Last summer feels like a very long time ago, doesn’t it? Many snowflakes have fallen between now and then, but swimsuit season is coming yet again, and there’s been plenty of time for retailers and shoppers to move on from some of the biggest swim trends of 2020. We sat down to review our trend reports from last year’s swim season and pinpoint the trends that people are embracing and ditching, and we’re revealing the results about what’s still around and what’s officially cooling off.
While several themes, from bikini-top silhouettes to specific rises and fabrics, are notably on the decline, there are several replacements for each on the horizon. Keep scrolling to find out which are the swimwear trends we think are on the decline this year, plus what styles are replacing them.
Neon was notably one of the biggest trends in swimwear a few years ago, so chances are pretty high that you, too, owned a highlighter-hued bikini. But this summer, the fashion crowd is really getting behind a new bright hue—bubblegum pink—and we think it supersedes neons.
I’ll be completely honest. I’m a bit relieved to see plain bandeau tops cooling off. I always found wearing them to be annoying since you constantly have to be pulling them up. Instead, I’ve been stocking my swimwear collection with a lot of underwire bikinis. The fit is always so good, and they give simple swimsuits a bit of a retro feel.
Just like low-rise pants, jeans, and skirts, low-rise swimsuits definitely had their moment in the sun. (We’ve documented plenty of them.) This summer though, swimsuits that sit high on the hips are trending hard, and I’d venture to say that these French-cut bottoms will completely eclipse the former.
Leopard print may be so classic that it’s immune to the trend cycle, but there’s no denying that the massive surge we saw in leopard-print swimwear several summers ago has died down. It’s still chic, no doubt, but the prints that have everyone buzzing instead are retro florals. In bright, saturated colors, these ’60s- and ’70s-inspired prints are easily the biggest swim trend of the summer—and for good reason. They’re so fun to wear and come in a vast range of styles and cuts.
We’ve also noticed how velvet swimsuits seem to have really tapered off and become less relevant in recent seasons. But there will always be a place for swimsuits with unique fabrics in our minds, which is why we’re excited to see that terry cloth swimsuits are bubbling up now. The towel-like fabric is making its way onto loungewear and cover-up pieces, too, but it looks especially fresh on swimwear.
