It’s overkill. As the designer has said, women who want to protect their skin (see Nigela Lawson comment here) or who just feel uncomfortable wearing skimpier swimwear also wear these items. And the name is just a play on words. A combination of Burqa and Bikini. Some would spell it Burqini. The clothing covers their body, not their face, and as such I don’t see why women who choose to wear it, shouldn’t be able to wear it. I can see how covering the face could be seen as a security risk in some circumstances, but not in this case.