THE GOTTEX SHOW – GIDEON OBERSON’S LAST COLLECTION

Text, Vivian G. Kelly

Catalogue images, courtesy of Atelier Public Relations

TIME & PLACE
Friday, July 18, 2009, @7p.m. at the Raleigh Pool
Saturday, July 18, 2009, @ 2pm at the Miami Convention Center

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
The SEA CORPORATION [Swim Experts Alliance] is the umbrella Company for many brands including GOTTEX.
We met the new designer, MOLLY GRAD, whose appointment to Design Director at Gottex made news at WWD on June 18th. She has a little breathing room, as GIDEON OBERSON had to produce one more collection before exiting “to pursue other interests”. Gideon is the Karl Lagerfeld of Swimwear and we will miss his gorgeous suits and dramatic cover-ups.


We met MOLLY over drinks the night before the Gottex show at a table by the Raleigh pool in between shows. Also at the table were DONALD J. PLINER, LISA PLINER and LOU IACOVELLI, Co-owner of the NYC based boutique PR firm, ATELIER PR. The Pliners' empire is another longtime Atelier client
Molly’s designs will debut on the New York runways.
STAY TUNED for our pre-show interview coverage with Molly in August.
Gideon willbe a hard act to follow, but we’re looking forward to the new direction Molly will be taking the brand in.


THE NEXT DAY – THE SHOW HIGHLIGHTS @ THE CONVENTION CENTER
Although our focus was directed to the GOTTEX brand, there were some nice prints in the PROFILE by GOTTEX brand. The black grouping was strong if you’re looking for a well constructed one piece. The blurred brown giraffe prints are a good addition to your swim closet if you don’t have any skin prints in your closet.
THE COVER UPS are hard to beat – any suit you choose has a cover-up that looks perfect with it and is part of the reason that a Gottex suit is more of an OUTFIT than just another swimsuit.
THE COST $ : In the low $200’s which is on par with may other top of the line swim companies.

Gideon showed some hot wave prints and a twist front bandeau bikini that was spot-on in mimicking the RTW trend for neon brights Marc Jacobs set ½ a year ago at his acclaimed fall 2009 show.
Solid suits tend to show better but when it comes to prints, Gideon doesn’t miss a step. If you’re more oriented to graphics, have a look at the digital multi-colored graphics print.
BEST IN SHOW: the Reflections 1001 grouping in multi. The open caftan and embroidered one shoulder maillot were great as was the high neck cut out suit in the Paradise 1004 grouping and the Golden City 1022 grouping that had a strong Greek Antiquities feeling to it right in synch with the ongoing trend for Roman Gladiator sandals.
REAL WOMEN/REAL SUITS
While we love the skimpy tangas and bikinis we usually see, there’s the comfort factor to consider. At Gottex, there’s always full seat coverage that manages not to look dowdy. Even the more daring suits with illusion work have coverage in all the right places.