The triangle-top bikinis, high-waist one-pieces, and swim skirts that comprise Chromat’s spring 2025 collection were 15 years in the making—a culmination of the aesthetic and brand identity Bex McCharen has shaped since launching the label in 2010. They’re ending this chapter of Chromat on a high note; last week, McCharen shared with Vogue that spring 2025 will be Chromat’s final collection—at least for the foreseeable future. The post-pandemic economy, the current social and political landscape, and McCharen’s transition to a more trans masculine gender identity all played a role in the decision.

Photo: Anastasia Garcia

“I’ve been running on fumes for a long time, just trying to meet all the expectations and requests from different stores and the press and everything,” McCharen shared on the phone from their home in Miami. “Everything shifted when the pandemic happened, during lockdown. It was the first time that I’d ever had a second to myself to sit down and be like, ‘Do I need to launch six collections a year? Is this sustainable?’” Though the former CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist continued to design post-pandemic, “in the past year or so, it’s been pulling teeth trying to get this collection out,” they say of spring 2025, adding that the process left them emotionally and spiritually drained. “It finally clicked that it was because I wasn’t designing for myself anymore. The garments that I’ve been making are more feminine than how I’m currently desiring to be seen.”

Photo: Anastasia Garcia

Photo: Anastasia Garcia

Chromat’s final collection sees McCharen reunite with Tourmaline, with whom they collaborated on a spring 2022 range of lifeguard-inspired red swimwear designed with trans, non-binary, and intersex bodies in mind. For spring 2025 the two leaned on blue—a longtime core color of Chromat—as well as a sandy off-white and black. “It’s very much inspired by living in Miami and being surrounded by the queer and trans community here,” McCharen says of the collection, which was modeled by friends.

Today, McCharen is an artist in residence at a cancer hospital, assisting patients with fine art projects. “It’s been a great perspective shift,” they say. “If you think you’re going through something, going there and hearing some of the stories, you’re like, ‘everything is okay.’” When they’re not at the hospital, McCharen can be found quilting at nonprofit studio Oolite Arts. “I’m using my sewing skills, but in a different way,” they say. “As a medium, it’s such a loving and a legacy project, so I’ve really enjoyed getting into it.” They’re currently working on a few commissioned quilts. “I don’t want it to be a huge business,” they say, “again, I’m a little burnt out on girl bossing, but quilting is definitely something I see myself doing for the next 20 years or more.”