When the time comes for women to strip down to bikinis, their swimwear choice has a lot to do with geography. So, for instance, if you go to Rio de Janeiro, women will be likely to show off their rears in barely-there, high-cut bikinis. In Bondi, sleek one-piece bathers rule - they are ideal for tanning both ocean and poolside and for doing laps. In St Barths, women prefer tiny Italian knitted bikinis for lazing on a yacht, and in the Hamptons it's all about bold, sporty designs for volleyball on the beach.

But in spite of this, summer swimwear does have a common design thread. The Brazilian bikini, or as it is often known, "the dental floss" of swimwear, reigns supreme. The style was first made popular in the Nineties when Brazilian bombshell supermodels like Gisele catapulted the country's fashion into headlines, but it has since traversed all cultures, and it can be spotted on beaches from Sydney to St Tropez.