There are few constants in the ever-changing world of fashion but in collaborations you can trust. From Jacquemus x Nike to Mowalola x New Balance, to Marni x Uniqlo, just when you thought that fashion had reached the apex of its creative marriages, a new couple blossoms.

When Miuccia Prada announced a longstanding partnership with Raf Simons, it appeared that the fashion universe had ascended to new heights. No longer were designers expected to distance themselves from their peers, and just look at the collaborations since: Ahluwalia x Ganni. Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga. Fendace. (On the subject of Fendace, Kim Jones has always had a grasp on this like nobody else with effortless associations from Supreme to Sacai and Stussy to ERL, in addition to melding his skilful artistry to various fashion houses such as Dunhill, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi.)

This summer at KOIBIRD, New York-based Tombolo recently launched its first womenswear exclusive. Described as “inactivewear for leisurely escapes,” the unisex label founded by Mike Sard and Chris Galasso primarily riffs on summer wardrobe staples with a nostalgic feel. The capsule includes an organic terrycloth cabana shirt in pink, orange, and green accented with white trim and playful lilypad and frog motifs. At the same time, the accompanying matching trousers are dotted with floral detailing.

“We had both been fans of each other’s businesses from afar. Their USP is what they call ‘escape wear’ but they had been mainly focused on menswear. We loved their playful takes on the cabana top and approached them to collaborate on an exclusive design for KOIBIRD,” said Shereen Basma, Chief Operating Officer at KOIBIRD.

She added, “resort for us is a big part of our business and we are always on the lookout for brands that are doing something different and reimagining a category of clothing that had become a little stale.”

The most interesting collabs in the past few years, like Tombolo’s capsule with KOIBIRD, putting a spin on the resort category, have been the ones that circumvent our expectations: Belgian design legend Ann Demeulemeester joining forces with Serax on a tableware line inspired by the play of chiaroscuro; Jacquemus putting his youthful spin on Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof’s iconic S3 model; and Off-White’s take on Rimowa luggage (a collab that saw the luggage brand witness 4x the Media Impact Value when they posted about it on social media, according to Launchmetrics).

What the proliferation of collabs reveals about the industry is something we’ve always known: fashion is built on the exchange of ideas, between tastemakers and industry shapers. The recent spate merely highlights something that has long been true, and despite the temporality of trends in fashion, one can hedge a bet that beyond summer capsules and winter wardrobes, many more partnerships will bloom this decade.