Adventures in Miami: Our first Swim Week

If you’ve ever worn a swim suit, it’s likely you’ve heard of Miami Swim Week.

It’s THE annual event for showcasing the latest and greatest in all things resort wear, swim design, coastal accessories and lifestyle fashion.

Being that Dee and I love aaaaall things beachy and apparently doing things that terrify us, we decided to put ourselves out there and attend this year! Just like Aaron Burr a la “Hamilton” we wanted to be in the room where it happens. And let me tell you, this was THE ROOM!

Our main goals in attending were to learn more about the industry, meet people, and put ourselves out there as a creative duo. We had a LOT of research to do to figure out how to make the most of our time, and thankfully have a few wonderful friends that offered tips, strategy, and insight having been through it before (thank you Serena, Mari, and Mariya xx).

Without getting too into the nitty gritty of how it all actually works - because honestly, it makes my brain hurt a little, still - there are actually several different conglomerates that call themselves Swim Week, or a similar version of that. They all have dozens of events all over South Beach to the likes of pop-ups, trade shows, parties and of course, fashion shows. Most of them are pricey to attend or invite-only. Thank the lordt for Dee and her love of Excel spreadsheets, because otherwise I think we’d still be wandering South Beach lost, confused, sweaty (but well dressed, of course).

From Dee’s experience shooting Paris Fashion Week in 2024, she knew that registering with various events as media could potentially be an “in” to some of the things we wanted to check out without breaking the bank. By the time we left for Miami, Dee was signed up to shoot multiple fashion shows, we were registered for both major trade shows, and we had tickets to attend one fashion show.

**PS - before I get too far away from Dee being “signed up” for shooting shows, this was a BIG DEAL, yall!!! Long story less long, to shoot runway shows you have to apply, and the designers accept you. Dee got accepted for every single one she applied to (literally days in advance…it was a whirlwind rescheduling flights, hotel rooms, etc.) and got the most beautiful footage. Be sure to check out our Swim Week podcast episode for some funny stories and more details. I’m so proud of her!!**

While we were in the same place at the same time, we also wanted to put together a test shoot for our portfolio! So while we were figuring out Swim Week adventures, we were also location scouting on Google Earth, securing looks, emailing agencies…we had a busy few weeks but it was all SO worth it.

Dee shot fashion shows most of Thursday and Friday, and I met her on Friday night at our hotel. Dee had a master plan to get all of her video cuts out to the brands as soon as she could to have the best chance of social media traction. Her laptop battery conveniently decided to die a very dramatic death Thursday night, so the editing had to wait until she returned home to Dallas. Silver lining, she actually got some sleep!

Getting the play-by-play of what the shows were like was fascinating and absolutely hilarious. From the overwhelmingly positive exchanges with the other photographers, to nerding out over crazy gear, high-fiving major celebrities, and climbing 7 flights of stairs to snag a good spot in the media pit, she had a FULL two days! After having some wine and recapping the insanity of all the shows, we got some sleep so we could take on Saturday: location scouting and trade show day!!

A few clips from Dee’s footage of the Cupshe runway!

We woke up very early and headed to South Pointe Park in South Beach. We liked the look of it online for our shoot Sunday morning, and wanted to hit the beach before it got crowded and hot. We definitely beat the heat, but the beach was PACKED! At 7 am! It was a wild sight to see, and honestly pretty funny. It just felt so…bizarre?! How did all of these people get it together for a beach day this early? We just kept our fingers crossed it was a fluke and we’d have a little more wiggle room for our shoot the next day.

We ended up loving the spot and had a lot of scenes to work with - a huge rock jetty, shallow calm water, grassy dunes and palm trees, and of course, the iconic lifeguard towers of South Beach that conveniently matched one of our swim looks perfectly. Location scouting trip: check!

We had a little sandy celebration at an adorable French cafe called Maman (linking because if you’re ever in South Beach, you must go. It was so wonderful!. Amazing lattes, fresh pastries, and very sweet staff. We ended up going back on Sunday after our shoot, too!) There really is no better way to start the day than with a good friend, beach walk, and delicious coffee.

Luckily, both trade shows that we registered for were at the convention center downtown, so after we got ready back at the hotel we hit the road. I don’t think either of us knew what to expect when we walked into the room, but we knew it was an amazing opportunity to authentically connect with LOTS of people in the industry. It was kind of an overwhelming and scary feeling, honestly, because we didn’t know what approach to take as creatives. The purpose of the trade shows is to provide a space for brands to present their new collections to potential retailers, so where do we fit in that puzzle?

Honestly, there wasn’t any time to overthink how it was going to go, because the room was BUZZING when we walked in! We felt like Galinda and Elphaba when they arrive to the Emerald City for the first time. 6 ft. stunning models gliding past us, racks and racks of beautiful clothing from all over the world, designers and sales personnel by their booths eager to share their stories and designs… it was truly magical.

The brands represented a huge range of size and familiarity. Some brands were incredibly established and had 8-10 staff on hand to meet and greet (we called those the scary booths), while others had just the designer and were attending for the first time (much less scary to approach). There was also a pretty wide range in how various individuals received us as creatives. Most were incredibly friendly and interested. Some were friendly, but not interested in engaging much past initial introductions. And only one was a flat out rude-y Judy (except it was the only man we met all day, LOL). I’d say that’s a pretty good success rate!

After combing the aisles, our social batteries were absolutely drained. We got some food and coffee before hitting the second trade show, and then did it all over again. We walked away from both shows feeling like it was totally worthwhile and we accomplished what we wanted. We had lots of good conversations, 5 or so that really blew us away in terms of aligned visions and interests, and one or two that we walked away from thinking, “Woah….we wish we lived where they live so we could be besties and surf together”. It was a really cool experience, and we’ll very likely do it again. We also proved to ourselves that we can do hard things, and it’s a lot easier and more fun with a friend!!

A quick recap of the Cabana Trade Show

Fast forward through recharging our social batteries, a wardrobe change, and a quick Uber ride down the street, and we were attendees at our first official fashion show! We accidentally bought two $25 glasses of wine upon arrival, so, crushing it. The show was for a brand we weren’t as familiar with, but we enjoyed it and had great conversations with lovely people.

We were pretty fried by the end of the show and just wanted snacks and pajamas. So that’s exactly what we did! We got some takeout from the hotel bar, a bottle of wine, and sat by the pool while we ironed out our shot list for the following day. Perfection!

7 am came early, but we were ready to hit the beach! Once our fabulous model, Anna Hetman, arrived, we got right to shooting!! We did photo, video, and lo-fi content for 3 swim looks and were both super happy with what we accomplished. You can see all of our favorite shots here.

It was so much fun, Miami. Can’t wait to do it again!!