There are the four key fashion weeks that trot the globe, from New York to Paris, London and Milan—and then there is Miami Swim Week, The Shows. This biannual event has come to define the aesthetic evolution of swimwear, but also its environmental impact. This year featured over 50 events, 100 fashion designers, and over 20 satellite locations, making it the largest swim week with a focus on sustainable swimwear and supporting women.

This season, which ran from May 29 to June 3, Latin American designers were in the spotlight. From Colombian to Brazilian brands, attendees were able to glimpse the forthcoming trends in swimwear, from iridescent hues to crochet cover ups. Here’s some of the swimwear brands to pack for your next tropical summer vacation.

Iridescent Hues

Argentinian brand Flavia Palmiero had golden swimsuits trot down the runway, with a focus on lime green bikinis and animal print cover ups. Founded by Buenos Aires-born actor and writer Flavia Palmiero, who not only designs swimwear but comfy womenswear for everyday use, from jeans to coats. As Palmiero says: “Women today need to look good, comfortable, practical and sexy.” There was also a runway show from Salpica, a sustainable brand designed in Puerto Rico with materials made from recycled ocean plastics, and provides UV protection.

Bright Colors

Brazilian brands made a splash at swim week with Badi Swimwear, a brand that uses colors from the Brazilian flag in their swimwear. This season’s collection is heavy on triangle bikinis, colorful combinations of greens and yellows, sparkly touches and strappy styles. The brand brought energy from the tropics to the runway. Another Brazilian brand who brought bright hues to the runway is GlueGlue, a fashion brand aimed to help protect beachgoers from the hot summer sun. They design beach hats, visors, turbans, cover-ups and shirts that protect from the sun’s rays.

Shimmering Fabrics

Colombian brands brought innovative swim styles to the runway with Amarotto Swimwear, a brand that featured fringe and crochet cover-ups, dresses and feather headpieces in their swimwear showcase, which focused on colorful prints, strapless bikinis, and sheer zebra print dresses. Meanwhile, Miami-based brand Andrea Venturoli featured metallic, ruffle two-pieces with a vintage flair, and even brought silky women’s pant suits onto the runway. DOB featured shimmery fabrics in their latest collection, as well as crochet cover ups and pastel hued bikinis. This summer is all about pink swimsuits, animal prints and crochet.

Unique Cutouts

Mexican brand Liech Antel Swimwear brought a high fashion aesthetic to one-piece swimwear with angular cutouts. They also featured gold accents, transparent tulle, banded corset-like one pieces, and straps that call to mind jewelry. Their flowing cover ups are couture-like in their creations.

Peruvian Prints

Kene Kaya, founded by Alessandra Durand in Peru, is an ethical fashion brand inspired by the indigenous cultural traditions of the Peruvian Amazon, incorporating local materials and embroidery into their designs for both swimwear and resort wear. They work with an all women team of Shipibo-Konibo artisans on creating the embroidery for their garments.

Mediterranean Spirit

Miami swimwear brand Hera Sea brought a European flair to the runway, featuring its founder, model Laura Monroy pairing up a blue swimsuit with a tiara. Their latest collection featured crochet accents, patterned two-pieces, color gradient bikinis and what Monroy calls “igniting the goddess within every woman.”

Supporting Wellness & Programming

The sponsors brought pop-ups around the runway, featuring wellness experiences from the innovative, frizz-free Laifen Tech hair dryers, to Milan Laser hair removal, sustainable aluminum Kopu water and the ROLUS Sparkling Hydration Drink.

For the uninitiated, these are the fashion-friendly Miami’s hotspots that hosted this year’s events, so you can add them to your list to visit next time you visit Miami: Seaspice, Baia Beach Club, STK Steakhouse, Fabel Miami, Casa Matilda, Villa Azur, Nikki Beach Miami and Hutong Miami. They all offered offsite event experiences during Miami Miami Swim Week, The Shows, but continue to have a stylish vibe, year round.

MIAMI (WSVN) – The Miami-Dade County Parks Department is teaching kids water safety by participating in the world’s largest swimming lesson.

The annual event was hosted by the Guinness Book of World Records, Thursday morning.

In recent months, South Florida has seen a number of near drownings and, tragically, a few who lost their lives. It’s one of the leading causes of death for young children in the U.S.

Now that summer is officially here, it’s an opportunity for children to learn the basics.

“In the state of Florida, we lead the country in drowning. Here in Miami-Dade it’s the leading cause of death for 1-9 [years old],” said Jim O’Connor with Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces. “One of the key ways we prevent drowning is teaching children how to swim.”

The event brought together aquatics facilities from around the world to raise awareness.

“Last year, 18 countries participated, and Miami-Dade’s Parks is very happy to participate in this event,” said O’Connor.

Throughout the day, children who take swim classes at county pools participated in the worldwide swimming lesson.

The event was held at several locations, including Oak Grove Park in Northeast Miami-Dade. Lessons included basic swim strokes, safety in and around water, and the importance of adult supervision.

The overall message: swimming lessons save lives.

“I think it’s great, ’cause it teaches the kids to be knowledgeable in the water and, you know, it can prevent drowning at some point, but these guys here have a great program at teaching the kids the basics,” said parent Rodrigo Piedrahita.

Piedrahita told 7News he brought his two sons and grandson to the event to learn how to swim.

“My grandson Jaylen here [is] learning how to swim. It’s a very good program, it’s not that expensive, and he’s enjoying himself,” he said. “Every day he talked about coming here to learn how to swim, and you need to know how to swim here in Miami.”

O’Connor said that throughout the day they tallied the number of children participating, and they will submit that number to Guinness World Records to be an official part of the record-breaking swim lesson.

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