Featured Designer - Aguaclara 2008

Home to some of the most spectacular and varied scenery in the world, Peru is also now famous for Aguaclara Swimwear. Aguaclara, which means Clear Water in Spanish, was formed by a brother and sister team, Jorge and Liliana Villalobos, in 1998. Liliana is the head designer while Jorge is the Director of Manufacturing. Growing up in Peru, Liliana was influenced by the riches of the Amazon, the Andes and the ocean. Her love of Peru is reflected on her choices in animal fur styles, accessories made of natural tree stems and shells, and the so very sensual and provocative spider web-like knitting. Aguaclara was introduced in the United States in 2003 and has been a huge hit ever since. The 2008 Collection is inspired by everything that glows. All the sensual styles, from the crystals, paillettes and beads, are representative of nature. Different textures, such as soft leather microfiber, satin and Lycra-tulle, feel like a second skin to the touch. They have also continued with the provocative yet elegant one piece suits that were so popular last year and issued in several magazines, including the cover of Ocean Drive and Apparel Magazine.

Featured Designer - Aqualara 2007

Known to some as Aqualara, this new high-end brand from Canada has made quite the splash in the swimwear industry. The creative director, Reyhan Sofraci has received the attention of various fashion gurus and beach lovers across the globe with her haute-couture designs. Featured on Fashion Television and the cover of Elle, this line has become recognized for its attention to detail and signature cut-out one-pieces inspired by lingerie and evening-wear design. The Aqua Di Lara swimwear line incorporates the finest fabrics from Europe, the latest manufacturing techniques, and exclusive styling in an effort to accentuate the confidence and beauty of women around the world. By focusing on creating styles that are original yet tasteful, stylish yet comfortable, and sophisticated yet sexy, Aqua di Lara suits have the ability to make a woman feel admired, fashionable, and confident.

Hi-tech bikini has built-in exposure warning

As the bikini turns 60, it's entering the electronic age with a new model featuring a built-in alarm to warn wearers to get out of the sun - and ease concerns that the scanty swimsuits damage the health.

The American Cancer Society advises that the best way to lower the risk of skin cancer, the most common form of the disease in humans, is to avoid too much exposure to the sun and other sources of ultraviolet light.

So Canadian company Solestrom has come up with a new bikini that goes on sale next month with a UV meter built into its belt and an alarm that beeps to tell wearers when to head to the shade.

"There's so much concern about sun exposure and skin cancer that we saw the demand and designed something to be safe for the wearer," Solestrom spokeswoman Emily Garassa said.

Garassa said the meter on the $US190 bikini displays a level of UV intensity on a scale from 0 to 20. A person's sensitivity to UV depends mainly on skin type, but generally three to five would be considered moderate strength, 8-10 very high and anything above 11 extreme.

Garassa said the company was already seeing high demand from Australia and South Africa, which have the world's highest skin cancer rates. The United States has about 1 million new skin cancer cases each year.

Despite increasing awareness of the sun's dangers, sales remain strong for the bikini, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this month.

A new survey by U.S.-based market research company NPD Group found the number of the suits sold in the United States rose 18.8 percent to 33.6 million in the year ended in April 2006, with sales worth a total of $US811 million.

The two-piece suit was officially named the bikini in July 1946 by French automotive engineer Louis Reard who persuaded nude dancer Micheline Bernardini to appear in his design at a Paris beauty contest.

Reard named the design after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, where the United States tested an atomic bomb, because he thought the excitement over it would be like an explosion.

Reuters