Saturday evening screamed sexy and sporty all in one.
In the midst of the night’s summer breeze, fashionistas, designers and bloggers were hopping from one swim show to the next and to countless celebrations of swimwear lines.
Meanwhile, the SLS Hotel on South Beach was ready for the show where Maxim would debut their first swimwear line.
When many think “Maxim,” they reference a men’s lifestyle magazine. However, Kate Lanphear, editor-in-chief, plans to tweak that image with projects that include designing swimwear for the girl next door who wants to look sexy and stay comfortable while she surfs away with her guy.
“We got to do what we wanted which was showing my dream; to show women who have a lot of energy, [are] fun, look really healthy and happy, and we just tried to create a swimwear line that’s for them, [and] really that paid homage to them,” said Lanphear, who took over as editor-in-chief of the magazine in 2014. “Maxim is a whole brand, and from the moment I started, there were extensions in the brand that we want to explore, and this was the first of many that seemed really symbiotic with the ideas that we had about how we wanted to change a brand. It just seemed right.”
The collection of pieces featured diverse shades of blue, but mostly navy. White, brown and light touches of warmer red and coral were also used with the patterns. Maxim’s collection was inspired by a timeless, sexy woman, more specifically Brigitte Bardot. The pieces of the show transitioned from Bardot style inspo, to boho [bohemian], and it ended with the “girl next door” style, which explains the minimalistic detailing seen on the pieces that also incorporated gingham, striped and floral prints.
Lanphear’s main focus in the design of Maxim’s first swimwear line was functionality.
“We sourced fabrics, and all of them you can go swimming in, all of them will hold their shape,” Lanphear added. “I got geeked out on how they would function. It’s a perennial, and I try to envision what that lifestyle is like and where you’re gonna be wearing them. It’s generally by the sea.”
Jon Lewis, owner and founder of Onis Design Group, worked together with Lanphear in designing the collection. Onis designs it, manufactures it, sell it to retailers and partnered with Maxim and its development.
“We loved the idea of Maxim, because even though there’s a great brand DNA, what they want to do with their lifestyle, their image, and then Kate Lanphear is beautiful with what she wants and where she wants to go with the brand, there is no apparel DNA,” Lewis said. “It gives our designers a lot of freedom to design something, so it almost helps us that Maxim doesn’t have an apparel process. They just have a great brand image.”
