Jonathan Simkhai launches swimwear

The Jonathan Simkhai girl loves the high life. But then, so does Simkhai himself. On a trip to Anguilla last year to celebrate his thirtieth birthday, the designer—one of the international party circuit's best-loved outfitters, having dressed Gigi Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, and Kristen Stewart in his lacy architectural numbers—found himself on a beach with a gaggle of his best girlfriends, one of whom declared, "I wish I had your dress as a swimsuit." Voilà—he got the bright idea to translate his dresses' core silhouettes and design details into statement swimwear.

Simkhai launched his label in 2010 after studying fashion design at FIT and Parsons. In a few short seasons—which included a successful stint in 2014 at the CFDA Fashion Incubator, the business-development training program for next-generation New York City designers—he established his company as a label to be reckoned with. Perhaps that's no great surprise given that entrepreneurship seems to be in his blood: The designer's big brother, Joel Simkhai, is the founder of hookup app Grindr.

Combining sharp lines with romantic fabrics, Simkhai's dresses have an essential sportiness, hugging in all the right places and spiraling around the body with the graphic precision of architect Santiago Calatrava's curvilinear structures—one of the designer's go-to inspirations. "When you look at his bridges from far away, they feel so delicate and intricate and almost lacelike; but when you get closer to them, it's like, wow, this thing is so powerful it carries the weight of the world," Simkhai says. "That's how I look at women." So the new venture wasn't such a stretch. "I've always been really passionate about an active lifestyle and making sure my girl is able to move."

COURTESY OF THE DESIGNER

The extensive 50-piece lineup—which comes in a muted palette of black, white, and navy mixed with pops of red, and features halter and tank-style bikini tops and maillots with go-faster cutouts, plus caftans, maxidresses, and wide-leg pants—retails at Saks and on the designer's e-commerce site from $125 for a bikini bottom to $1,295 for an elaborately embroidered cover- up. Corsetry details—something Simkhai explored in his resort collection—ratchet up the heat factor.

Simkhai

Still, making clothes that perform when wet proved a unique challenge. Fabrics had to be completely rethought: "Guipure lace is embroidered onto a fabric that is so fragile it melts in water," Simkhai says. "We had to come up with a much more technical lace that was knit with swim yarns." He partnered with French and Italian mills to create rash guards with engineered lace on bonded jersey. It was just as important to Simkhai that everything function in—and out—of the water: Swimsuit fabrics are low-sheen, so they can double as city-ready bodysuits. Tea-length ruffled skirts can be worn over a lace-up bathing suit and paired with sneakers for a casual vibe, or with heels for evening. "I wanted to create pieces that could go straight from the pool to the restaurant or from the beach to a party," the designer says. "And anywhere a woman wants to go in between."

(ELLE)