How Many Styles Should Your First Swimwear Collection Have?
Three main decisions guide your first swimwear collection: how many designs to launch, which colours to use, and when your stock should be ready. If you decide on these early, you can handle pricing, sampling, and budgeting smoothly. If not, you might have to change prices more than once and risk missing a season.
Start With the Number of Designs
A well-rounded swimwear collection usually has 8 to 12 designs, mixing tops, bottoms, and one or two one-piece styles.
Make samples of a few more designs than you plan to launch. Pick the best ones after seeing how they fit and look in real life, since a design that looks good on paper might not work on the body. Our sampling page shows why making ten samples often costs less than you think.
You can also offer structured styles. Underwires and moulded and push-up cups are sized to fit your XS to L range, not by bra cup sizes.
Then Choose Colours That Sell Together
Choosing four to six colours works best for a first collection. Good colour choices let buyers mix and match tops and bottoms, which increases sales without needing more styles. Poor choices can leave you with too much unsold stock and tie up your budget.
We hold over 100 stock colours in sustainable recycled nylon, sourced from Italy and the United States, available with no minimum order requirements. You can see the full range on our fabrics and colours page, request a digital colour card, or book an appointment to handle physical swatches in the studio. Imported colours are available but need several weeks of lead time and must be committed to your bulk order in full.
Including a print from the start is a good idea. A print is worth including from the outset. Prints sell well, cost only slightly more than a custom dyed colour, and give a new brand something buyers will not find elsewhere. We are the only swimwear manufacturer in Bali printing digitally on recycled nylon, which produces deep, rich, true-to-life colour and a hand feel polyester cannot match.
Quality Is a Positioning Decision, Not a Cost
High-quality fabric lets you charge a higher price. When your customer receives her order, the quality should match what she paid.
All metal accessories are made from zinc and electroplated, so they keep their finish and do not rust or pit. If you cut corners here, customers will notice right away and are unlikely to return.
Branding Sets You Apart
A strong brand helps your collection sell better and allows for higher prices. Send your logo, label designs, and packaging artwork before sampling starts. This way, you can see the branded parts on your samples and review them with the fit and construction.
Heat-pressed logos, care and size labels, and hygienic liners are included in the unit price. Custom charms, electroplated bikini fasteners, hang tags, and branded packaging are quoted as options. Full detail sits on our accessories page.
Last, Decide When Stock Lands
Swimwear can sell all year or just in certain seasons, depending on your market. Plan for more time than you think, about two months from sampling to finished stock, with production scheduled accordingly.
- European summer: stock landed by February.
- Australian summer: stock landed by November.
- California, Florida and Hawaii: any time of year works.
Reordering styles in stock fabrics takes up to four weeks, so if something sells faster than expected, you can restock during the season.
Our MOQ and timelines page explains each step.
Working Out the Numbers
After you decide on styles and colours, you can quickly work out the costs.
Our budgeting page explains what your first order will cost to make, how it gets delivered, and what your markup could be.
Have questions before you decide? Schedule a callback and we will go over your designs, fabric choices, and timing together.
Or send us a message on WhatsApp if you just need a quick answer.
