Speedo LZR RACER

In conjunction with Comme de Garcons, who in our eyes can do no wrong, it’s difficult to describe the LZR without dipping into either sci-fi or hyberbolic language. Made from ultra lightweight, low drag, water repellent, fast drying fabric, the suit is the world’s first fully bonded swimsuit, ultrasonically welded to give the impression of having no seams. See what we mean? There’s no doubt this is a suit constructed for more than a gentle dip in the local pool.

LZR RACER suit

With 10 per cent less passive drag and 5 per cent more efficient oxygen intake a host of world-class swimmers have waxed lyrical about the suit’s performance potential. ‘When I hit the water, I feel like a rocket,’ said Michael Phelps, ‘It’s like swimming downhill,’ says Libby Lenton, while Natalie Coughlin claims, ‘It’s super tight but it really feels like part of your body when you put it on.’

A record breaker it may be, but with Kawakubo’s input it looks just as good outside the pool too. The fashion element comes in the form of a side panel incorporating a Japanese character ‘kokoro' - meaning heart, mind and spirit - by the calligrapher Inoue Yu-ichi.

Kawakubo said of her involvement, ‘when we come to combine the development of the highest technology that is the realm of Speedo, with the force and spirit of the art of Yu-ichi, records will surely be broken.'

13 February 2008 | Fashion