With winter weather targeting the Midwest these past few weeks, the one thing on everyone’s mind is warm, sunny days. Because Spring Break is right around the corner and summer soon after, the entire campus is looking to the spring and summer apparel collections. With these new collections come the trends for the upcoming warmer season, including apparel, footwear and swimsuits.

Larger trends among women’s swimwear this season include fringe, bold colors and color blocking. Color blocking has previously been a growing trend within retailers, especially retailers with high-end price points. One of these retailers is Triangl, who for many years has been retailing high-quality, colorblock swimwear.

Lately, many other main stream retailers, like Target and Victoria’s Secret, have been mimicking the swimwear that Triangl has been creating. This trend has many wondering what the difference in the suits may be, considering the varied price of suits between the brands. 

The largest difference among these swimwear items is the material that they are made out of. The original Triangl swimwear is created from a material called neoprene. This material is a family of synthetic rubber that is traditionally used for wetsuits and other water-related activities. Neoprene is a fabric that is useful because of its flexibility in a variety of temperatures and is also beneficial to be used for insulation. Basically, neoprene is a higher-end, more luxurious material than what other swim items may be made from.

The knock-off styles that are found at Target and Victoria’s Secret contain almost the same bill of materials, which include a blend of nylon and spandex, materials typical for a swimsuit.

Another difference between the brands is how they sell the items. All Triangl swimwear is sold in sets of tops and bottoms for a higher pricetag, while at Target and Victoria’s Secret, the tops and bottoms are sold separately at lower price points. Consumers are still allowed to choose their sizes in tops and bottoms to allow for the best fit, but they are not allowed to mix and match between suits like they would at Target or Victoria’s Secret. 

The final difference of separating these swim items is the locations in which they are sold. Target and Victoria’s Secret both have brick-and-mortar stores that customers may shop through, as well as online shopping sites. Triangl bikinis are only sold on the online website. This is both a benefit in the exclusivity that they achieve, as well as a drawback because the consumer must assume they will fit correctly and that the color will look good on them without being able to try on the item.

The main deciding factor in the knock-off bikini versus the original is the consumer’s wants, needs and budget. The consumer can decide to take a risk and order a swimsuit that they’ve never seen in person or tried on with a company they’ve never seen elsewhere — many are successful in this venture. Otherwise, a consumer may choose to go the safe route with a bikini that they have seen in person, possibly tried on and with a company that they know well. It all depends on the consumer and what they will be happiest sporting on the beach when summer arrives.