The bridal industry is having a swimsuit moment

“I wanted it to be a bridal look that stood out, and the bride should stand out,” said Mihalos Sfaelos, 35, a senior director of talent relations at SiriusXM radio in New York. She married Spiro Sfaelos, a 37-year-old restaurant owner, atop a cliff on Aug. 27 on the Greek island where she grew up. “You can’t just wear a white bathing suit.”

Other brides seem to feel the same way, especially with destination weddings, and designers and stylists are paying close attention. Today’s bridal swimwear are not just fashion-forward white bathing suits — they are beaded and bedazzled, fancy and frilly, lacy and Lycra-fitted, and custom-made.

Mihalos Sfaelos said her bathing suit felt bridal.

“Like a bridal dress, it was a full statement,” said Mihalos Sfaelos, who lives in Clifton, New Jersey. “It was a one-of-a-kind, custom-made item tailored to my body.”

Like a wedding gown, Sabag, who also made Mihalos Sfaelos’ second wedding dress, took measurements and did two fittings.

“As much attention to the wedding dress was paid to this bathing suit,” Mihalos Sfaelos added.

Samantha Brown, a professional stylist in New York, sees bridal swimwear as a trend that’s probably here to stay. “We used to see brides wearing gigantic gowns on the beach, which never made any sense,” she said. “They were heavy, dragging through the sand and out of place for the venue. Now, people are trying to find unique touch points that make their wedding memorable and photographically beautiful.”

Designers such as Marysia, Anemos and Giambattista Valli have sporadically offered swimsuit options in their collections, although they have not developed a fully dedicated bridal line.

Demi Raquel Thomas, a designer based in Marina del Ray, California, debuted her ready-to-wear bridal swimwear company, La Chenille Bridal Bikini, in April 2021 with a pop-up launch event in New York. The company concentrates on bachelorette parties, honeymoons and wedding wear.

“These are one-of-a-kind pieces that make brides look and feel as special as if they were wearing a traditional wedding gown,” said Thomas, who plans to open a showroom in the New York borough of Manhattan next year. Her bridal line is currently only available on her website.

Thomas says she has seen a 25% to 30% increase in sales from 2021 to 2022.

Still, an overall lack of offerings has made finding bridal swimwear challenging. Elizabeth Paladeau, 31, senior manager of special projects for Gucci who lives in Manhattan, said she had trouble finding a special swimsuit for her three-day Amalfi Coast Beach wedding last September. She said she “didn’t find a trove of bridal swimwear options, because they weren’t as trendy as they are now,” she said. (She ended up wearing a Chanel white one-piece with black piping and a matching crystal netted skirt.)

In the past, Thomas explained, brides typically wanted just one or two outfits. “Gen Zs and millennials want five or six, for the ceremony, reception, first dance, cutting of the cake, after-party and beach-themed activities,” she said.

Before plunging into the bridal swimwear market, Thomas spent a year immersed in research. She hired an online marketing company and acquired data and statistics about the fashion and wedding industry, among other things.

“This is a niche category,” she said, “I learned 60% of couples were having or wanted beach or a pool weddings. I realized no one was offering a high-end, luxury look that was also comfortable to wear.”

Thomas started out with about 20 pieces, including swimsuits, cover-ups and jackets, custom-made with beaded and sequined fabric such as organza and toile. Then, they are adorned by handsewn appliques, crystals, taffeta and trim. Depending on style and craftsmanship, tops can cost $600 to $800, bottoms from $550 to $800 and one pieces around $1,300 to $2,000. Full-length cover-ups can start at $1,800 and go as high as $7,000.

“We have a rose coat with 200 organza and toile roses,” she said of a jacket that costs $6,000. “I didn’t want to be a middle-market brand.” She said she is also looking into eventually offering plus-size pieces.

Sabag, who lives in Roslyn, New York, started Karen Sabag Bridal, in 2008, offering handcrafted, atelier dresses. Her designs range in price from $10,000 to $30,000 and beyond. Over the past several years, “more brides were asking for swimsuits,” she said.

In November 2020, she created Rêver (which means dream in French), specializing in custom, hand-embellished swimsuits and lingerie. This summer, she will open her first Rêver flagship store in Brooklyn, offering 18 swimsuit styles and 40 interchangeable items, including cover tops, overlays and lingerie. Like Thomas, Sabag uses imported Chantilly and beaded lace, delicate silks, pearls, stones, embroidery and corsetry.

“I’m a detailed designer,” she said. “These are high-end couture pieces that can be worn in the water, with a cover-up, and look like bridal dresses.” Her swimsuits cost $450 to $1,200 while cover-ups range from $800 to $2,500.

Sabag says she sees more than 200 brides in a year, and about half of them buy swimsuits.

“That’s a huge number,” she said, adding that women who are not planning weddings “are also buying the line, and wearing our tops and cover-ups with jeans and pants. “There’s a demand for this. It’s become a recognized entity to bridal wardrobes.”