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"  The signs were subtle: a navy-trimmed bustier in sunny coral, tucked into a pleated chiffon skirt at Jason Wu&amp;#039;s resort show; the sliver of skin at the hip of one of Alexander Wang&amp;#039;s severely sporty models, peeking from beneath her olive-colored coat and boxy knee-length shorts; Chris Benz&amp;#039;s white one-piece swimsuit decorated with watercolor daubs of chocolate brown, lemon, and persimmon. Had three of New York&amp;#039;s most fresh-faced talents dipped their toes into...swimwear? &amp;quot;Usually there&amp;#039;s such a far distance between swim designers and designer-designers,&amp;quot; Wu says during a quick break from prepping his spring line. &amp;quot;They&amp;#039;re on a different floor, in a different world, but for resort I wanted to bridge the gap.&amp;quot; So did his compatriots Wang and Benz, who also peppered their cruise-season collections with bikinis and maillots for the first time. But these three guys aren&amp;#039;t gunning for the Speedo market\u2014Wu, Wang, and Benz are bringing the sun, surf, and sand into their own sophisticated vernaculars, exploring the intersection of water-ready and ready-to-wear. Venturing into new, aquatic territory made for a lot of trial and error. &amp;quot;One wrong inch of fabric can make the whole suit frumpy,&amp;quot; says Wu, who relied on his mostly female design team for advice and constant feedback. (Other guiding women: Jane Fonda&amp;#039;s Barbarella, Brigitte Bardot, and Farrah Fawcett.) In the end, though, Wu says, &amp;quot;It still feels very me&amp;quot;\u2014ultrafeminine shapes (bra-cup tops), intricate construction, and unexpected color combinations such as neon yellow and navy, which play perfectly into his surf-flecked resort clothes\u2014inspired by a recent trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the utility-minded Wang &amp;quot;wanted to visit swim as the new layering piece,&amp;quot; he says. He paired his siren-red, gunmetal, and black swimsuits (made out of the same performance sport jersey as Michael Phelps&amp;#039; Olympics suits!) with parkas, skinny trousers, and running shorts, for a sexy, aggressive look.  For Benz, whose departure point for resort was an imagined weekend getaway to Bermuda, diving into swim design was an opportunity to offer his eclectic uptown girl a total &amp;quot;poolside to cocktails to dinner&amp;quot; wardrobe. Or, as the pink-haired designer puts it: &amp;quot;All my colors and prints, now available for a quick dip in the ocean!&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/a11807/suit-up-609708/?click=smart&kw=ist&src=smart&mag=ELM&link=-SMT-ELM>