Being from the desert pool season is like our Super Bowl. One of the positives of living here is getting to have a much longer pool and sun season than most other people. I don’t make the rules. I just play by them, so you can see why I love seeing what swim season has in store year after year. The amount of emails I get about new swimsuit drops is pretty insane, actually, but I’m fine with it. My closet and exploding drawer of swimsuits, coverups, and the like probably disagree heavily.

So let’s talk about 2026 and what is going to matter come July. This year, the swim market gave us two very clear camps: one that leans more clean, architectural, and a bit austere, and another that is fully committed to personality, print, and the idea that it’s cool if your swimsuit is the loudest thing at the pool.

Where Swim Is Headed in 2026

If last summer was all about the silhouette, think cutouts, high-cuts, and anything engineered to create the most flattering optical illusion possible, then 2026 is pulling the focus entirely toward the surface. What your suit is made of, what’s printed on it, what hardware is attached to it, and just the whole vibe it presents. Color is actually having a big comeback, but not in a loud-for-no-reason way, but in a specific-shade-was-chosen-intentionally kind of way. Swim designers doing it best right now are splitting into two schools, as I said. There’s the quiet, uniform approach with earthy tones, zero fuss, suits that look like they cost a lot even when they didn’t. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum: nostalgic prints, bold colors, tactile details that make a standard bikini look like it has personality. Both are producing good things, but the mistake would be defaulting to one without actually knowing which one is yours.

Texture Town

I’ll always choose the textured version if you put two bikinis in front of me. It’s not a controversial stance. I just like how they look and feel. Crinkle, waffle, ruching, ribbing - anything that makes the fabric look like it has something going on gets my attention every time. What texture does for swimwear specifically is give a simple silhouette somewhere to be. A bandeau in a smooth fabric reads basic, but the same bandeau in a crinkled fabric is elevated and exciting. That’s a big difference without any extra effort. It also photographs extremely well, which isn’t the main reason to buy something, but it’s not nothing either. We know it’s going to be photographed for the ‘gram.

Butter Yellow

If you haven’t committed to yellow yet, this summer is finally the one that will get you there. Not neon yellow, not safety yellow, not a highlighter yellow, or even taxi yellow - this is butter yellow, which is a very specific thing. Muted, warm, and almost cream-adjacent. It’s a shade that looks genuinely good on a wide range of skin tones and absolutely devastating against a tan. The fact that it’s soft enough to feel quiet but warm enough to work when brighter shades sometimes don’t. It’s also a color that photographs effortlessly outdoors, which makes it the ideal poolside or vacation suit color for anyone who will be taking photos this summer, which is everyone.

Surfer Girl

Confession: I have never surfed. Sure, I’m not averse to trying it, but I’m absolutely down to look like someone who has surfed or could at any second. That’s the entire brief for this trend. Sporty cuts, racerback silhouettes, zip-up fronts, rash guard sensibilities - the kind of suit that implies a casual relationship with the ocean even if that relationship is mostly horizontal, heavily SPF’d, and covered in annoying sand. There’s a Y2K thread running through the best of it: bright color blocking, contrast hems, and the vibe of an early 2000s beach movie you watched at a sleepover one time. The zipper detail, specifically, is doing a lot of heavy lifting right now. It’s practical in the least interesting sense, but it’s add edge that a standard clasp or tie just can’t. It’s one of those small things that change exactly how a suit feels to wear.

Minimalist

I know, I know. It seems like minimalism never goes away, and you’d be right. Last year, it was more about 90s cuts, but what’s happening now is a specific version of it that’s worth distinguishing from the ‘just buy a black one-piece’ advice you’ve been getting for 10 years. This is minimalism with intention. The suit is clean, the silhouette is uncomplicated, but something is happening, whether a strip of contrast fabric at the hip, a hardware detail at the shoulder, stitching that shouldn’t be interesting but is. Simple isn’t the same as boring, and the gap between those two things is where the trend lives. It’s also the easiest category to wear and the easiest to get wrong. If there’s no interesting detail, it’s just a basic suit, so find a good detail.

Polka Dots

Polka dots are big right now in fashion, and they are diving right into swimwear, too. What’s changed is how they are being presented and what they are saying. Polka dots of the past were bigger, high-contrast, and very retro diner, but the 2026 version is quieter. We’re talking about muted pairings like chocolate brown and sky blue, butter and tan, and black and white done simply. A triangle top covered in small dots comes across in a way that loud brights don’t. Polka dots are a print that somehow manages to be both playful and low-maintenance, which is a combination worth paying attention to. Every major swimwear brand has a version right now, but the trick is finding on that doesn’t look like it’s trying way too hard.

Get Shorty

The return of the swim shorts is one of the most quietly radical things happening in swim right now, and I’m fully supportive of it. Not board shorts and not a beach coverup compromise, but actual fitted swim shorts - boyshorts, flutter cuts, low-slung styles - worn as a complete look, not as a substitute or apology for a bikini bottom. It’s a more relaxed approach to what a swimsuit can look like, and it works. A bandeau or a simple triangle top has really great proportions. Some of the ones I loved were giving a little 70s vibe, were just chic overall, or reminded me of a swimsuit I used to love that is, coincidentally, a little Y2K vibe. The brands doing this well are treating it as a fashion category, not an afterthought. It makes all the difference.

Shop Extras

Reformation, $198

M.Gemi, $448

Celine, $450

Tropic of C, $250

Mango, $80

The Frankie Shop, $255

Toteme, $290

Tom Ford, $490

The Bottom Line

I know swimsuits aren’t always the most fun to shop for - figuring out what’s flattering, what’s practical, and what’s worth the price. I get it. But there’s also a version where you find one suit that makes you feel annoyingly good and you wear it everywhere for three months without thinking about it twice. That’s the goal here. Pick your camp - minimalist or maximalist, dots or butter yellow, surfer girl or pool lounger - and commit to it. Hedging in swimwear never looks as good as just deciding.

See you at the pool.

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