?Laura Weir of Drapers says that grocery retailers are learning the art of converting the latest fashion trends in swimwear into lines with high-volume sales potential. So summer has kicked off early this year and swimwear is already making a splash. It is the job of retailers to make the process of shopping for swimwear as painless and as practical as possible. To quote Claire Rice, design manager for Tu womenswear at Sainsbury's: "You have to be sensitive to how women feel about their bodies while still making them look good." Rice reckons that, for the most part, the multiples are doing a good job taking on the heartland of the category, which lies with independent specialist retailers. Swimwear styles often embrace staid practicality and the stupidly absurd in equal helpings. At times the category seems to be a grey area where sellers and shoppers alike lose all sense of decorum. A case in point is the cutaway style - a look that is executed with aplomb by the likes of high-end swimwear designers Aquaclara and Bond-Eye. But getting the fit of a cutaway swimsuit right is tough and it is something we are yet to see the supermarkets do well. The multiples are, however, getting much better at interpreting women's catwalk trends into swimwear, with monochrome showing as a staple look for summer in black and white styles that are filtering through in animal markings, such as zebra stripes and giraffe print, on to halter neck styles. Swimwear trends are typically quite ambitious and Rice says adapting looks for the mass-volume market is key if the supermarkets are to get swimwear right. Offering high fashion trends in store is all about taking the most inspiring catwalk show looks and influences from trips, then adapting them to suit the taste and demand of the customer. So the chains may take a really bold colour that has been ubiquitous in the designer collections, but do it in a slightly softer shade on a cut that isn't necessarily as revealing as the one that may be worn by the model. In that vein, bold prints in bright colours will be key for the season across all retailers, with tropical motifs or ethnic-inspired prints a better option than outsized floral interpretations of the trend. Silhouettes remain much the same but ruching detail seems to be a popular trend. Twisted fabric details on bandeaus, strapless one-pieces and string bikinis offer good practical detail, which won't affect the shopper's ability to tan or stay afloat.