Wherever you're headed, get there in style
Summer is finally here, and if there’s one thing I look forward to all year long, it’s the moment I get to pack my swimsuits. Growing up in Tuscany, the beach was never just a destination, it was a ritual. The right swimsuit mattered as much as the right sunglasses or the right gelato flavor. So today I want to share the European-made swimsuit brands that have earned a permanent spot in my summer wardrobe.
Calzedonia
Let’s start with the brand that has become synonymous with Italian beachwear, the one you’ll find from Apulia to Mykonos, and for very good reason. Calzedonia, made in Italy, covers every mood and every silhouette, from sporty one pieces to printed bikinis to the kind of minimalist cut that just works. The range is vast, the quality is reliable, and the price point makes it the easiest yes of the season.
In 1986, between Milan and Venice, engineer Sandro Veronesi connected a hundred circular knitting machines and built a network of franchises around a simple, disruptive idea: good quality, fashionable basics at prices everyone could afford. What began with hosiery grew into the swimwear and beachwear empire we know today, still headquartered near Verona and now operating thousands of stores across 55 countries.
And if you needed any further convincing, Hailey Bieber fronts their latest campaign, wearing it with exactly the kind of effortless confidence the brand has always stood for.
As an Italian, walking into a Calzedonia store here in the States still gives me that feeling of home. There’s a quiet pride in seeing such a familiar brand have a place so far from where I grew up.
Calzedonia is Italian beach culture bottled and made accessible, which is no small thing.
Reina Olga
If you’ve ever walked along the Amalfi Coast in July, you’ve seen Reina Olga everywhere, on terraces, on boats, draped over sun loungers. Made in Italy, this brand has become shorthand for that effortless Riviera look, and Dua Lipa wearing it has only confirmed what those in the know already suspected.
The story behind it is just as good as the swimsuits themselves. Founder Guia Cleps named the label after her grandmothers, both devoted to leopard print, and moved production from Rio to Milan, where it’s been handcrafted ever since inside the city’s most respected woman-owned swimwear atelier.
Crochet bikinis, bold prints, colors that feel like they were mixed specifically for a Mediterranean summer afternoon.
Reina Olga doesn’t do quiet. It does joyful, and it does it extremely well.
Fortunata
From Spain comes Fortunata, a brand with a softer, more romantic point of view. Think ruffles, delicate ties, pastel tones that look straight off a sun-drenched terrace in Ibiza.
Born in Barcelona, the brand was built on the idea that fashion should feel personal rather than uniform. Every print is designed in-house and varies slightly on each piece, which means no two Fortunata bikinis are ever quite the same. Made entirely by hand, with fabrics sourced and produced in Spain.
Fortunata understands something a lot of swimwear brands miss: feminine doesn’t have to mean fussy.
Every piece feels intentional, like it was made for someone who wants to feel pretty without trying too hard, and a little proud of being one of a kind.
Eres Paris
No list like this is complete without Eres. This French brand is the benchmark, the one every other brand is quietly compared to.
In 1968, designer Irène Leroux took over a family shop and decided to specialize in something nobody else was doing: selling swimwear all year round, not just for one season. An idea that felt radical at the time and now reads as simply correct. The house joined the Chanel group in 1996, which only deepened its commitment to the kind of quiet, uncompromising elegance it was already known for.
The cuts are precise, almost architectural, every seam placed with purpose. Eres is an investment, there’s no getting around that, but a black Eres one piece is the kind of thing you’ll still be wearing in ten years, and it will still look right.
This is the watch equivalent of a Tank: timeless, recognizable to those who know, and entirely unbothered by trends.
Mimì à la Mer
Here is the playful one. Mimì à la Mer, made in Italy, brings color, prints, and a kind of retro charm that instantly transports you somewhere sunnier. Fruit motifs, stripes, vintage-inspired cuts.
The brand was created by Milanese designer Michela Occhetto, who built it around the spirit of the ’60s and ’70s. Working in an industry that moves faster every season, Michela chose to slow down, paying attention to every single detail. Her patterns draw from old films and photographs, with art-inspired concepts shaping the choice of colors and themes. Every collection is kept in limited editions to preserve its exclusivity.
Wearing Mimì à la Mer feels like stepping into an old postcard from the Italian coast, the kind you’d find in a drawer and wish you’d kept more of.
Oséree
And then there’s Oséree, made in Italy, known for one thing above all: that signature lurex fabric, the one that catches the light and turns a swimsuit into something closer to an outfit.
The brand was born out of a friendship. Founders Isabella Cavallin and Jannine Vinci met as university neighbors, both Italian, both raised by the sea, and in 2015, they turned that shared love into a label.
The name itself is a quiet mission statement, taken from the French word “oser”, meaning to dare, and it shows in every shimmering, sequined, sculptural piece they make.
Metallic finishes, sculptural shapes, pieces that work as easily on the beach as they do at sunset drinks. When Tyla and Zara Larsson both wear your brand in the same shot, described by Oséree themselves as “effortless pop glamour with a golden edge,” you know the brand has found its moment.
This is the swimsuit for the woman who wants to go straight from the water to dinner without changing, and look like she planned it that way all along.
In the end, what makes a swimsuit worth packing has little to do with where you'll wear it. It's about the story behind the fabric, the workshop, the country, the small details that come from being made with care. Whether it's Intimissimi, Eres, or a piece from Reina Olga, each of these brands shares the same quality: they reward the people who pay attention. Because the best swimsuits don't just cover you up. They say something about where you've been, and where you're headed next.
