T he Australian Fashion Week 2010 (RAFW 2010/2011) took place last week, celebrating its 15th anniversary and showcasing what top designers in Australia have in store for the Spring/Summer seasons. On Friday, the Swim Fashion Week @ RAFW brought together established designer swimwear labels to show the world the hottest looks from Australian (and others) designers - and here is our review!

By far, the most elegant looks came from designer Roopa Pemmaraju, particularly on cover-ups. Blackbox Apparel displayed a lot of creativity while playing with structured fabrics and color-blocking. Lisa Maree dipped almost completely in the 70's pool of fashion for inspiration, while Karen Neilsen went with vintage fashion, pin-up style for most of her collection. A foreigner in the down-under designer swimwear landscape, the Colombian Agua Bendita did not surprise, bringing out the usual mixture of vibrant colors, floral-style patterns and ruffle detailing characteristics of the brand.


Touch of glamour: Roopa's and Blackbox Apparel's one-pieces are chic and contemporary.
On the other hand, Rebecca Manning's two-piece spells sophistication with a retro-inspired feel.


Cool geometry: the clean cuts and geometric lines of Blackbox Apparel's and Rebecca Manning's
two-pieces cater to women with a more avant-garde fashion sense.


Framed life: life imitates art in Lisa Blue's Renaissance paintings and mosaic art swimsuits and in
Karen Neilsen's framed art two-piece.


Girly Ambition: flowers in vibrant colors or ruffles amp up the femininity levels in Karen Neilsen's,
Agua Bendita and Lisa Marie's swimwear collections.