with a much more refreshed look and a clean, elegant and modern edge. Just a word on the centre feature. The ruffled sash that runs around your torso adds a clever slant to the neckline. The neckline itself is practically plunging! To ease and soften this dramatic occurrence, the horizontal sash is implemented. It gives this swimsuit, and your body, a much more gentle and sophisticated shape. The shape of Roidal’s Sultan Swimsuit lends itself to sunbathing very well. It’s one of the best full-length items for bronzing I know of, but I think this belongs squarely on the sand. The poolside is too tame for a design like this. Keep it near the crashing and falling off the shore and it’ll show it’s very best side, and yours too.

You can’t get the much more cutting edge and modern than something this retro. Gideon Oberson and their fashion is cyclical and this design is something that’s clearly come full circle. This fashion bikini design originated in the neon-drenched world of the 1980s. That time period was such a wonderful one. Full of geometric wonders and using the whole spectrum of colour like nothing else before. Well, that is the same as the new Gideon Oberson range too. Their fashion bikini is easily the most retro and revived design this year, by any designer. So what goes into the recipe for a gorgeous retro bikini? Let’s take a quick look and find out for ourselves. Gideon Oberson Love Their Retro Designs Fashion is cyclical partly because we love to revisit classics. We love to get back our favourite parts of an older style that we forgot about. It even adds nostalgia to the mix, and enhances the beauty of whatever it is you are wearing. Gideon Oberson fashion bikinis are the very best way to get back what you love about a bygone time. It brings the beauty of an older period of fashion back to life. And it gives your seaside wardrobe a fantastic and energetic new look. The design you see above is one of these retro bikinis. It is colourful and energetic and full of life. It even looks like it has a friendliness to it, if such a thing is possible with fashion pieces. And we beleive that it is more than possible. Where Can You Find Gorgeous Gideon Oberson For Yourself? At UK Swimwear, of course. Gideon Oberson is one of the most adored fashion producers here at UK Swimwear. And we seem to write about them so much more than most brands. Their work has also been of the highest quality too. Not just nice to look at, but nice to wear too. If you want a great stylish fashion swimwear designer, then the beautiful Gideon Oberson should appear on your shortlist.

This gorgeous new pareo by Rosch shows you exactly what they are all about. It is designs like these that show us why they’re one of the most popular swimwear designers around. This is the Rosche Floral, one of the nicest new items in the Rosch pareo range. How The Rosch Pareo Uses Colour It’s about as unique and creative as a pareo or any other beach garment can get. Its base is a sumptuous floral pattern. Made with a rich tapestry of colour and hue. All this has gone into creating one of the most mystical centrepieces of the year. It is one of the most colourful items we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing this season. The psychedelic purples turn these flowers into a dreamscape on fabric. The swirling array of colour is truly delightful to behold. Contrast Is Part Of The Equation Too But there’s more than just colour to this pareo. Never before have we seen something like a floral pattern so successfully combined with other stuff. It is crossed with something so precise and man-made, providing a lovely contrast. The abstract pattern around the edges is even more colourful. And it is entirely separate from the nature theme in the rest of the pareo. Instead, it’s like something from modern art, carefully built around geometric motifs. The contrast here is very powerful. And it makes this one of the most varied, versatile, and visually enchanting pieces of swimwear we’ve ever seen.

Miraclesuit are made up of a clever bunch of people. They have to be to put such cutting edge technology into their swimwear and constantly push the boundaries of their trade forward. But it’s not just in the science of their industry that they’ve proven themselves a capable lot. Their designs are as clever as anything else you can point to in the swimwear world, and this particular swimsuit is their most meaningful so far… particularly its name. The name is as deep and as packed full to the brim as the pattern used on this swimsuit itself. Skin City is a play on the name Sin City, the nickname given to Las Vegas by it’s more fun-loving frequenters. You might think it’s been given to this design because it’s an animal skin pattern. That’s one reason, but not entirely. Like the layers of clever science and sumptuous fashion design that goes into the creation of these swimsuits, Miraclesuit has added a double entendre to this item. “Skin City” refers to the wild and hedonistic lifestyles of the city’s inhabitants and their love of anything sensual and enjoyable. The good people of Las Vegas love to party and this swimsuit has the passion, excitement and flattering figure-enhancing design that would go down very well in the capital of casinos. Or maybe we’re giving Miraclesuit too much credit and it’s actually a failed attempt at capturing the majesty of Siegfried and Roy’s beautiful Siberian tiger… because it’s a leopard print. Either way, we love this swimsuit!

  Roidal is truly back on form this season with some of their best work in years. Something we’d always loved about Roidal was their vibrant designs. Each swimsuit and bikini always came in a passionate red or searing pink colour scheme. Roidal never lost their ability to astound people with this talent, but this season it’s back with a particular strength. The best example is a pattern their design team have used in more than one different design. And Roidal Lelia is one of those pieces. Something few swimwear brands ever do is repeat a pattern, but Roidal knows the power of this particular design. Lelia, A Unique Roidal Masterpiece Lelia is the sun dress version, a particularly magnificent garment that displays Roidal’s magic better than most of their designs have ever done. The vibrant colours are obvious, but why not any one of Roidal’s items this season? What’s so special about her? Most bikinis concentrate on just one colour, with maybe a few dashes of complimentary shades thrown in. Roidal Lelia is a tapestry of a design. It picks no particular colour as its chief offering and instead includes, in equal measure, all the colours of the rainbow and as many again. This impressive display of different hues makes it far more interesting to the eye than any other sun dress, swimsuit or bikini that favours one colour too much. Lelia is different and unique at every turn, each and every inch having something special about it. It’s already received more praise and attention than any other sun dress by any designer this season and we wouldn’t be surprised to find this beautiful garment to be the best seller of 2013.

The new Verde Veronica Sun Dress is perhaps the cleverest use of an animal print we’ve ever seen. That’s really saying something too. Almost every designer in the swimwear world uses animal prints at some point. And it’s such a popular choice, it inevitably gets more time and more effort put into than any other pattern. So what puts this sundress so far ahead in the greatest race in fashion? It’s subtlety, of course. Like any good fashion garment, this sundress embodies the clever and not so noticeable use its chosen patterns and colours. The dress isn’t packed with an endless amount of detail. There are large areas that aren’t too populated at all. This keeps the design looking fresh because it’s too dominant, it’ll start to get overbearing very quickly. The sparseness of some parts of this sundress give you perspective and let you appreciate what’s left behind. Lots of designers do this. But few can make a design to subtle as to hide the second animal in there. At first glance, you think you’ve seen just snakeskin. But look closer, or indeed take a step back and you’ll see a lot more. The designers at Verde Veronica have embedded a leopard print inside the snake. This gives the design a splash of colour and something more rounded to break up the angular reptilian foundation. This is a very clever way to turn your sun dress into something truly special. If it had been just snakeskin, it may have been to ordinary. But the presence of something a bit different really brings the dress to life. A wonderful piece of fashion from one of our favourite designers.

This is Gottex Electric. It is among the most lovely and interesting new tribal swimsuits of the season. In fact, it is one of the best we’ve ever had the pleasure of hosting in our range, full stop. Gottex Electric is certainly that, a design with dynamism and lots of energy. But we suspect the name is as much to do with the spirit of the swimsuit as its fashion credentials. What Makes Gottex Electric So Electrifying? This pattern has a powerful look about, and the colour scheme is a striking one. The patterns, colours, and markings are like something from a shamanistic tribe. They’re powerful and very elemental. The name says it all, really. An awe inspiring and mysterious force that you’re drawn in by and you can’t look away from. That’s what good fashion is, after all. Gottex’s latest swimsuit is powerful, mystical and impactful. It is like a thunderstorm or a monsoon. That tribal influence can be seen in these primal elements. The whole design looks like a very authentic Navajo garb. We adore when a designer can capture something like this easily and elegantly. We shouldn’t say that it is easy for Gottex, of course. These kinds of designs are often carefully considered and take a long time to get just right. But the effort has paid off. This is one of the most stunning new ranges from Gottex this season.

Roidal’s first beach bag is finally here. The brilliant brand Roidal has only ever produced swimwear. It knows the rules of design, that specialising in one thing makes you grow best and spreading yourself too thin can cause you headaches. Roidal design incredible swimwear. And they always make so much of it, with huge ranges and seasonal releases. So the next step for them is, naturally, something not too unfamiliar but something they can work their magic on for the first time. Beach bags were a perfect choice. Albana is one of two new Roidal beach bags and the first we put on our site. It’s a marvellous release with a superb design to adorn it. The design was so loved by the Roidal team, they reworked it into two other garments. The blend of two ancient patterns in Roidal’s first beach bag was is a stroke of genius. The obvious one is the snakeskin. This is something fashion has loved to use for many, many years. It is from Mother Nature herself, so it is something that’s looked beautiful and mysterious for thousands of years. Nature is the very best designer of things that are timeless. It’s been refining and redesigning its portfolio for millions of years, after all. And as you might imagine, it has come up with some incredible gems and masterpieces. The other ancient aspect of this beach bag is the blue pattern around the top. The name of their other releases with that motif is Samoa and Inca. The swirling flora and tropical shades give this wonderful beach bag the archaic and tribal spirit the names suggest. It’s got a history and tradition longer and more bountiful than anything Roidal has ever done before and it’s one heck of an opener for a first-time beach bag line.