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If you’ve braved the heat to walk the streets of London recently, you might have noticed an interesting phenomenon: people with no apparent plans to head to a pool, beach, lido, or sun lounger wearing swimwear.
It turns out this is more than a heatwave last resort. This summer, everyday swimwear is a bona fide fashion flex.
The nifty styling trick of wearing a swimsuit in place of a bodysuit or top has been around for a while now. There were plenty of beyond-the-beach examples on the spring/summer 2025 catwalks, from Miu Miu’s memorable cutout styles (which have now filtered down to Skims) to plunging swimsuits in 1970s tones styled with low-rise jorts and lightweight trenches at Zimmermann.
Last summer, Leandra Medine Cohen extolled the virtues of wearing a swimsuit in the city via her Substack, The Cereal Aisle, pairing them with drawstring trousers, track-style shorts and sheer tops. The move is also a long-loved favourite of Georgiana Huddart, the woman behind enduringly covetable swimwear brand Hunza G.
“I love a one-piece under trousers, or a bikini top under an oversized shirt. It’s chic and relaxed”
“I love a one-piece under trousers as a body, or a bikini top under an oversized shirt,” she says. “I think it’s chic and relaxed and gives you options. We have recently launched a polka dot collection and most of the products work to swim but also as ready to wear — like the halter polka dot top and the little shorts. We also see people wearing our UPF headscarf as part of a cute look all the time in London.”
Added to the fact that they feel eminently appropriate in a sweltering city is the bonus that a swimsuit often provides the supportive, cinching qualities of shapewear. And even when you aren’t anywhere near a body of water, wearing a cossie off-beach somehow makes the prospect of submerging yourself in a sweaty Tube journey less grim.
WNU Linen shorts, ÂŁ135, Withnothingunderneath.com
Skims Cut-out one-piece, ÂŁ116, Skims.com
Hand Over sequin skirt, ÂŁ119, H-andover.com
Susamusa Sheer dress, ÂŁ175, Susamusa.com
This summer, brands and retailers appear to have taken note; there has been a noticeable uptick in swim-ready separates that blur the boundaries between swimwear and daywear. Note tankinis at Reformation, micro-shorts and long sleeves at Vix Paula Hermanny, swim skirts that double up as boob tubes at Hunza G and, at Cos, an olive green racerback tank that’s made from the same double-layered, supportive fabric as its bikini counterpart.
