Lips + Honey

Lips + Honey is a Los Angeles swimwear and apparel label that sells bikinis, one-pieces, cover-ups and body-conscious clothing through its own online shop, built around a soft compression fabric meant to smooth the figure. Its prices run from about 38 to 128 dollars, and its sizes from XXS to XL. The company does not publish a founding year or a founder's story on the pages the museum could read, so this entry describes the brand as it trades now.

Swim first, then the rest of the wardrobe

Lips + Honey's catalog, at the time the museum looked, held about 154 products, and swimwear was the largest single group at 56 pieces. The range covers bikini tops, bikini bottoms, matched sets, one-piece swimsuits and cover-ups. The rest is clothing: about 31 tops, 23 bottoms, 16 dresses and a few bodysuits.

That mix is typical of the Los Angeles swim-and-resort business. A label starts with a bikini, then adds the dress worn over it, the top worn to dinner after the beach, and the leggings worn on the flight home. The customer buys a holiday wardrobe from one shop. Lips + Honey's own copy calls the look vacation-ready, with flattering fits and bold colors.

Compression fabric as the signature

The brand's main technical claim is its fabric. It describes an "ultra-soft, premium compression fabric" designed to smooth and flatter without sacrificing comfort. Compression in this sense means a knit with a high proportion of elastane and a firm recovery, so the garment holds the body slightly rather than skimming it. In swimwear that does two jobs: it keeps a suit in place in the water and gives a sculpted line out of it.

The approach borrows from shapewear and activewear, the two fields where compression knits were developed for everyday use. Swim labels picked it up because a firmer fabric forgives more, and a customer who feels held in a suit is more likely to buy a second one.

Alongside the compression pieces, Lips + Honey sells what it calls "buttery soft" modal garments for everyday wear. Modal is a regenerated cellulose fiber, softer and more fluid than cotton, and it shows up widely in loungewear and underwear for the same reason it suits casual tops: it drapes and it feels cool against the skin.

Mesh, wet look and reversible tops

Three details stand out in the current catalog.

The first is mesh. The brand runs a mesh collection, with pieces such as a mesh top and mesh capris, the sheer layer worn over swimwear as a cover-up or on its own with a bikini underneath. The museum's guide to mesh explains how the same open knit moved from lingerie into beachwear.

The second is a wet-look finish on some leggings and pants, a coated or high-shine surface that reads like vinyl from a distance but stays stretchy.

The third is reversibility. Some bikini tops are sold as reversible, with a different color or print on each side, which gives two looks for one price and is a long-standing trick in small-label swimwear.

Cuts and sizes

The museum has not checked each Lips + Honey style against its own type definitions, so it does not claim specific cuts for the brand's tops or bottoms. Readers comparing swim shapes in general can use the guides to the bikini bottom and the triangle bra, the two shapes most bikini ranges are built on.

Sizing runs from XXS to XL depending on the piece, with most items offered at least from XS to XL. That is a standard straight-size range for a Los Angeles swim label of this kind, and it stops short of extended sizes.

Shipping and storefront

Lips + Honey sells direct from its own site, with free shipping on United States orders over 120 dollars, and features customer reviews praising fit and quality. The museum could not confirm whether the brand sells through other retailers or has a physical shop.

In the archive

The museum's archive lists 15 product records under the Lips + Honey name. They are private, like every product record on this site, and they are kept as reference examples of the compression-knit, resort-led swimwear that has become a Southern California specialty.

Last updated October 7, 2026