Last night Aussie sisters Nicky and Simone Zimmermann hosted their resort presentation on the roof of the Empire Hotel.

Nicky told us that she likes to design various patterns and color groups to reflect different moods of the same girl. Our favorite was, somewhat surprisingly, the purple set. It made us feel like we should be lounging poolside in the Hollywood Hills and of course the maxi dresses were an instant favorite.

In other swimsuit news, Cintia Dicker made the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, too. Yay..?

This morning, while perusing the Net-a-Porter sale’s Newest Reductions, I noticed a simple bandeau one-piece that would be perfect for Florida family events. But upon further inspection, I saw that my cute suit blared the name “Chloe” right from where the ass cheeks usually go.

Now, you probably have a good idea as to how I feel about huge logos anyway, but words on my ass? I hadn’t given this much thought since the first time I was assaulted by someone’s terry-clothed butt cheeks informing me of their Juicy-ness between classes. Needless to say, I did not think this was something in which Chloe partook.

So am I just being a prude? (Britt says words on the butt-area of clothes wouldn’t stop her as long as they were small enough / she loved the individual item enough.)

Or do words on people’s asses scream “I’m trying to look hot for dodge ball” to you as much as they do to me?

Bendon, the New Zealand-based lingerie company, is coming to America. Except, they’re coming via The Limited, which we’re all familiar with via trips to Limited Too in fifth grade. And apparently, when we buy lingerie from Elle MacPherson’s Intimates (a personal favorite) and Stella McCartney (a browsing favorite), we’re really buying Bendon re-packaged and repriced via licensing deals.

There are two interesting points to be taken from these facts.

1. That The Limited’s version of Bendon will retail between $35 and $38 for bras, and $14 to $16 for underwear - less than half the price of Elle’s versions, and nowhere near the price stratosphere of Stella’s - meaning, The Limited might pose some stiff competition in the lingerie department very soon, and this may or may not be related to the fact that The Limited is no longer owned by Limited Brands, the parent company of the very overpriced Victoria’s Secret, and so now they’re free to expand in that market.

2. That The Limited has been around since forever, and just now they’ve decided to put out their own lingerie, right when Brian Reyes has decided to do the same, and right when Marc’s decided to put out his first full swimwear line under Marc by Marc. All new ventures in a decidedly shaky market / economy, all new ventures including itty bitty non-clothes.

Coincidence? Or has everyone decided that true shoppers will find a way to drop at least $50 every couple weeks and have just figured out the best way to truly service the price point?

*Editor’s Note: Sorry! Changed that fact at the end of point 1 - The Limited is no longer owned by Limited Brands!

Market news these days usually goes like this:

Mid-tier company X’s same-store sales down 20%. Fast fashion brand Y’s sales down 2%.

So what are moderately (this is very relatively speaking) priced lines to do? Expand, apparently.

Today brings news that Brian Reyes will expand into lingerie for next Fall, and Marc Jacobs will launch his first full line of swimwear for Marc by Marc, under a licensing agreement with Swimwear Anywhere Inc., the same company that designs swimsuits for Carmen Marc Valvo for much cheaper than the designer name suggests.

Some people might wonder why designers would sink money into new ventures in such uncertain shopping times, but we think this is probably a good way for people to drop $150 on a cute purchase and still feel like they’re on the gainful side.

Because the Brian Reyes / Marc by Marc girl will probably find a way to shop no matter what’s happening in the stock market, so it makes sense to accommodate her new spending allowance, no?

Here’s some news we’re pretty sure was lost to the long weekend:

ThreeASFOUR, which was easily the most exhilarating show of last season’s Fashion Week, is planning on wholesaling their new swimwear line.

In the past, their swimsuits have been designed mainly just for the shows, rarely retailing, and at serious prices when they did (the suit at left was originally priced at almost $1,000.)

The line will debut at their show this Saturday night, and will wholesale between $100 and $250 alongside a line of bodysuits and leggings.

We can’t wait to see what affordable bathing suits from ThreeASFOUR will look like, but we’re confident they’ll be as amazing and malleable as all their other designs. We’re just hoping the line gets picked up by somebody easy to shop from - we’re talking to you, Net-a-Porter!

We thought we’d heard of enough random collaborations (Reebok + Hasbro) to never go “huh?” again, but WWD was able to do it again this morning:

They announced a swimwear collaboration between Charlotte Ronson, maker of dresses and plaids for cute young girls, and Shoshanna Gruss, maker of printed dresses and maillots for well put-together moms.

Charlotte’s planning on carrying the line, Made with Love, in her Soho store, and the duo’s hoping the beach collection gets picked up by department stores in time for February sales.

And how did this happen? The two know each other from Nightingale-Bamford, the same school the real Serena’s and Blair’s of the real Manhattan attend.

Do you think Eleanor might wear the printed tunic in an upcoming Hamptons episode?