How Avoiding Trends Has Kept Hunza G Swimwear In Business For 40 Years

Hunza G swimwear may always be trendy, but it will never be on-trend. The luxe, London-based brand, formerly known as Hunza, found a formula and stuck with it—for four decades. Celebrating 40 years in business this year, Hunza G, with creative director Georgiana Huddart currently at the helm, has experienced a slew of iconic pop culture moments. This isn’t even including the array of celebrities and influencers who have proudly worn the timeless pieces, known for their high-cut crinkle designs and one-size fit.

Hunza’s Rise to Fame

Whether you know the brand by name or not, you’ve certainly seen it. Founded by garment industry veteran Peter Meadows in 1984, its first major moment was tied to Whitney Houston, who wore Hunza’s baby pink crinkle tank dress in 1987’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” music video. And who can forget Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman? The actress skyrocketed the brand to fame in the ‘90s, since sporting Hunza’s cutout mini dress in the film’s opening scene.

The bold-faced names backing the business was icing on the cake for Hunza. The brand also established a foolproof formula with its signature fit and fabric.

“Why our product is timeless and always flattering is because its flexible fit stretches to women’s bodies as they change,” Huddart explains. “This is before, during, and after pregnancy, and at different sizes [in general]. We have so many women reach out saying they thought they would never feel good in swimwear again, but they tried our product and it made them feel incredible.”

Huddart attributes the sensational fit to a tubular fabric knitted on a tubular loom. “This means it takes your best shape,” she says. “There are no seams on a one-piece, and because it’s so thick and stretchy, it really flatters and holds the body in place.”

Why Hunza Disappeared and Returned as Hunza G

If you’ve only heard about Hunza G in recent years, that’s because it underwent a renaissance in 2015. The brand slowed down in the mid-’90s, as color trends moved away from Hunza’s signature fluorescents, and more into monochromatic and grunge styles. Huddart—a huge fan of the brand since her youth and mother’s influence—was previously working as an assistant for stylist and Vogue editor Camilla Nickerson, when she itched to find some vintage Hunza pieces. To her dismay, they were completely scrapped from the internet.

“I just thought it was an amazing product and fabric, and I couldn’t understand why it no longer existed,” Huddart says. “You weren’t able to buy it anywhere, and I had bought all the vintage pieces I could find off eBay, Depop and other resale platforms.”

With what little crinkle material Huddart could find scattered on the web, she mocked up a small handful of dresses for her and some friends. It just so happened one of her friends knew Hunza’s founder Meadows. The friend connected the two for coffee, and the rest of the brand’s revival was history. Upon landing her new role as creative director, a ‘G’ for Georgiana was tacked onto Hunza to signify the brand’s new chapter and direction.

“I approached Peter about my concept for a modernized version of it,” Huddart says. “It was one that focused on inclusivity and diversity in the category, but ran more like a fashion and lifestyle brand, not just a swim brand. In 2015, there wasn’t anything like Hunza in the swim category, in terms of positioning, ethos and product. Since joining, my vision has always been to help make women feel amazing at a time when they might feel most vulnerable.”

Redefining a Classic

When Huddart took over, she wanted to modernize Hunza’s branding and marketing, while staying true to its iconic crinkle aesthetic. After all, that’s what drew her to the brand in the first place.

“Our branding is about being fun and playful, timeless and not trend-driven,” she says. “I’m not a trend-driven consumer. I buy things and never get rid of them, so I want people to buy our pieces and take them out of the drawer year after year, and still feel them to be relevant.”

That said, she understands why brands lean on trends, and the importance of keeping up with the fast-paced fashion landscape.

“It’s a really tricky balance of staying true to your identity while moving with the times,” she acknowledges. “It’s not an easy position to constantly straddle, but I think as long as you listen to your customers and don’t follow trends too much, then you have the right recipe for success. It’s really helpful to know what is out there and what other people are doing, but the best brands kind of dictate their own sense of style, taste and identity.”

Huddart’s first plan of attack since the rebrand was turning to social media, curating an enviable Instagram feed that attracted the likes of Rihanna’s stylist, along with Kim Kardashian and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

“It happened pretty organically,” Huddart recalls. “I began selling products online quite quickly. A friend made me a website for [approximately $500] and that was it. It was just me with a laptop and an Instagram account, managing everything and packing all the orders. The fabric is so recognizable and tactile that people were instantly drawn to it. Some people remembered the brand from the ‘80s, and some people had never seen it before. We’ve been copied so much now, but in 2015, no one else was doing what we did. We gathered momentum quite quickly, especially in L.A., which was unusual for a London-based brand with a team of one.”

Huddart has ensured that confidence is at the core of Hunza G, regardless of shape or size.

“We constantly strive to keep the customer engaged and excited and feeling good,” she says. “That’s hard when you’re speaking to so many different women, but it’s also part of the joy and the fun. We have a super engaged customer base that’s in their twenties and thirties, but I’m interested in growing that age range. The product can appear very small on a hanger, but once people try it on, they’re amazed by how it looks and what it does. I think we have an opportunity to educate people on how the fabric performs and how good it feels, especially for women above 40.”

A Successful Decade

With 498,000 followers on Instagram, photographed moments with Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid and Cardi B, and retail partnerships with Goop, Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Revolve (to name a few), the brand has come back to life with a bang over the last 10 years.

A breakthrough moment came in 2019, when Huntington-Whiteley posted a photo of herself wearing the brand’s Domino one-piece in the shade Blush. The droves of customers to the website (700 instant orders, in fact!) led Hunza G to launch a limited swimsuit collaboration with the supermodel in 2023.

In just 2024 alone, Hunza G opened a pop-up on West Hollywood’s trendy Melrose Ave., and launched shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, sarongs and hats. The brand also launched a range of sun protective swim and rash vests in UPF 50+, which qualifies for the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation and blocks 98% of the sun’s rays. Huddart is particularly proud of this collection because “It serves a technical purpose protecting you from the sun, while aesthetically being fashionable and chic at the same time,” she says. “We’ve had world champion water-skiers wearing it but also regular women who want to feel elegant on a beach while protecting their skin.”

They also launched a Post-Mastectomy Collection in both one and two-pieces. And the brand’s color selection is no longer limited to only the original shades. Hunza G has upgraded with neutrals (cocoa, moss, chocolate, blush) and elevated hardware.

The brand’s overall expansion has been beneficial for buzz. According to AI-powered software, data and insights company Launchmetrics, 2024 saw a 7% YoY increase in Hunza G’s media impact value (MIV). This is a number factoring media placements and mentions across platforms. According to the company, 25-year-old lifestyle and mommy influencer Emilie Kiser generated the highest MIV for the brand in 2024, with $853,000.

As for Hunza G swimwear’s next chapter? Consumers can expect a new ready-to-wear collection, along with a continued focus on the power of the crinkle. “The product is outstanding, and it’s functional but fashionable,” Huddart says. “We keep these keystones in mind when moving into new categories and fabrications. We want to make products that really do a bit of both, fashion and function, while helping women feel confident and secure in the product and good about their bodies.”