Miami Swim Week is the most reputable event in the swimwear industry, year after year swimwear designers, wearers and buyers flock to Miami to get a first look at the newest swimwear collections from well know and upcoming designers. From the runway shows to the exclusive beach side brunches, Miami Swim Week is a bikini lovers dream.
Us as “bikini connoisseurs” are lucky enough to have backstage access and invites to all of the events and shows, which keeps us very busy to say the least! We are always excited and in awe of every designers new collection and the way they choose to present it. Here is an inside look at our favorite runway shows and events of Miami Swim Week 2015!
We want to give very special thanks to the entire team at In House Ideas Miami for such an amazing and successful week!
Day 1: July 14th:
Every year we love to come out to Miami a couple days early to get settled before the madness begins, relax and of course CELEBRATE NATASHA’S BIRTHDAY!!! Now a lot of you probably already know this, but one of our favorite places in the world is Soho Beach House in Miami. On the morning of Tash’s birthday we headed straight for Soho Beach and set up shop for a full day lounging on the sand. Tash opened presents, enjoyed some delicious food and drinks, swam in the ocean and even received a surprise bouquet of gorgeous flowers!! As the afternoon went on we watched a thunder and lighting rain storm pass in the distance. Miami is famous for its insane weather and it was really cool to watch while sitting comfortably on the shore. After a full day on the sand we headed back to our room at The Edition Hotel where another surprise was waiting for Tash! More flowers (3 huge beautiful bouquets to be exact), balloons, a bottle of Rosé, and of course a birthday cake, we shared the surprise on our snapchat for all of our followers to see (username: TashAndDev)! For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Miami, Prime 112 for a delicious steak dinner and one of our guiltiest pleasures, fried Oreos!!
All wearing Monday Swimwear! (Devin Brugman wearing the Blue Tulum / Natasha Oakley wearing Orange Clovelly Top and Palma bottom / Whitney Kaye wearing the Black Cala Conta Top & Le Marais Bottom.)
Storm watching from Soho Beach!
Special delivery! Happy birthday Tash!
DAY 2: July 15th:
After the previous night’s birthday feast at Prime 112 we decided to get our butts into gear and head to an in-studio Flywheel spin class! Whenever we get the opportunity to attend a class we love doing it! Adding it into our workout routine every once in a while keeps us on our toes and reminds us the importance of occasionally switching it up.
Now Swim Week hadn’t officially started yet so we used this day to prepare for what we knew was coming, a week of insanity (meant in the best way possible)! After our Flywheel class we headed to Bal Harbour Shops to do a little shopping and meet our friends Natalie and Celene, the two sisters behind the well know Gee Beauty brand, for some always delightful facials and spa treatments! Makeup, eyebrow tinting and oxygen facials were on the agenda. Ever since we met Natalie and Celene a few years ago we have not only admired their amazing beauty products but also their drive and entrepreneurial spirit as two young business women like ourselves, they have built an amazing brand from the ground up which we find so inspiring! 
For dinner we attended the pre opening of Byblos, which immediately became one of our new favorite restaurants in Miami! What’s on the menu at Byblos?Mediterranean! YUM. Our mouths water just thinking about the delicious saffron rice and creamy halibut we ate along with other amazing dishes and wine! We were even lucky enough to go into the kitchen and meet the chef behind the beautiful food!
After dinner we went straight back to The Edition Hotel for a night of fun in the basement. Now if you don’t know this already, The Edition Hotel is the new hot spot in Miami! The hotel is brand new and beautiful. It’s interior is the perfect fit for Miami with it’s gorgeous white marble lobby which is filled with palms and plush white lounges. Apart from the gorgeous all white rooms, luxurious turquoise pools and picturesque restaurants The Edition has a bowling alley and an ice skating rink in the basement…Yes, we said ice skating…in Miami!
Day 3: July 16th:
As we launched our new Monday Swimwear Summer 15 Collection on Monday 13th of July, we spent the entire morning working on our laptops and sipping on coffee at The Edition breakfast lounge. Launching the collection the day before leaving to Miami and dealing with thousands of orders from across the country meant every spare second of our day, in between events, had to be spent on our phones or computers dealing with everything from customer service and shipping to social media and marketing for our brand!! Craziness!!
In the afternoon we took a break for our laptops because we got a very special delivery to the hotel….. A BLACK CONVERTIBLE BENTLEY!!! We obviously couldn’t resist taking the Bentley for a quick spin around Miami!!! Whenever we come to Miami we are royally taken care of by our family at Louavie, who are a luxury car rental company based in Miami. They were gracious enough to lend us a blacked out Range Rover for the first couple days and then a black convertible Bentley for the rest to make sure we we’re traveling to all the shows and events in style all week long.
In the afternoon we were invited by our friends at The Caudalie store to view their new range and try some of their fabulous beauty treatments, when you are on planes and traveling as much as we are facials and skin treatments are very important, especially before a long week of hair and make up for events, so our little visit couldn’t have been more perfectly timed!
Day 4: July 17th:
Miami Swim Week officially began! We kicked off our day by attending the Vogue Brasil Breakfast with Caudalie & ViX Paula Hermanny at Edition’s Matador Bar/ Terrace! Here we enjoyed a delicious breakfast along side fellow bloggers such as Shea Marie and Caroline Vreeland while listening to representatives from each company speak about different topics such as fashion, lifestyle and social media! Something that was said by the ViX team really resonated with us, and that’s that, “luxury is very personal” and we couldn’t agree more. It is definitely true that luxury means something different to everyone.
Both wearing Alice McCall.
(Natasha Oakley wearing Alice McCall, Whitney Kaye wearing Bec and Bridge, Devin Brugman wearing Alice McCall)
(Natasha Oakley, Caroline Vreeland, Shea Marie, Devin Brugman)
After brunch we ran up to the room for a quick outfit change before we headed over to our next event at the Thompson hotel where we met our friends from Sofia By Vix for a beach picnic! This was by far one of the cutest picnic set ups we have ever seen, it was truly picturesque! We sipped on refreshments, snapped some pics and chatted with the girls with our toes in the sand! Also Sofia By Vix’s new collection is as girly and gorgeous as ever!
(Natasha Oakley wearing Bec and Bridge / Devin Brugman wearing Solid & Stripe pants and Maje onesie. )
After the picnic we rushed back to our hotel for yet ANOTHER outfit change for the Glamour Magazine & Bianca Coletti cocktail party! The event was held at Soho Beach House in a room overlooking the ocean! Bianca Coletti was sweet enough to gift us some of her adorable new swimwear displayed at the event. Bikinis, beautiful babes and delicious drinks, all with an ocean view; what more could we ask for!?
(Devin Brugman wearing Zimmerman)
We rushed back to the hotel to put on our next outfits for a dinner we had been really looking forward to, the launch of our Wildfox X A Bikini A Day Coverup Collaboration! The dinner was held at one of our favorite hotels in Miami, The Delano! All dolled up and ready to go we arrived at the dinner to find our coverups beautifully displayed, a blown up photo of us from the campaign we shot and the Wildfox team waiting for us to celebrate together! Magazine editors and celebrities attended the exclusive dinner and preview or our A BIKINI A DAY X WILDFOX cover up collaboration which will be in stores for Resort 2016. Attendees were then invited to watch the WILDFOX presentation at The Delano. The new collection, including our crotchet cover up designs, was worn by adorable models who splashed and posed in the Delano Pool under a starry Miami night sky. Hundreds lined the pools edge to see the swimwear designs which were covered in banana, love heart and lolli graphics as well as Wildfox’s usual cheeky slogans.
We were especially excited for the Wildfox Night Swim party because we got to meet the winners of our Wildfox X A Bikini A Day Miami Swim Week Trip Giveaway! It was so much fun for us to bring along one of our best friends, Whitney, to witness the craziness of Miami Swim Week with us, but we also really wanted an opportunity to share it with our followers. Taylor and her best friend Emily joined us for an amazing couple of days in Miami where they got to experience the full effect of Miami Swim Week craziness!
(Natasha wearing Alice McCall / Devin wearing Elizabeth James dress.)
After dinner we headed out to the pool for the Wildfox Swim Presentation! But first we had to pop in backstage to snag a pic with the models!
With the winners of the Miami Swim Week Giveaway Taylor St. Claire and Emily Wolf.
Watching everyones reactions to the models wearing our coverups for the first time was a really exciting moment for us as we are lucky enough to be the first individuals Wildfox has EVER collaborated with on a collection, such an honor!
The last event we attended that evening was back at Soho Beach House and it was to celebrate the launch of Hot as Hell, a new bikini brand that is quite literally hot as hell! We danced under the fairy lights and stars on the roof top, it was the perfect way to end the first day or Swim Week!
(Natasha Oakley wearing Bardot.)
Day 5: July 18th:
Good morning day two! Another full and exciting day was ahead of us. We began our morning by attending the Self Magazine & Shiseido Brunch downstairs at The Edition’s Sandbox, another gorgeous event in the sand under the shade of the palm trees.
(Natasha wearing Missoni.)
Next we had to rush over to what was one of the most exciting parts of our week, our own event, the Monday Swimwear Launch!!! We appropriately chose to launch our very own Summer 15 Collection of our Swimwear line Monday Swimwear with a morning of beauty, brunch and bikinis at The Edition Hotel. Here we showcased our new Summer 15 collection which features a range of classic and timeless bikinis as well as our LBB “Little Black Bikini” Collection all of which feature our signature buttery soft fabrics and seamless, flattering designs and color ways. Hundreds of guests including Chrissy Ford, the Harpers Baazar team and infamous swimwear model Rocky Barnes stopped by to view the collection.
Shortly after celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid were spotted wearing our collection, we were so excited to know the girls loved our designs!
(Devin Brugman in Intermix.)
The Monday Swimwear Summer 2015 Collection! 
(Kendall Jenner wearing Monday Swimwear’s Orange Palma suit.)
(Bella Hadid wearing Monday Swimwear’s Ivory Clovelly suit.)
After the Monday Swimwear Launch party we changed outfits and headed over to the Cabana showroom to see some of our favorite designers new collections in person! At Cabana exclusive buyers are invited in to view the newest collections and place their orders. We were lucky enough to get a pass into the showroom and we walked from booth to booth chatting with the sales reps from different brands, visiting some of our existing clients and drooling over the gorgeous new collections!
(Devin Brugman wearing Intermix / Whitney Kaye wearing Alice McCall / Natasha Oakley wearing Manning Cartell)
After walking Cabana we geared up for an exciting night of runway shows!
First up we attended the Tori Praver Swimwear show at the FUNKSHION tent. Sitting front row we had a perfect view of the gorgeous pastel suits coming down the runway. A combination of bikini’s and one pieces we’re shown many which featured delicate and feminine aspects such as floral prints! After the show we went backstage to congratulate Tori on her new collection and snap a pic with the gorgeous designer.
(Natasha Oakley wearing Manning Cartell / Devin Brugman wearing Bec and Bridge / Whitney Kaye wearing Alice McCall)
The next show of the night was the Mara Hoffman show! With a presentation like no other, Mara Hoffman showcased her designs at the wonderfully over the top Versace mansion on Miami’s Ocean Drive. It was truly a sight to see with the models posing in front of the mosaic tiled pool lined with 24-karat gold!
Next up was the Luli Fama Show! We look forward to Luli’s shows the most and each year wonder how she will top the last. Luli Fama are known at Miami Swim Week for their upbeat and extravagant shows, this year the show opened with an exciting dance performance but the surprises didn’t end there, they managed to keep us on the edge of our seats throughout the runway show with catchy music and bright elaborate designs. Luli, being a Miami local perfectly captures the lifestyle and vibe of Miami in her newest collection.
(Natasha Oakley wearing Manning Cartell top, Intermix pants, Christian Louboutin shoes / Devin Brugman wearing Nicolas dress, Steve Madden shoes.)
Day 5: July 19th:
The last, but not least, day of swim week came too quickly! We woke up bright and early to attend a Flybarre Class that was hosted by Dylan Lauren from Dylan’s Candy Bar! The class was a great way to start the day, energizing us for our final day of swim week! The class was followed by a breakfast in the Bungalow at The Edition where we got mini facials by the RX Genesys team and goodies from Dylan’s Candy Bar!
(Devin wearing Alo Yoga.)
In the afternoon we headed back to Soho Beach House to check out the Massimo Bonini Designer Showcase! This showcase was any girls dream as it was a room filled with cute beach bags, shoes of all sorts and a table of delicious treats all perfectly displayed!
After the Massimo Showcase we snuck a couple hours in of relaxation at the beach to regroup before another full night of shows!
The first show of the night was Maaji Swimwear! This was one of our favorite runway shows of the week! Maaji revealed their new activewear range on the runway alongside the 2016 swim collection. Apart from the amazing bikinis and one pieces that came down the runway we were extremely impressed with the styling of the models, from the hair and make up to the fun accessories like small bohemian style suitcases, headphones and binoculars that the models carried.
The next show of the night was one we had been looking forward to all week long, Acacia Swimwear. Hawaiian based designers and our long time friends Naomi Newirth and Lyndie Irons never cease to amaze us with their designs. Their collection, which has almost tripled in size this year due to their success was presented on a simple white runway, true to their classic and minimalistic style. Models glowed in the fuchsia pink, dark emerald green and aloha floral print designs. Naomi and Lyndie chose a slicked back wet hair and dewy make up look for the models.
(Natasha Oakley wearing Zimmerman, Natalie Roser wearing Acacia Swimwear)
(Brielle Birkholm, Lyndie Irons, Natasha Oakley, Naomi Newirth, Devin Brugman)
(Natasha Oakley wearing Zimmerman / Whitney Kaye wearing Acacia / Devin Brugman wearing Acacia and Balenciaga shoes.)
Between the launch of the Summer 15 collection and all of the wonderful events and shows we were invited to in Miami we ended this amazing whirlwind of a week absolutely exhausted but also feeling so lucky to be part of such an amazing industry. What we admire about the swimwear industry the most is that everyone involved is so friendly and inspiring, in fashion or any other industry it would be rare to see another brand which is considered your competitor sitting front row at your show and congratulating you on your new collection. We have noticed first hand how supportive everyone in the industry is of each other which makes Miami Swim Week a really special place to be.
On our last day in Miami we said to each other, “I wonder what we will have accomplished or experienced by this time next year?!” only time will tell and we are so excited to bring you all along on the journey with us!
Tash and Dev xx
Amazing lifestyle with bikini