ThirdLove, the San Francisco-based women’s lifestyle brand known for its inclusive sizing, is entering the swimwear category with its first collection.
The new line features three styles — the Underwired Demi Swim Top, Classic Bikini Swim Bottom and High Rise Swim Bottom. The solution-oriented options are designed to combat common swimwear pain points such as poor fit (especially for tops), lack of support, inconsistent sizing, too much stretch, poor fabric quality, and no nipple coverage or adjustability.
Discussing what prompted ThirdLove to get into swimwear, Ra’el Cohen, cofounder and chief creative officer, told WWD: “It’s been something that we’ve thought about from the beginning. We have really been known as the most comfortable wired bra brand that’s out there. So even from the early days, our consumer was asking us for swim. For us, everything we really put out there in the world we want to make sure it really delivers on our fit and quality and comfort that the consumer has come to know us for. We’ve done a lot of testing and a lot of designing.”
The ThirdLove lineup of swimwear.
Courtesy of ThirdLove
She and her design team have been working on this for almost five years. “We’ve gone back and forth. We’ve tried a bunch of things. We’ve fit it on over 20 fit models to ensure that it actually fits. We’ve done that with our bras, but with swim, it’s a completely different thing,” said Cohen.
What makes it different than designing bras and underwear?
“It’s challenging,” she said. “You have to deliver not only on the fit and structure that we’re known for – the biggest request we get from our consumer, is they’ll say, ‘I’m going to wear my red T-shirt bra to the pool. It fits so well.’ For us, when ThirdLove decided to do swim, we said, ‘We have to do our bestselling 24/7 bestselling T-shirt bra, and it needs to fit exactly and look exactly the same, and deliver on all the things she loves about that bra. That’s what made it incredibly difficult. We’re not just designing a triangle swim top. We’re designing an underwire, foam bra swim top that delivers the same level of fit and support as your most favorite comfortable bra, and because of that, there’s over 30 components in the swim top that have to all come together to make the most comfortable swim top that will really support our entire size range,” she said.
The swimwear fabric is a 20 denier nylon/spandex. The challenge was finding the right foam. “The foam is really our secret. In our traditional bras it’s our memory foam. Obviously the foam needed to be adapted but still have a lot of those similar properties and still withstand the wear and tear of traditional swimwear,” she said.
According to Cohen, when you look at the swimwear market, in general, there’s so much fashion out there, and so many brands, so much color and print, and so many different options. “Where we see the white space is there’s a huge delta between your traditional triangle bikini and then your very full coverage one-piece sculpting one-piece. The modern woman wants a beautiful swimsuit but needs that full support and reliable fit,” she said.
For the launch, they’re keeping it very tight, with no one-pieces in the collection. It’s a bra top, in 43 sizes, with adjustable straps and adjustable hook and eye in the back, two different bottoms, a high rise brief and a mid-rise bikini.
“At ThirdLove, we start slowly and really thoughtfully to say, ‘What can we put in the market to get the best read, what are we known for?’ We believe our potential in swim is limitless, and I believe one day, we’ll have a one-piece and different tops, but we’re starting really tight with the things that our consumer has specially asked for and are looking for from us,” said Cohen.
By being an e-commerce resource, they’ve done focus groups and have thousands of customer reviews. “A bra swim top is one of our top searched items,” said Cohen. “Variety in the future will be important, but for our launch, we’re excited to test the waters,” she said.
The Underwired Demi Swim Top, retailing for $88, is inspired by their popular 24/7 Classic T-shirt Bra, which has sold more than five million units to date. The top features built-in foam cups for shaping and added nipple coverage, flexible underwire for a poke-free experience, anti-chafe adjustable back closure, breathable UPF 50+ fabric, and adjustable straps that can convert to an x-back for slip-proof reinforcement. The top is available in 43 sizes, including ThirdLove’s signature half-cups, for A-H Cups and 32-42 bands.
The Bikini Bottoms are available in two options: Classic and High Rise, retailing for $50 and $54, respectively. They are fully lined to provide reliable coverage, are constructed from smooth and breathable UPF 50+ fabric, and have a shape-enhancing, no-dig waistband. The Classic Swim Bottom is available in sizes XS-1X, with the High Rise Swim Bottom offered in sizes XS-3X.
There’s also a two-piece bundle for $125.
The swimwear comes in black only. “We think one really great black swimsuit to start with will be the perfect foray into swim,” she said.
In addition to thirdlove.com, the swimwear will be carried in four of ThirdLove’s freestanding stores in Boca Raton, Fla.; Newport Beach, Calif.; Chicago, and Scottsdale, Ariz. Overall, ThirdLove has eight stores. The company is manufacturing the swimwear in China.
Asked how frequently ThirdLove will be coming out with new products, she said the company has new products [in various categories] coming out every month. “We definitely have a ‘read and react’ mentality to be able to see what the feedback is and make tweaks to anything we do launch to make it better as time goes on,” she said. For swim, they want to understand all the feedback from the consumers and plan to add new items in the second and third quarter next year.
Eventually, ThirdLove will consider color and print once they get feedback from the consumers.
Cohen said one of her favorite attributes of the fabric is that it has a slight compression effect. It has a self-waistband and there’s not an elastic inside that digs in. “You don’t get that bump at your waist or at the back,” she said. She said there’s a very light compression. “It’s not super strong, but it definitely has a smoothing effect,” she said.
Swimwear from ThirdLove.
courtesy image.
ThirdLove was born online as a bra brand in 2013, operating purely by way of e-commerce. Today, the company is the third largest online lingerie company in the U.S. Its wide array of bra sizes and emphasis on comfort quickly made it a fan favorite among consumers. In addition to its bras, underwear, and swim, ThirdLove makes loungewear, sleepwear, activewear and a bra-sized sports bra.
Last March, Hanky Panky, the premium underwear and lingerie brand, entered the swimwear category with its first collection. Victoria’s Secret has also teamed up with Frankie’s Bikinis for a swimwear line called Frankies Bikinis for Victoria’s Secret. It is available on victoriassecret.com and select Victoria’s Secret stores. Victoria’s Secret also carries swimwear from a variety of vendors.