The Best Swimwear for All Genders
The Best Swimwear for All Genders
Seven nonbinary/genderqueer swim labels for any style, size, and budget.
Hi! I’m feeling so burnt out, lifting each finger individually through sheer willpower to type these words out, so I’ll keep it brief: I’m planning on his being the best summer of our lives, from continued glory and hopefully demonstrable success at the Palestinian solidarity encampments to good weather and even better parties.
To serve that intention, here are seven trans/nonbinary/gender-fucking labels that make swimwear that isn’t completely neutered in its queerness—I got sick of searching for “gender-neutral swimwear” and coming up with only baggy rash guards that look like what I wore at age 10 courtesy of Land’s End or literal reproductions of cheesy 1920s singlets, though both of those types of pieces aren’t inherently bad, and at the end of the day, if they make you feel comfortable, they’ll be just as sexy as any of the below. I just wanted to throw my own swim cap in the ring of nonbinary swimwear listicles, reminding you all that Euro boys have been showing cheeks and Euro everyone have had their tits out on the beach for decades and God hasn’t smitten them as of today—nonbinary does not necessarily mean sexless! There are plenty of options below at most levels of modesty, varying degrees of androgyny, and a range of price points—I hope you find a new label to like…
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Martial
I don’t know if this Parisian brand even cares about being gender-expansive or nonbinary, I think maybe it’s just about facilitating men slutting it up as per Euro norms, but either way, it has created swim sets and separates that I’ve written about previously: “Something about the coy covering up of the chest and torso made the bare skin on either side seem much more erotic than the typical full-frontal you get with a pair of swim trunks. That old adage about covering up being sexier than baring it all, blah blah. The brand’s masc g-string bikini bottoms are also extremely slutty and have MATCHING BATHING CAPS!!! I think the intentionality and retro coyness of “dressing up” for the beach is so hot, and the perpetrator knows it.” Also very JW Anderson preppy-with-a-fucked-up-sexuality vibes, and coming off the back of Challengers, we all know that’s the mood for summer 2024.
Both&
A purveyor of tenderly well-cut transmasc swim basics in lovely shades of green or black, even selling a swim set that includes the cutest (?) swim packer I’ve ever seen… named Emmett, of course. If Girlfriend Collective were Boyfriend Collective.
Waysyders
A nascent genderfluid swim-and-lounge brand that promises a website and ready-to-buy options come June—it focuses on color-savvy singlets in cotton or neoprene that can be tied several ways to suit your style and activity levels, plus carefully-constructed trunks with a unique, arcing hemline, all of which make for GREAT photo ops. See the Waysyders Instagram for proof + DM if you can’t wait ‘till June to get your hands on these bad boys.
Chromat
The OG. Every piece Chromat sells drips with club-kid sensuality and vitality, completely transcending whatever body may be wearing it to deliver an inarguably sexy vibe—lots of cut-outs, gratuitous (but appreciated) straps and strings, and great size and color options.
Untag
Simple swimwear at great prices with smart details—angular, v-shaped backs of bikini tops you can pack with prosthetic breasts, tuck-friendly swim skirts, binders that aren’t just nominally water-friendly but actually designed to get wet, and more, all sub-$120.
Origami Customs
Very American Apparel if it weren’t a straight fetish shop vibes—strappy keyhole tops, disco shorts, high-cut one-pieces in a great range of sizes and colors, tucking and packing-friendly.
Saint Andro
The edgelord boutique of the group (very much a reminder that The Matrix is trans), selling only a few, well-conceived, androgynous swim pieces, including a half-zip polo, ripstop shorts, and swim sleeves that feel very Saiki K Kaidou Goes to the Beach, if you’ll pardon the deep cut, but are probably very smart to wear, especially for those, like myself, with tattooed sleeves we want to protect.
Here’s to the best summer of all our lives (so far)!
<3 HR