Barts Move Into Male & Female Swimwear Categories

Known predominantly for their range of winter accessories, Barts are now expanding into swimwear to complement their existing range of summer accessories; straw hats, kaftans, summer scarves, beach bags etc. Kelly Wieck, head of design for swimwear talks us through this expansion.  

Please tell us why you are launching into men’s and women’s swimwear.
I’m an Aussie and would love to spend my life in a bikini. I always had the idea to create swimwear but then in Australia, my Dutch husband won’t move there, so to complete and add to the existing Barts Summer collection, I can finally unleash my creativity here.

What will be your point of difference?
For Europe, a new Australasian influence. It’s fashionable and sporty. Focused closely on fittings. There are various shapes and coverage to make a woman feel confident, comfortable and sexy.

What have been the major inspirations behind the launch collection?
Firstly, it has the Barts uniqueness that we are accustomed to. Barts prints and colour, inspirations from my love of travel, the spirit of the beach and the ocean where I grew up…. that’s freedom.

What materials are you using? Any innovations to talk about?
For Barts we mainly use “common” fabric (80% polyamide, 20% elastane), but we use 190 gr and fully dyed fabric which is better than what the cheaper brands who use 160-170 grams, which is not fully dyed.

The 80% polyamide and 20% elastane also offers UV protection and there are innovative fabrics to use which offer more protection for your skin but a bikini has not too much coverage so we don’t use these fabrics. Because of the growing awareness of the danger of sunburn/ skin cancer in Europe, Barts has vests and t-shirts in the collection to offer more protection for your skin as well as having some nice items to surf in.

What about colour palettes and prints?
Barts has its own unique feeling when it comes to colour and prints/designs which is carried out through to the swimwear. I believe our colours and prints are bright and fun but not screamy, we have natural tones that are pure and stylish.

The colours also reoccur throughout the summer collection so combos and mix & match options can be made.

How will the new product offering complement current Barts categories and retailers?
Barts actually started out with swim shorts and summer bandanas more than 25 years ago, selling them on the beaches of St. Tropez. After that, the focus became winter accessories (beanies) and four years ago Barts re-launched a summer collection, which included (raffia) straw hats, caps, summer scarves, beach bags etc. By adding swimwear to this summer collection, it is now finally complete. Shops can come to us for the whole package; a bikini or bathing suit, summer kaftan, hat and bag. We have it all now.

Tell us more about the style of your men’s and women’s swimwear. Will they be surfable?
Most styles will be surfable as the fitting has been an important issue. I know from experience that it’s not very “charming” when you dive under a wave and have to put your body parts back in place.

So, I’m trying to introduce more protective shirts and shorts/leggings to the range that not only help against the sun’s rays but also are perfect for surfing.

How will you be distributed across Europe for swimwear?
We have several sales agents throughout Europe that will start selling this collection. We were just at PITTI in Florence and will be at several other trade shows throughout Europe. In Italy and Spain, we have a distributor.