Don’t come unstuck! Models gracing the catwalk at Miami Swim Week pose in bikinis made from TAPE
- Fashion brand Black Tape Project created some of the more risque swimwear looks at Miami Swim Week
- Company, founded by ‘King of Tape’ Joel Alvarez showed off latest designs using colourful adhesive tape
- The eyebrow-raising swimwear showcase took place at Faena Forum in Miami beach on Saturday night
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A designer who brings new meaning to the phrase ‘less is more’ has shown off his latest swimwear collection – made entirely from adhesive tape.
‘King of Tape’ Joel Alvarez founded fashion brand Black Tape Project back in 2008 and uses a spectrum of different tapes – including mirrored and metallics – to create the out there designs.
His latest collection saw models striding down the runway at Faena Forum in Miami beach on Saturday night, with Alvarez creating some of his more simple designs live in front of the FROW audience.
‘King of Tape’ Joel Alvarez creates the minimalist swimwear designs he’s become famous for live on stage – using just a role of black adhesive tape – at Faena Forum in Miami beach on Saturday night
His fashion brand, Black Tape Project, created some of the more risque swimwear looks at Miami Swim Week. Right: Close up: the designer uses skin-safe artistic body tape to create the revealing bikini designs
The Miami-based designer, who claims the designs he makes use the ‘only skin-safe artistic body tape’, created minimalist looks aplenty for last night’s show.
The limited edition collection saw plenty of colour, with metallic mosaics featuring heavily in Alvarez’s new crop of bold designs.
The models striding down the catwalk paired the daring looks with towering platform sandals and walked on a wet-look runway.
Alvarez sells his tape online with prices starting from $9.99 for a simple black tape and $29.99 for more colourful rolls.
A model wears a studded black and pink taped bikini creation, with braids and tribal make up
The limted edition collection saw plenty of colour, with mosaics featuring heavily in Alvarez’s designs; the models paired the look with platform sandals and walked on a wet-look runway
Alvarez sells his tape online with prices starting from $9.99 for a simple black tape and $29.99 for more colourful rolls (Miss Costa Rica walks the runway)
Little to the imagination: The models showed off the tape swimwear designs, which included halter neck designs and wrist cuffs
On the Black Tape Project website, Alvarez explains how his brand came to be after deciding to use the tape on a model one day more than a decade ago.
He says: ‘One day in 2008 I was a rookie photographer who was working with a model that suggested I use electrical tape on her for the last look.
‘I honestly had no idea why she would want this but to make her happy I attempted to use this tape as wardrobe.
‘Essentially I just wrapped her in black electrical tape! Mind you she looked like 2 Christmas hams wrapped in rubber bands when I was done!’
Models walk the runway at this weekend’s Black Tape Project swimwear event, which majored on purples, blacks and emerald shades of the metallic body tape
The Black Tape Project has been in high demand across the globe with Alvarez saying he regularly gets asked to appear at festivals and nightclubs with his bold designs
The looks were accessorised with partial plaits using streaks of pink and blue
A bright blue design saw the pieces of tape montaged to the model’s midriff in a look that she teamed with black patent strappy sandals
The mosaic creations – including this low-cut design – have seen the company’s Instagram page earn 530,000 followers
Amongst the designs that made it to the catwalk were a shimmering emerald barely-there creation slashed down below the navel and another model showed off her derriere covered in a simple diamond design, constructed from just four pieces of black tape.
Alvarez says he now travels the world showing off and creating new designs with his range of tapes calling it an ‘artistic medium’.
The Black Tape Project has been in high demand across the globe, he claims, with Alvarez saying he regularly gets asked to appear at festivals and nightclubs with his bold designs.
A model wearing a shimmering emerald barely there creation sashays down the catwalk. Right: The look from behind leaves little to the imagination
A diamond design, constructed from just four pieces of tape, is placed on the back of this swimwear model
‘Artistic medium’: Alvarez says he now travels the world showing off and creating new designs with his range of tapes
A blonde model sports a braid in her hair and a mosaic tape bikini that looked almost fig leaf in design
Designer Joel Alvarez says that he first got the idea for using tape from a model, saying: ‘One day in 2008 I was a rookie photographer who was working with a model that suggested I use electrical tape on her for the last look. I honestly had no idea why she would want this but to make her happy I attempted to use this tape as wardrobe.’