Ferries and hydrofoils in green and gold livery pass through the harbor below while flocks of seagulls circle and share their drowsy, guttural awk-awk callsigns above . If you’re a Sydney-based brand, it makes perfect sense to upcycle the jewel-toned metropolis as your runway backdrop. To that end, Bondi Born founder Dale McCarthy takes us to the Coal Loader, a former fossil fuel terminal that has been converted into a Sustainability hub for seaside suburbs. Here, the brand expertly examines the crossroads of Australian fashion, which represents a fundamental fault line – and a continual node of distress. That is to say: Where does swimwear end and daywear begin?
If you happen to live the dreamy but sadly now overpriced lifestyle of everyday life in the brand’s eponymous suburb, that’s a pressing question. Bondi Born’s answer was to tread water gracefully, floating between Greek drape dresses, halter-style dresses and shirt dresses, sometimes with excess drawstrings: lifesavers could conveniently put You pull into what would otherwise be a sort of soup. Around these, we saw layered bathing suits and the odd one-shoulder bodysuit overlaid with loose, ruched tops and accessorized with pod-like bags of the same organic shape in multiple sizes.
You can see a pink linen henley dress layered over a swimsuit, or a swimsuit worn under a handsome twist-neck blue shirt and a pleated silk dress – all of which are available Swap for an easy post-brunch dip before sunset salsa at Bondi Pavilion. This dialectic translates beyond the beach, too. The brand’s sweatpants, made from premium fabrics, are obviously the perfect Pilates and/or yoga outfit to wear anywhere sleepy, unfortunately, sand and surf sparkle. This Bondi Born series is a very complex and solid answer to the questions posed in the great 51 classic Australian short film called How Far Can You Wear Your Underpants From The Beach ?—This is the foundation of the entire resort wear category.
