Trunks from Orlebar Brown.
Photo By Courtesy Photo
The Wet Look
While the Milan runways showed daring Dolce & Gabbana and Dsquared2 swim briefs for spring, a more modest crowd is circling back to the Seventies—and earlier—for its swimwear inspiration.
Sundek, the Italian-owned Seventies California surf brand, has struck up a collaboration with designer Neil Barrett. The swimsuits—to make their debut in 12 stores including Jeffrey, Scoop and Fred Segal in December—will be priced around $165.
In Paris, industry veteran Christophe Verot's Robinson les Bains label based one of its collections on American collegiate styles from the Fifties and Sixties.
London-based Orlebar Brown favors a tailored approach."The options men had were the Speedo, which is slightly indecent, or the long boardshort," says founder Adam Brown. The most popular Orlebar Brown suit in the U.S. is the Setter, a Fifties-style tennis-short length in solid hues. To add in some fun, the brand will feature Eley Kishimoto's flash prints on its shorts in November. A February collaboration is also in the works with illustrator Alan Aldridge, known as the man with kaleidoscope eyes, for embroidered swimsuits with a Sixties flair. The limited edition 150-pair run will retail for $630. —Suzanne Blecher
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