Strong suits: Top looks from the swim shows in Miami

In the fashion biz, we're often looking at furs at the height of summer and photographing swimsuits in the middle of a blizzard.

But last weekend, the calendar aligned when some of the nation's biggest swimwear manufacturers invaded Miami for the annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim. True, these designs won't hit stores until sometime next year. But, at least it's a good time to look at them.

Biggest star power of the collections came at Beach Bunny, where the Kardashian sisters - Kourtney, Kim and Khloé - introduced their first swimsuit designs. Other big designer names during the week - Trina Turk, Ed Hardy and Carmen Marc Valvo, who was there with his looks for Long Island-based company Swimwear Anywhere.

The best news, however, was about the bottom line, and we're not talking string bikinis. Swimwear, it turns out, is one of the bright spots in the apparel industry, with sales up 2.5 percent, according to the Port Washington-based research firm NPD. Among the reasons, according to NPD analyst Marshal Cohen, is that a swimsuit either wears out or no longer fits. "If it is too big, you are really in trouble," he told the Miami Herald. "And if it's too small, you're showing things you don't want to show."

Instant gratification

If the heat has you yearning for a new swimsuit, Minnie Mortimer's got you covered. Barely.

Mortimer's reversible, star-print bikini, $88, does double-duty - it's two suits in one. The fledgling designer certainly knows her swimwear - the Manhattan native grew up beating the heat in Southampton and Palm Beach. (Lucky her.) Look for Mortimer's beach essentials at Loop, Woodbury; and Scoop, Greenvale, East Hampton and Manhattan.

- JOSEPH V. AMODIO