When Lauren Simpson asked us to make her WBFF bikini in Rose Gold, we had no idea of the impact this would have. Not just for us at Glam Fit, but also within the competing and bikini industry. Especially since at the time we were only selling at most, 2 gold bikinis a season. At the time we only had one gold fabric which was Gold Shimmer, compared to the 6 variations that we currently have in stock.
Much like a runway trend, Lauren’s iconic Rose Gold Lauren Pro wowed the Instagram world and aspiring competitors and it fast became one of our most loved designs. Just about every second order we were getting was for Rose Gold. Being a soft, luxurious colour, Gold fabrics, as well as Whites are recognised as staple colours for fashion focussed WBFF.
It got to the point where I was telling customers that they would be sharing the stage with at least 10 competitors with the exact same bikini and because they loved the design so much and had their heart set on it, they just had to have it and ordered it anyway. To this date, the Rose Gold Lauren Pro is by far our best-selling bikini.
This year there was a noticable shift from Rose Gold and we noticed that girls are opting for more bold, vibrant colours such as Red and Green, specifically Red Shimmer and Olympia Green Shattered Glass. In fact, only 12 Gold bikinis were made this season, compared with 49 White bikini being made for the season. Some old favourites made a return, such as Olympia Green Shattered Glass and Emerald Green. But the clear favourite was Red with 65 bikinis being ordered.
The pie chart below shows that Red, White, Blue and Pinks were most popular. Gold, once a crowd favourite is clearly lagging behind, accounting for only 3% of fabric colours sold for the season from July 1st to30th September 2017. The least popular colour was Yellow, which is always a tricky one for competitors to pull off.
The increase in red bikinis seemed to stem from the IFBB European Bikini Pro show in Season B 2017. If an influential athlete wears a specific colour and wins their show, then you can basically expect it to become a trend. Just about every competitor in the line up was wearing a Red bikini. This lead to an increase of competitors in Season A ICN and IFBB requesting Red, including Asha Coulthard who wore Red Shimmer to the Arnolds Festival. Lauren Simpson and Rachel Dillon both wowed the bikini diva world with their breathtaking vibrant red-on-red designs for their Worlds Pro Show. Of course, after this we had an influx of WBFF competitors requesting red-on-red for the October Gold Coast show. One of our favourites was the suit we made for Rachael Gleeson, in which she won her Pro Card. We are still getting lots of requests for this look so we expect this trend to remain strong for 2018.
It is fascinating to see colours fast become extremely popular, and then within a season or two, the numbers start to dwindle until it becomes a thing of the past, until another season or two down the track when another influential athlete brings it back into the public eye. With the season ending we are excited to see what will be the ‘next big thing’. We are predicting White and Red to still be popular throughout Season A 2018 with the emergence of some old favourites such as Teal, Purple and Coral.
Colour trends will always come and go. If you are stuck on what fabric to choose for your next masterpiece, you can use Pro shows as an indicator for what the next popular colour will be and use that to influence your decision on your next bikini. Whether you choose to go for something trendy or decide to opt for something unique is entirely up to you. If you are stuck you can always contact us via email or phone, we can help point you in the right direction. You can also purchase fabric samples or come in for a one-on-one fitting. Remember-the best colour to wear is the one that looks best on YOU.