See-through swimwear taking global markets by storm 05:20, Wednesday, 4 August 2004
Sydney - Tuesday - August 3: (RWE)/PRWEB - A growing number of women are becoming willing to bare all when it comes to swimwear today. Their interest in the skimpiest, see-through designs has helped one manufacturer find a niche market that appears to be gaining steam. Dangerous Curves Swimwear, a four-year old Internet-based retailer in California has seen sales skyrocket over the last 2 years since the company began selling a line of totally see-through bikinis. With the most miniscule thong bottoms and tops that are often just a whisper of fabric, the suits are some of the most revealing in the industry. Although they do offer a Brazilian line with slightly more coverage for at least a portion of the body, It's interest in the Exotic and Thong collections that are making waves around the world. The company has fast become the retailer of choice for countless models, swimwear photographers and those in the entertainment industry. And even though Dangerous Curves' designs have appeared in numerous national magazines and calendars over the past 3 years, it's the growing consumer market that's making entrepreneurial dreams a reality for company owner Larry Garman. For the first quarter of 2004, Dangerous Curves saw an increase of over 65 per cent in worldwide sales. In the U.S market alone, sales showed a 35% jump from 2003. "There was a noticeable increase in activity from the southern and eastern states. "Texas, Florida & New York were leading the country in sales during the early winter months," said Garman. "Exhibitionism is definitely a growing fashion trend, but it's not just here in the US, it's worldwide. "Our see through bikinis are outselling all of our other suits at about 5 to 1." "Although g-strings & thongs are illegal to wear on many beaches in the US, apparently the law isn't stopping anyone. "Women are constantly emailing us about how they love the attention they get when they wear one of our sheer bikinis to the beach," Garman says. "I think the massive advertising of videos like 'Girls Gone Wild', and the media coverage of Spring Break antics on cable television has helped to bring a mainstream acceptance to public nudity. "Not only does Dangerous Curves ignore the fashion trends in the mainstream swimwear market, it also scrapped the traditional swimsuit season. "On the net, we're dealing with a global market where it's always summer somewhere," Garman points out. "As sales in the U.S. begin to decline in mid September, places like Australia and those South of the equator are just moving into their spring & summer seasons. So there's really no lull or down time for us, we just see a geographical shift in where our products are being shipped from month to month, " Garman declared. Along with a year round consumer market also comes a different approach to manufacturing for this bikini retailer. "With most conventional swimwear companies, once you've seen their spring & summer catalogs, you've seen all their merchandise for the year," Garman notes. "We have to continue introducing new merchandise all year long to keep up with the changing seasons around the world. "We do try to keep manufacturing our hottest selling items, but repeat visitors to our website will notice new styles and fabrics coming and going throughout the year." Garman says that with each new design, they're getting smaller and more transparent. So how small can they go? Dangerous Curves is destined to find out.
