Where it's summer all year round

On every tropical holiday, there is that woman, the one who lounges about in some posh private resort, sipping Bellinis in the late afternoon, wearing a long filmy caftan that drags on the sand and flies out in a perfect curl when a breeze whips up.

She’s there not necessarily to perfect her breaststroke, but just to laze about in sun and sand surroundings, taking advantage of the carefree lifestyle and exuding the languid panache of the avid jetsetter. Central to the imagery (and most probably central to her concerns) is her wardrobe. The cover-up she wears is luxuriously elegant, her two-piece carefully chosen for its tanning advantages as much as its photogenic possibilities. She’s a woman who planned her beach outfit — though no one is supposed to guess — from her huge aviator sunnies down to her delicate beaded sandals.

This woman is exactly who IM-HM Resort caters to. The online boutique, created by young entrepreneur Bianca Zobel and her aunt Mercedes, is a cyber heaven for women who believe that “it’s always going to be summer somewhere in the world,” and that you should be sartorially prepared for it.

A shortened play on “I Am High Maintenance,” www.im-hmresort.com justifies its cheeky name with beach and resort wear collections gathered from all over the world that are truly worth a woman of leisure’s time and moolah. Some of these names you’ve probably never heard of (save for Elizabeth Hurley, who is now peddling first-rate swimwear), which is exactly the point; it’s those exclusive niche brands every stylish jetsetter aims for anyway. IM-HM Resort has dainty bikinis from Colombian brand Caffe, Miami-based label Eberjay and famed Israeli swimwear line Gottex (said to be one of the most flattering swimsuits around). Beautifully printed caftans and sarongs can be had from Australian brand Phyllis Boho, LA designer Rachel Pally (a favorite of A-listers such as Heidi Klum, Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton and Jessica Alba), and Balinese brand Milos. Accessories and footwear are also heavily featured on the site with local designers Nicole Whisenhunt and Bianca Santos’ Linya Disenyo label headlining the jewelry category.

All these finds were personally put together by Bianca, herself a beach lover who tries to make the trip to the oceanfront at least once or twice a week. When not getting some sun, she travels the globe — Indonesia, India, Australia, Malaysia, the US, Mexico — scouring for new niche labels to please the discerning beach style-setter. In the showing of the site’s most recent collection, Bianca shared that Nepal is on her travel itinerary for its abundance of beadwork designers and suppliers. She’s also zoning in on more Columbian and South American labels; if there’s any race that knows a thing about smoldering at the beach, it should be the Latinas.

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Log on to www.im-hmresort.com for more information and for your fix of luxurious resort pieces and swimwear.