Have We Reached Peak Pool Float Yet?

Will this year’s song of the summer double as the pool float’s swan song?

Reese Witherspoon might just be the canary in the coal mine. A few weeks ago, Witherspoon announced “Legally Blonde 3” via an Instagram post, which features the pink bikini-clad actress lounging atop a pool float. As she scoots across the frame (suspiciously fast, mind you), one detail jumps out: her minimalist blue float is a sharp contrast to the ubiquitous creations you’re most likely to find floating around on your feed.

Like many overexposed trends teetering into obnoxious territory, the proliferation of pool floats — you know the ones — can be traced back to Taylor Swift. It was Fourth of July weekend in 2015, and there was the Swift squad (Calvin Harris included) on Instagram atop a fleet of inflatable creatures: flamingos, swans (white and black), a pegasus. Swift was just a few steps shy of reaching the summit of #SquadGoals, but it was the new float company Funboy that gained the most from that weekend. Instagram has been saturated with their inflatable pool accessories ever since.

In the three years since the company started, the Funboy float roster has swelled to include a more elaborate range of offerings, including a llama, private jet, retro pancake, cloud-and-rainbow pool bed (a Kardashian fave), the Coachella-friendly giant crown seating six of your besties and, just this week, its butterfly model got a high-fashion upgrade thanks to a new collaboration with Missoni. Other collaborations include the “pimp by float” doggie-and-me bundle with Barkshop — what, you’re going to leave Fido poolside? — and artist swan editions by Alex Yanes and Kelcey Fisher. To keep the party going, Funboy even released its own line of rosé (available in a Magnum size) with Del Dotto Vineyards.

We can’t ignore the existential question floating around the pool, however: how many pool floats is too many? Is the fun on its way out?

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