“I believe in a dialogue between past and present,” explains Carmen March, the creative director of Pedro del Hierro. “It gives an intellectual tension to the collections that feels, somehow, timeless.”

This exchange is evident in the collections helmed by March ever since she joined the Cortefiel Group in 2012, marking a new era for the popular Spanish label.

In collaboration with the award-winning, London-based retail design agency Campaign, 3.1 Phillip Lim has unveiled a brand-new New York City flagship boutique to house the designer’s entire women’s, men’s, and accessories collections.

Located on 48 Great Jones Street in the NoHo district of Manhattan, the newly developed retail concept store, which opened last week with a stunning performance by Banks, defines pragmatic luxury. An extension of Lim’s own design studio, the space is both contemporary and classic, featuring unexpected materials, layered geometric forms, and vintage furniture personally chosen by the designer himself.

Belgian-born designer Annelies De Rouck understands the difficulties women face when it comes to what can be considered a stressful ordeal—shopping for the perfect swimsuit. She discovered that when she asked her friends about their favorite swimwear brands, great suits would be found and used until they fell apart. When it came time to find a new swimsuit, their favorite styles were often discontinued. “I realized that there is not that much consistency in fit at most brands and that women were really looking for that,” De Rouck explains. “As a result, women don’t seem to be loyal to one or two go-to brands. They spend a lot of time shopping around, often with disappointing results.”