The Artist behind the Swimwear: Meet Harti, the Pop Art Provocateur Turning Heads from London to Miami

adriana
Aug 6
5 min read

Updated: Aug 7

It’s not every day a swimwear label steals the show at Miami Swim Week, but then again, nothing about HartiSWIM is ordinary. When the British Isles-based brand debuted their kaleidoscopic, pop art-infused collection earlier this year, the response was seismic. Models strutted in sculptural one-pieces, vibrant bikinis, and satin kaftans that looked more like gallery pieces than garments. The soundtrack? Original. The production? Theatrical. The audience? Dazed and enthralled.

Harti Atelier custom made to order

But while the fashion world collectively gasped at the hand-painted, sustainable swimwear (each piece crafted from 13.1 recycled plastic bottles pulled from the ocean, no less), those in the know were fixated on something even more compelling: the art behind it all.

HartiSWIM - Hope High Cut and Sarong & silk head scarf

The man with the brush is Harti - real name Sascha Hartmann - a former clinical neuropsychologist turned painter-provocateur whose works are quickly becoming collector catnip and cultural conversation-starters. And while HartiSWIM may be his most wearable output to date, his core medium remains giant, unapologetic acrylic-on-canvas statements that are shaking up the world of contemporary art.

From Canvas to Couture

Harti’s route to artistic recognition has been anything but conventional. Born in German, growing up in Italy and marrying a Scotswoman, and now based in the British Isles, his work embodies a collision of heritages - continental precision, British satire, and a wry, outsider’s perspective that cuts through the noise. He didn’t attend Central Saint Martins. He didn’t do the circuit. Instead, he studied the mind - earning a degree in neuropsychology from the University of Zurich - before eventually abandoning academic life in favour of artistic rebellion.

Sascha Hartmann

“I started late,” he admits, “but with a vengeance.”

Indeed. Since launching his art career later in life, Harti has already exhibited at prestigious institutions including the Saatchi Gallery in London, Venice and South Korea, and his work has attracted interest from collectors across Europe and the US. What makes him stand out is not just the arresting visual impact of his paintings, but the layered commentary embedded within them.

Tenebrism Meets TikTok Culture

Harti’s style is a striking blend of classical technique and 21st-century urgency. He pulls from tenebrism - the dramatic use of shadow popularised by Caravaggio - to underscore his compositions, then overlays them with sharp, satirical nods to pop culture, politics, and power.

Harti at Saatchi London

In one piece, a cherubic figure clutches a smartphone mid-scroll; in another, a masked aristocrat dines on climate data. There's irony, provocation, and a lingering sense of discomfort - a deliberate choice. “I want people to laugh first, then think,” Harti says. “If it’s just pretty, I’ve failed.”

His canvases are large, loud, and intellectually layered. It’s art that demands engagement, not just admiration. You don’t hang a Harti to match your sofa - you hang it to start a fight at your dinner party.

The Artist as Brand (and Back Again)

But perhaps the most fascinating part of Harti’s story is how he’s refused to silo himself. When most artists are clamouring for a white-wall gallery or a biennale invite, he’s been building something far more dynamic - art that lives off the wall.

Enter HartiSWIM, the swimwear brand he co-founded with his wife, fashion and branding powerhouse Tessa Hartmann CBE. She, too, comes with serious credentials - an award-winning communicator, a luxury PR veteran, and currently the President of the British School of Fashion. She’s also been decorated by the late Queen Elizabeth II for her contribution to British fashion and textiles.

Sascha Hartmann & Tessa Hartmann

Tessa Hartmann CBE Creative Director

Together, the Hartmann’s have created a formidable operation that merges high art, fashion, and environmental purpose. Every HartiSWIM piece features original artwork by Harti, transformed into fabric that’s ethically sourced and sustainably produced. Their packaging is eco-friendly. Their ethos? Buy better, buy less. Their muse? The “Siren” - a fierce, independent woman with style, substance, and a side hustle in ocean conservation.

More Than Merch

It would be easy to write off the art-meets-swimwear model as a gimmick. But HartiSWIM is anything but. In addition to their statement swim, the brand recently launched Harti Atelier, a made-to-order couture line that transforms full-scale paintings into sequinned gowns, hand-lined in silk and trimmed with metres of ostrich feathers. Their small studio in the British Isles handles each order, couture-style.

Their creative ecosystem now spans fashion, interiors (a collaboration with Andrew Martin on Harti-designed cushions), and even furniture (a pair of velvet Harti armchairs sold out within days). And then there’s HartiLife.com - an educational platform built to promote ocean and marine conservation, loaded with accessible content for anyone wanting to do better by the planet.

Just this year, they launched a campaign with one of the largest coffee chains in the British Isles Coopers & Co – ‘Art on Your Cup, Change in Your Hand’s - featuring Harti’s artwork printed across limited-edition coffee cups. The message? Simple: reuse, recycle and share your eco-action on social media, tag @Hartiswim, and you could win one of their swimsuits. Not bad for the chance to own a piece of sustainable, wearable art.

Harti Atelier Collective Subconcious Sequin Kaftan

From Elton John to Spotify

And if the Miami runway show felt unusually slick, that’s because it was a true Hartmann production. The music? Written and produced by Harti himself. (Naturally, the show’s original soundtrack Miami Runway is now available to stream on Spotify.)

Closing the show was none other than their daughter, Tallia Storm, the R&B singer once discovered by Sir Elton John, and now striding into the industry on her own terms. Clad in a billowing bespoke ostrich feathered Harti gown, Tallia served as both a finale model and a reminder that this is not just a brand - it’s a family-built universe with deep creative roots.

Harti Atelier Collapsed Dogmatism

More Than Just Hype

Of course, fashion loves a novelty. But what makes Harti compelling is the depth behind the aesthetic. Here is an artist who has taken the scenic route to success - trading textbooks for paintbrushes, academia for activism. He didn’t emerge fully formed from the art school conveyor belt; he carved his own path, and in doing so, found a way to make his work both culturally relevant and commercially viable.

In an era of fast fashion and faster attention spans, Harti is doing something rare: slowing us down just long enough to look. Really look. And whether that’s at a canvas, a kaftan, or a coffee cup, the message is the same: art is everywhere - and maybe, just maybe, it should make us think.

From the studio to the swimwear rack, from Saatchi walls to Spotify playlists, Harti is proving that art needn’t be precious to be powerful. And that true creative energy doesn’t always arrive on time - it arrives when it’s ready.