Look in your swimwear drawer. No, really – look. What did you find? Some years old neon Topshop briefs? That risque one-piece you never quite managed to wear beyond the one-off girls trip to Ibiza? Maybe a bikini that used to be white, but now is so coated in fake tan / sun cream / chlorine that it is actually more of a grey colour. Let’s be honest with ourselves – swimwear, is not our favourite subject. Which doesn’t really make sense, because holidays definitely are.
Here’s the thing: retailers don’t make it easy. I wouldn’t say the general dislike of bikini shopping is totally down to body confidence, but I would say it’s because brands don’t quite seem to get it. Bras, for example, have been under construction for some time; regardless of your shape, now there will be one that fits you, and really make you feel good. Bikinis on the other hand, haven’t quite caught onto the fact that we’re all different shapes. Go to high-end designers, and you’re asking to find teeny outfits at a mammoth cost. Go to the high street, and don’t even expect to be able to buy your top and bottom in different sizes. Go to Victoria’s Secret, and you’ve lost the will to take your kit off before even finding the swimwear, because of the catwalk show playing as you walk in. So, yes. Plenty of swimwear designers are missing a trick. Which is why we get excited about Heidi Klein.
“We founded the brand in 2001, as we saw there was a definite gap in winter-sun shopping, and we wanted to be the first in the UK to fill it,” Heidi Gosman, one half of the brand tells me. “Penny (Klein) and I worked together in marketing and business before becoming good friends. Heidi Klein came to us when we were working together on a project for a client about airport spend and holiday mindset. We thought, hey, brilliant idea – why don’t we do this ourselves?”
Though the brand started as a shop in Notting Hill selling niche swimwear brands, the aim soon changed. “After a few seasons of listening to what customers really wanted from a bikini or one-piece – or, what they didn’t want – we were desperate to design our own range. Buying swimwear is very personal and intimate, as well as an investment for many customers. After listening to women on the shop floor we wanted to make swimwear especially with them in mind. We set out to design effortlessly chic pieces that provide a perfect fit and make the wearer feel gorgeous.”
If you’ve ever tried on a piece from Heidi, you know that she’s on to something, an achievement she puts down to speaking to her customers and knowing their needs inside-out. But the designs are equally as well thought through, a vital requirement to push the envelope in such a niche market.
“My small but fabulous team consists of Sarah, Emily and Anna, and we all work closely on everything with constant feedback going around. I try to divide up responsibilities, but the team all end up working together and sharing ideas on all aspects of design, style and print. It is a work of true collaboration.”
“At the start of a collection the whole team takes time out of the office to visit exhibitions, libraries and travel. They visited the Sonia Delaunay exhibition at the Tate Modern this season to help inspire the print and colour mood. We all then come together to share our concepts and themes and start sketching designs and painting prints.”
“We are always mindful of the trends too, and keep up-to-date with the forecasting reports. We are excited about the 50’s/60’s vintage trend, the swimwear shapes and fabric textures. My style icon is Grace Kelly; I love this era of fashion. We are also embracing the neon trend, and our Fisher Island range was a swift response to the Australian sportswear trend, with a monochrome sporty bandeau bikini, one-piece and rash vest. Next season we are expanding this by working with neoprene fabrics. I find inspiration everywhere.”
Perhaps the greatest joy of Heidi Klein is how much of a one-stop-shop it is for women regardless of age. The fact that she lists Celine and Zara in the same breath as her favourite brands might explain that. It’s interesting, considering that the label could easily have catered solely to the yummy mummies of Notting Hill who unsurprisingly flock to the brand in their droves. Was this variety of audience something they pushed for?
“The Heidi Klein woman can be any age yet is effortlessly chic, confident, well-travelled and constantly looking for fresh and elegant styles,” she explains. “Today, she is more active, independent, and doesn’t want to simply sit still on a beach and pose. She wants to feel confident in her swimwear, no matter the shape of her body or the occasion. She may be jet-skiing, surfing, practicing yoga or just a walking on the beach; whatever she is doing, we want customers to feel confident and look gorgeous. We get all kinds of women wearing our designs, from Gwyneth Paltrow, Sienna Miller and Elle Macpherson, to Pippa Middleton, Olivia Palermo and Cara Delevigne. Having any woman choose our designs is the ultimate compliment.”
Between a pop-up in the Hamptons and even more expansion into kidswear and an expectation to double their revenue in the next five years, Heidi Klein are definitely aiming to get at least one of their pieces into that swimwear drawer you’ve been avoiding. The brand’s promise?
“You’ll wear it season after season.”
We’ll take that.
Images by David Nyanzi with art direction by Naomi Mdudu.