The Couture Swimwear of Tara Matthews
By Priya Bhayana

Half-Indian, half-British swimwear designer Tara Matthews has taken the fashion world by storm. In just one season, her beautiful bikinis in pomegranate red, peacock blue and emerald green sequenced with eclectic Indian embroidery, have given new meaning to the phrase, “luxury and couture swimwear.” A favorite of superstar singer Beyonce, who has bought several pieces in multiple colors, Matthews has been featured everywhere from Vogue to Sports Illustrated, and is sold in the most exclusive department stores across Europe and the USA. EGO columnist Priya Bhayana met the vivacious designer on a sunny afternoon in Rockefeller Center, New York to discuss her innovative approach to swimwear, and how a woman can really feel sexy in those tiny, tiny Brazilian bikinis.

Your father is British, and your mother is Indian, how do you think this affected your aesthetics?
Well, I like to think I’ve mixed a little bit of East and West. No one else has taken a Brazilian concept and mixed it with an Indian concept. My family has always been very international and we don’t think twice about mixing things or ideas together. The English influence on me is more practical, and Indian is the more fun side.

What gave you the idea of mixing these two concepts?
I went to Brazil a few years ago, and noticed that even though not everyone in Brazil is supermodel Giselle, the women still wear these tiny bikinis with such great confidence. And I thought, why not try and bring that confidence to other people? But then I wanted to bring a different idea to it. Not everyone knows that India has luxurious stuff, most people think of India and they think of cheap sandals and scarves, but India has incredible handwork that I wanted to bring to the bikinis.

	Tara Matthews Website

Your website states that you have an “exclusive line of luxury and couture swimwear”. What about your line do you think is luxurious?
First of all, it’s made in Brazil, and the best swimwear is from Brazil, but the cut is slightly modified, because, as I said, not everyone is Giselle. They have to be made a bit more wearable. I’ve taken Indian hand embroidery, which is probably the best in the world, I’ve done something which hasn’t been done before, which is take a Brazilian swimwear item and mix it with an Indian hand-embroidered and beaded cloth. That concept is something completely new and luxurious. Also, if a shop or a client wants to customize the embroidery or color of a bikini, they can do so, so it’s very much couture.

How do you prevent this hand-embroidered, intricate work from being ruined?
I think, it’s just a matter of quality. As I said, so many people are not used to India producing good quality. Even now, though I use some of the best people, I watch every order. If the labels aren’t done probably, I have to unpick them. It’s quite tedious, but it’s a matter of just checking everything yourself directly.

So, these bikinis can be worn in the water, but can they be worn by anybody, with any body type?
I’ll be honest, when I went to Brazil, I had a hard time finding a bikini, because I’m not like skinny, but that’s just the Brazilian way. I think at first woman are daunted by the “oh my god the butt is small” but actually once you start wearing them, and try to go back to wearing a normal European or American bathing suit, you realize that it’s actually too big, and it actually looks better to wear something a bit more stream-lined. I think anybody could wear it, it’s just a matter of having a different frame of mind.

Also, South Asian designs have become so trendy lately, why do you think this is so?
I don’t know, I think I just got lucky this season. I think people are looking for something different, and more ethnic, and more colorful. I think in today’s world, with so many grim things happening in it, people want something that’s colorful and bright. Asia, has been traditionally a place with fuschias, reds and oranges. I think it’s just something that has kind of evolved in the times that we live in at the moment.

If you could dress any South Asian fashion icon, who would it be and why?
I’d love to dress Padma Lakshmi, actually maybe I should send her a bikini!. She’s beautiful in photographs, but when you actually see her in person, she’s ten times more beautiful, somehow the camera doesn’t capture her accurately.

What do you think makes a bikini sexy?
I think it’s the person who wears it that it makes it sexy. I think a real misconception is that a lot of people believe, the bigger the fabric, the better, but in fact the less fabric you have the better it is, because your eye is less drawn to that particular area.

What the Brazilians have done really well at is they’ve produced a style that is flattering to most types of woman.

Photographs Courtesy Tara Matthews. Photographs by Stewart Shining Courtesy Sports Illustrated.