Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie: This is the latest celebrity-favorite bikini
If your surname is Hadid, Jenner or Lipa, a summer break isn’t so much switching on your out-of-office for one precious week but a seemingly endless stretch of sun and sea. And while the backdrops of their photo “dumps” on Instagram might vary, from the pristine deck of a private yacht to a no-filter-necessary beach shack, what their holiday snaps have in common is their swimwear.
When Kylie Jenner posted a mirror selfie of a polka-dot two-piece — caption: “italian summer yes pleaseeee — the bikini in question was by Frankies Bikinis. (In fact, it was a part of a collaboration between the swimwear brand and Jenner’s own label Khy.)
Frankie Bikinis was also the official uniform at a recent getaway hosted by Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode in Mallorca, where a bevy of bikini-clad influencers celebrated Rhode’s new citrusy lip tint with on-theme swimwear (some wore Frankies’ Kealy bikini set in a delectably Instagrammable shade called “yellow iris”). Dua Lipa, who has been photographed in Italy with fiancé Callum Turner this summer, packed a black number from Frankies (a collaboration with fashion label Réalisation Par, it fastens between the cups with a crocheted pair of cherries). Meanwhile, a Frankies Bikinis set recently worn by Sabrina Carpenter is quite literally an itty-bitty, teenie-weenie, yellow polka dot bikini.
Sabrina Carpenter, who is also a fan of the label, recently wore a little yellow polka dot bikini.
Sabrina Carpenter, who is also a fan of the label, recently wore a little yellow polka dot bikini. Instagram/frankiesbikinis
Frankies Bikinis’ USP is the undeniable skimpy factor, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the launchpad for Francesca Aiello, who co-founded the label with her mother, Mimi, in 2012. The Malibu native resorted to making her own bikinis in high school because she couldn’t find anything on-brand enough. “I wanted to feel cute, confident, and feminine in my swim. The tinier, the better. That mindset still inspires the brand today,” she told CNN.
Aiello’s life outside school revolved around ocean activities, from junior lifeguarding to surfing to water-polo practice, which meant a bikini was always waiting on her passenger seat and became a kind of second skin. Aiello took her uniform seriously from the start. “I was driving downtown almost every day, sourcing fabrics, meeting with sample sewers, pattern makers, and trying to find local factories that could bring my vision to life. It was all trial and kraken3yvbvzmhytnrnuhsy772i6dfobofu652e27f5hx6y5cpj7rgyd error.” Aiello’s range of bikini styles vary, though several come with cups the size of tortilla chips and high-cut bottoms that soar towards the hip bones. “People were judgmental of my skimpy bikinis in the beginning… Until they wanted one for themselves,” she said.
