Devin Brugman is the quintessential LA cool-girl. She's a lover of the denim, a Pilates enthusiast and a style icon in her own right. Her aura of effortless style is inimitable. Of course this has not prevented the rest of us, including me, from attempting to capture her look on many occasions. In fact, my new favourite bike short-collared shirt outfit combination was shamelessly inspired by her.

Most fortunately, the co-founder of Monday Swimwear was more than happy to share the secrets to her breezy, Californian style with us. Plus, she shared the biggest trends in swimwear this season and the looks she never wants to see back in fashion again. Below, read our full interview with Devin Brugman and what we can expect next from Monday Swimwear.

What do you think are the biggest trends in swimwear right now?

So, I think that I've been seeing this everywhere. It's Millennial and Gen Z fashion coming and trickling into the swimwear industry. Everyone's bringing that in. And, and I think it's fun and playful. I love it, and it's a little bit funky. When it comes to swimwear, and like my personal style, I do tend to keep it more neutral. So it's interesting to see people having so much fun with like these wild prints and bright colours.

Another huge trend that I'm seeing is the way that people are incorporating all this matching clothing and turning it into swim. Like they'll do little mini low rise swim skirts or a little mini top that matches the swim. You know, head scarves and matching bags, and everything's matching. I think that's super cute.

Another trend that I've been seeing lately is a lot of asymmetrical pieces. So we actually have a couple pieces that we just came out with a few months ago. We did a one-shoulder one piece and then a one-shoulder top. Some other trends that I've been seeing is the evolved triangle top. You'll probably have seen this all over Instagram, but people are wearing a triangle top in non-traditional ways. You're making the straps really long and tying it around. They're tying it all different ways so it's kind of like a new take on the classic triangle which I think is really fun.

What's your personal favourite style at the moment? What are you wearing?

The reason why I love Monday Swimwear so much is because I finally have found something and I've created something that I can wear that's an underwire. Monday really kills it in the underwire sexy styles. You know having such a large cup size like throughout my life, I could never really find an underwire top that didn't look like a maternity bra. I love that Monday incorporates sexy underwire styles for diverse cup sizes. We have a really, really cute new style. It's called the Isla Mujeres top and bottom. And it's a really subtle underwire. And it has two thin straps that they tie at the shoulders. I'm so obsessed with that style. It's so cute.

What's your favourite way to style your swimwear?

I love to do like a full monochromatic look. Let's say I'm wearing you know an ivory, super skimpy, like triangle bikini. I'll usually pair it with one of our shirts. I love the La Jolla beach shirt. I like to do like a big open shirt or we have a Barcelona tunic. It's like a really flowy linen tunic. And then I like to also do a sarong. It feels very drapey and it feels very relaxed, but it also looks really classy and chic. So that's always kind of my go to.

What's the one's swimwear style that you think universally suits everyone?

I personally think that you can't really go wrong with the classic triangle. And I think that's why it's like stood the test of time, and why it's lasted so long. And there's so many different variations of that triangle.

With Monday, I know that there's a lot of people that have larger cup size that wear our swim, and they don't want to wear that really skinny, thin strap, because it can hurt your neck, and it's not as supportive. Ours are really supportive. But then we also did like a take on that classic triangle, and we did thicker straps, and it's super comfortable. It's really supportive. It's beautiful. I just think that's going to be sexy forever. I think it looks good on all body types. I think it looks good on all cup sizes. So yeah, I probably just say the classic triangle.

Can you describe your perfect hot weather outfit?

I am like the most simple person when it comes to my style and dressing. I love oversized, button down shirts and I just talked about it. I love the La Jolla shirt I was talking about before because it's so breathable and light and you can wear it completely open. Today, I was wearing it and it was super hot in LA. So I wore it open with a sports bra and bike shorts. Then if you put a cute high sock and a sneaker, I think that's really cute. Or I also just love classic Levi's shorts and a tank top. I think that's just sexy and cute forever. I'm not a huge print girl or dress girl. I like to dress really a little boyish. Like a sexy androgynous.

What is your must have beach accessory?

A sarong. Firstly because you can throw it on when you go to the bathroom. You feel comfortable walking around in it. But you can also use it as the darkroom to edit your photos. Haha.

Anytime I go to the beach, I'm like, Okay, do I have like a dark sarong? Sometimes you also want to take a nap and put it over your face. It's versatile. Haha.

What's your favourite beach destination?

I get asked this question a lot. And it's hard. Like, my favourite place in the world is Italy. I think that it kind of encompasses everything you could possibly want in a destination. And I know it's not your typical like white sand beach location. But it has beautiful beaches that are a little bit more rocky, but it also encompasses everything else that you could look for when you travel. Like you get a lot of good culture, you get a lot of good food, you meet wonderful people. And then there's the cities and there's little towns, there's kind of everything that you need there. S

But I also do love like going to a completely secluded beach in like, Bora Bora. It kind of just depends what I'm in the mood for. If I had to choose, Italy would probably be it.

Denim shorts or summer dress?

Denim shorts for sure. I honestly don't own that many dresses. It's so funny because I just did a closet organisation with this professional and she was like, where are all your dresses? I'm like, 'oh, these are them'. It's like five dresses. Haha.

I do love a summer dress. Like I think it's so sweet. It's really sexy on a woman and I think that it looks so good. So I definitely like to dabble with the right one. But overall I'm a denim girl through and through.

Sneakers or sandals?

I probably say sneakers just because that's more my style, but it really just depends where I am. In LA I wear sneakers every day. But like if I'm in Italy it's sandals.

Broad-brimmed hat or baseball cap?

Big hat. Big hat for sure. Yeah.

What's the one fashion or swim trend you hope to never see ever again?

For me, it's low rise pants. I hate low rise pants.

I was okay with them coming back in if they're baggy, because if they're baggy, then I feel like okay, you can kind of get away with it if you're having a day, you know what I mean. But generally, a low rise is hard. I was never really into low rise.

Also, there was like this swim phase that was just these little triangles with like clear straps, top and bottom. I'm not a fan of that fast fashion type of look. I like to keep things very classy and chic. I like a bit more fabric to show off a design.

What's next for Monday Swimwear?

We have some incredible collections coming out. And Natasha [Oakley, fellow co-founder of Monday Swimwear] is actually on set right now in Hyams Beach shooting with some of the girls down there. They're sending me all the behind the scenes and I'm freaking out. I can't wait. Next year, I think is going to be our strongest year yet. We have a really fleshed-out collection, we're incorporating a lot of new beachwear and I'm just so excited. I just can't wait to show everybody.

I'm also excited because I'm officially coming to Australia in January. I can't wait. Because of the travel restrictions, I haven't seen Natasha in two years. It doesn't feel like that because we FaceTime and zoom pretty much every day and we talk throughout the entire day. You know, when when our time frames match up. But it's been challenging because you know, she's my best friend. Obviously, it's fine with work because everybody's been remote. But I miss her! So I'm excited for that.

Images: Devin Brugman on Instagram