MERCEDES BENZ SWIM WEEK 2013


Mercedes Benz Swim Week 2013: Defines Miami Fashion and All It Has To Offer

People from all over the country — and the world — flock to Miami each year for Mercedes Benz Swim Week, a week full of glamour, beauty and fashion amongst the city’s top swimwear designers.  These talented and creative designers head to ocean-clad South Beach to showcase their newest collections in swim fashion and to also make their industry debut.

Models and spectators alike can be found at the numerous art deco hotels around South Beach. The show runs the gamut — from the highest end of swim apparel to more economical choices for those not so enthusiastic about dishing out hundreds of dollars for a swimsuit.  Paparazzi and buyers alike watch in awe as the beautiful models strut across the runway, as one collection after another debuts. Designers such as Solar Swim, 51 Inc., Toxic Sadie and Bikini 2 Go are a few of the incredibly popular collections that have debuted in the Ready Set Swim Show at the beautiful Dream Hotel on Collins Avenue. With so many talented designers to choose from, Anastasia Semmerano has emerged as a huge standout. She started her beautiful Bikini 2 Go collection in November of 2012 with the goal of bringing fresh, new designs and tropical new looks from Costa Rica.

“We launched the 2013 collection in January offering local retailers the opportunity to showcase our line and so far it has been a great success.  I started the idea of creating bikini parties where there is a designated host for the party. Friends and family are invited and we are able to showcase the line and have people buy the bikinis in a very unconventional way, rather than having just a pool party or happy hour at one’s home.  It has worked because I started getting a lot of exposure locally in South Florida.”  

The idea initially was to create an online business, hence the name, Bikini 2 Go.  As she started developing the business, she realized the company needed exposure mainly on the retail side because the company was born in Miami, home of year-round summer.   Anastasia describes her launch in 2013 as a true success and great timing.

Anastasia’s suits are all made in Costa Rica.

“We try to bring out all the vivid and vibrant colors in the palette such as orange, red, bright yellow, turquoise, blue, hot pink, browns and greens such as lime, olive and forest,” she says.  She handpicks all of the fabrics and hand draws each design. Bikini 2 Go differs, Anastasia says, because “the customer has the option to mix and match, not only between sizes, but between designs of the same color pattern family.  So, with this mix-and-match option, bottoms and tops can be interchanged between sizes and designs within the same print family.”

Anastasia’s success is not merely by chance. She did her homework before launching the company. She began with a small focus group of women who shared their needs and desires for bikinis that compliment their respective figures.  This helped her discover that her customers must be able to customize their bikinis because every woman’s shape is so different. The concept, she says, endows her clients with the power to create their own custom bikini.

“Our designs are strategically designed in a way that we can show the customer how to showcase their own individual features and enhance their features and also hide those areas that the customer may not be as comfortable with.”

Her gift of helping women find that perfect bikini has earned her the nickname “Bikini Genie”. She describes her first year in the U.S. Market as an “amazing” and “wonderful opportunity.” The Dream Hotel, she adds, “was a perfect venue to showcase this type of event.  The media exposure was extensive and to be at a point in my career where CBS is in the audience was a very gratifying experience for me.  All in all, Mercedes Benz Swim Week 2013 was a total success for me as a designer and I hope to see everyone again next year, same place and time.”

For more information, check out the online store at www.bikini2go.com. For sneak peaks of upcoming collections, visit www.facebook.com/bikini2go