When Selfridges met: Pistol Panties’ Deborah Fleming

— 29 March 2012

Pistol Panties has launched a magical pop up shop at Selfridges London, featuring a bright blue unicorn, rainbow coloured ribbons and of course the gorgeous new spring/summer 2012 swimwear collection. We caught up with the founder of the brand, Deborah Fleming, to talk pop ups, poolside glamour and picking the perfect swimwear.

A cross between a vintage carousel and a Wild West rodeo, the pop up looks like it was a whole lot of fun to create. “It started with a 1950s American Western film called Bandelero with Sophie Loren and then as our collection has so many different colours and prints it went a bit psychedelic. It ended up as an amalgamation called the Psychedelic Rodeo.”

When Selfridges met: Pistol Panties’ Deborah Fleming

There’s always something extraordinary going on within our four yellow walls and the Pistol Panties pop up is certainly one of them. “We’re always about something a little different, a little quirky and that’s why it’s perfect that we’re doing this pop up here” says Deborah. “The Selfridges customer totally gets the brand, that’s why they come here because they know they’re going to get something fresh and unique; that’s what I love about this store. They’re not afraid of taking risks with younger more avant garde designers.”

Exploring the pop up and the collection, which is bursting with vivid colour, sassy silhouettes and standout prints, you can’t help but get holiday-fever. “I want people to look at my bikinis and immediately have a smile on their face. I’ve noticed that’s been happening a lot in the past few days with this pop up. People find swimwear shopping really daunting but I think people get genuinely excited about our collection and that makes me feel really good”.

Swimwear shopping: the two words that fill many of us with a distinct sense of looming dread. What pearls of wisdom can Deborah give us to make the whole experience less intimidating?

“Firstly, don’t leave it until the week before your holiday. You’ll end up panic buying something that doesn’t flatter you. Secondly, choose colours that you know work for your skin tone, not one you’ve never worn before."

“Thirdly, consider your body shape. If you’re a boyish shape go for a bandeau; our Chloe bandeau has great boning structure so it lifts you without having all the padding. And of course bandeaus are great for tanning. Then for a fuller figure, I would go for the Mollie. It has lots of fullness on the top but it’s adjustable at the back and the bottom is great because you can adjust it to fit you perfectly.”

“Aside from the fact that Pistol Panties swimwear is lots of fun, the most important thing is the fit. At the end of the day you’re only covering 3% of your body so you might as well look as gorgeous as possible. It comes down to years and years of perfecting the perfect bum cut, the perfect hip cut, the perfect bust cut; it’s really important to us.”

Visit the pop up shop in Swimwear on the Third Floor until 6 May or shop the collection online now.

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