When Orlebar Brown launched its tailored swimsuit collection in 2007, its concept was not to create swim shorts, but to design shorts for swimming. Indeed, the London-based company’s stylish, comfortable swim shorts have been a huge success, and launched at several new locations for spring-summer 2011, including Bergdorf Goodman, New York; Lane Crawford, Hong Kong; and Holt Renfrew, Canada. This season, Orlebar Brown added a range of apparel and accessories designed to take men from the beach to the bar, and it also created collaborative capsule collections with the artist Alan Aldridge and the design team Eley Kishimoto.
The brand’s simple concept features four core swim-short models offering a leaner silhouette in a sophisticated color palette or subtle signature prints, a welcome alternative to the typically loud prints and baggy swimsuits that dominate the beach. Prices range from about $230 to $250. (www.orlebarbrown.com)
