Lhe arrival of summer coincides every year with the difficult choice of perfect bathing suit. Plain or printed, one-piece or bikini, high-waisted or very high-cut. This hot season, beach fashion can boast a new protagonist, with a ten-year history: the one shoulder suit. Minimal and essential or eccentric and original, the swimsuit with a single shoulder strap, it has dominated the catwalks since the late 1990s, when it embodied a new and sophisticated alternative to the bikinis of the time.
Loved by celebrities and designers, in the last quarter of a century the one-shoulder swimsuit has earned a place of honor among the most worn swimwear. Fascinating yesterday as today.
The debut on the catwalk of the one-shoulder swimsuit
After decades spent in high-waisted bikinis, one-piece models with high legs and the first creations inspired by the world of sport, in 1996 Hermes introduces a small big novelty in the world of beachwear. On the catwalk of the Spring Summer 1997 collection, in fact, Naomi Campbell enchants the public thanks to a one shoulder swimsuit in different warm shades, symbol of the maison, enlivened by cuts and cut out. A particular and original one-piece swimsuit, which does not give up elegance and refinement.
Thus opens a new era in the universe beachwear and an apparently simple and obvious design revolutionizes every woman’s wardrobe.
Naomi Campbell walks the Hermès Spring Summer 1997 collection in a multicolor one-shoulder swimsuit (Photo by Daniel SIMON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
From the beach to dinner
If in the late nineties Fendi imagined an asymmetrical high-waisted bikini decorated with colorful geometric prints, over time the one-shoulder swimsuit has been the subject of the most varied variations and interpretations, including very high-cut silhouettes, multicolored patterns, cuts and necklines that left very little to the imagination. The garment reaches its peak of success between 2016 and 2017 when the one-shoulder design contaminates theeveryday wardrobe, enlivening casual or formal outfits. Not only that: the same costumes one shoulder they lend themselves to becoming tops and bodysuits to be worn with soft skirts or tailored trousers. For a sophisticated and never predictable femininity.
The total white one-shoulder swimsuit according to Chanel Spring Summer 2012
Star word
Rosie Huntington Whiteley shows off the one-shoulder swimsuit on Instagram created in collaboration with Hunza G
Yesterday like today, the one-shoulder costume boasts many fans, especially among the celebrities. In recent years it has been sported by Charlize Theron, Eva Longoria, Kourtney Kardashian, in a rainbow of prints, decorations and shades of black. For a dip on the French Riviera Margot Robbie he chose pure white, essential and romantic, Leonie Hanne he preferred it with a logoed pattern and thin shoulder strap. For Summer 2023, the most sought-after model is the one sported by the model and actress Rosie Huntington Whiteley, signed by her in collaboration with Hunza G, with fabric porthole detail seersucker, shaping and enhancing. From her side, Kendall Jenner she prefers fiery red in a bikini version, without sacrificing detail underboob.
Why do you like it so much? Because it adapts to different physiques and tastes, hiding any flaws and enhancing the curves, thanks to a design that makes it always interesting and never banal, both in the bikini and one-piece versions.
The 2023 beach fashion cannot do without the one-shoulder swimsuit.
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