Burberry’s Bikini Is Back—Here’s Why It Girls Are Reviving the Swimsuit You Coveted in the 2000s

The year is 2002. Nelly’s “Hot in Here” is on the radio, “TikTok” is only known as the sound a clock makes, and Burberry’s check bikini is the hottest item to have at the pool. The two-piece swimsuit in the British brand’s signature tartan symbolizes luxury, sex, and status. All the rich It girls wear beige, black, white, and red bikinis—like a nearly-naked Kate Moss for Mario Testino’s Burberry campaigns and Beyoncé in Jay-Z’s “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde” music video, while Jay flows, "The only time you wear Burberry to swim."

But as is often the case with ubiquitous fashion trends, what once felt fresh and covetable can begin to feel overdone—or even a little passé. When flashy Y2K fashion fell out towards the end of the decade, Burberry’s aspirational trademarked check bikini was swept up in the shift. Plus, in the wake of the 2008 recession, luxury price tags were out of reach for many, especially when it came to an itty-bitty, teeny-weeny, tan, plaid striped bikini that could cost a sizable portion of a month’s paycheck.

Fast-forward to now, and the ever-cyclical nature of fashion trends has brought the Burberry bikini full circle—now a viral summer 2025 trend.

Pop stars and supermodels are once again sporting the tartan two-piece both on and off the beach: Gen Z music phenom Tate McRae brought hers on a Mexico City vacation, while long-time friend of the fashion house Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore one for her late April cover shoot for The Sunday Times Style magazine. TikTok users have dubbed it an “order this as soon as I get paid” favorite and a holy grail thrift shop find. As the popular fashion analytics site Data, But Make it Fashion notes, it’s time to “prepare [yourself] for a Burberry bikini summer.”

So, how did Burberry’s checked swimsuit stage a comeback over twenty years after its peak? This revival is largely due to the British label’s own efforts. In early April, Burberry released its High Summer 2025 campaign that put its check bikini on industry-favorite models Huntington-Whiteley and Alva Claire. The swimsuit spread resulted in a 14 percent spike in engagement and searches for the bikini, playing a crucial role in bringing the iconic piece back into the public spotlight, reports Data, But Make it Fashion.

Significantly, the fashion world has also pivoted back toward flashier displays of wealth, signaling the decline of the subdued, quiet luxury aesthetic that reigned for several seasons. Celebrities now prefer their luxury to be loud, logo-laden, and unmistakably in the five-to-six-figure range. Consumers, too, are stocking their closets with rich-looking finds, like elegant silk scarves and instantly recognizable designer handbags, teasing their high-net-worth status—even if it’s more aspirational than actual.

In 2025, fashion embraces a palpable "if you’ve got it, flaunt it" energy, even amidst Trump-era tariffs and looming recession indicators.

But Burberry has smartly noted the shift in shopping appetites, explains Sebastian Szafarczyk, the CEO of the Burberry-only London and Paris secondhand boutiques, Check It Vintage. After several years of removing its conspicuous check pattern from the runways—and catching strays from Succession for being an "enormous faux pas"—Burberry’s 2022-appointed creative director, Daniel Lee, is reinstating its trademarked tartan as the brand’s calling card.

Both the Burberry Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 collections prominently featured the iconic check, appearing on rugged barn jackets, trendy cargo bags, and, surprise, surprise, trench coats. It was only natural to bring back the check in the brand's Summer 2025 drop.

And it looks like Lee’s decision to bring back Burberry’s classic tartan is starting to pay off. According to Business of Fashion, sales were better than expected, a sign that the brand’s comeback might be gaining traction in a tough luxury market.

Add to that a wave of high-profile celebrity moments—Zendaya in a cinched Burberry tartan belt, Beyoncé wearing the check on stage during her Cowboy Carter tour—and the brand’s heritage print has officially regained its status-symbol appeal. "Which primes everything well for the Burberry bikini to definitely be the item of the summer," says Szafarczyk.

It also helps that Burberry’s check bikini left an indelible mark on early-aughts pop culture. "The swimsuit is part of some of the most iconic fashion moments of that era," says the anonymous curator behind the Instagram moodboard and meme account @2000sfashionista, "I’ll never forget Victoria Beckham’s Burberry bikini and matching bandana in 2000. Now that both the bikini and bandana are trending again in 2025, I have no doubt her look is poised for a comeback this summer."

Beckham’s coordinated moment from 25 years ago was maximalism in its purest form—a head-to-toe flex that left no room for subtlety. But as @2000sfashionista points out, that all-out, no-apologies bougieness is exactly what makes the Burberry check so enduring.

"The Burberry check isn’t just a pattern; it’s a lifestyle. This summer, the Burberry bikini isn’t just swimwear; it’s an attitude"—one that evokes freshly popped champagne, diamond tennis bracelets, and picks up right where Posh—and the rest of the early-aughts It girls—left off.