Revelations that Nicky Zimmermann – creative director of the wildly successful eponymous brand famously co-founded with her sister Simone in 1991 – clocks up plenty of hours wearing her own Swim and Resort designs throughout summer should come as little shock. She is, after all, based with her family in the beach-side hipster haven of North Bondi, where the Zimmermann brand’s elevated luxe-boho aesthetic is the status quo.

But what is more surprising is what she does during the colder months and on urban travels. “Last week I wore one of our Swim [collection] dresses out with friends with a vintage-looking seventies boot,” she told GRAZIA. “During summer I may wear [just] it with an espadrille.”

Zimmermann Summer Swim 2017
Credit: Beau Grealy

Getting extra mileage from your favourite cruise and swim pieces away from the beach, and after the mercury drops, all comes down to clever layering and accessories, she says. “When I’m in New York [in winter] I’ll often wear a silk dress [from the summer collection] with tights, boots and a big coat.”

Still, one could argue that all-year-round swimwear is part of the Aussie style arsenal. And despite Zimmermann’s global success (the celebrity-favourite brand shows at New York Fashion Week and is stocked on international luxury retail juggernauts like Net-a-Porter and Moda Operandi, and currently boasts 18 boutiques in Australia and four in the United States) its playful Aussie accent isn’t going anywhere.

Zimmermann Summer Swim 2017
Credit: Beau Grealy

“I think that [being in Australia] definitely influences our colours and approach to silhouettes and print,” says Zimmermann. “The sheer fact of living so close to the ocean [in Bondi], there is a kind of relaxed, playfulness to our lifestyle that definitely reflects in our Swim collection.”

Rather appropriately then, the Zimmermanns chose to shoot this year’s Swim Summer 2017 range not at their usual choice of overseas glamour spot, but next to the famous limewashed walls of Bondi Icebergs pool – a regular haunt of the beautiful, famous and total tourist.

Zimmermann Summer Swim 2017
Credit: Beau Grealy

Local fashion photographer Beau Grealy teamed with now NY-based Aussie designer and stylist Michelle Jank, to produce the campaign shoot featuring model Vanessa Axethe in time for collection, which drops in April each year in time for the northern hemisphere’s summer travel.

When pressed for her personal fave piece in the new Cruise-style collection, which drops today, the designer points to her Tulsi panelled lace bikini. “I love that its sleek in cut but has a lot of textural detail that is very Zimmermann,” she says.

Zimmermann, Divinity Ruffle Dress, $995. SHOP NOW

The hero piece though for the collection, which drops online today, is the Divinity Ruffle Dress with a spliced black and white print. “There’s an effortless ‘cool girl’ feel to the dress,” she notes.

“My ideal would be to see a girl wear that out with a pair of Converse.”

Certainly not a typical type of footwear to pair with a $995 sheer silk georgette gown, but so very Australian nonetheless.