August 18, 2018 | Style & Beauty
The cult-favorite swimwear brand Orlebar Brown launches a collaboration with everyone's favorite spy.
Bulldog 007 Thunderball swim shorts, $395
Spotted a head-turning pair of swim trunks on the beach this weekend? Chances are it was Orlebar Brown. The men’s resortwear label is known for its eye-catching suits, which feature color-saturated images of European beaches or retro shots of surfers catching serious wave. Its latest capsule collection is for any man who secretly harbors a desire to be the next 007: All four styles feature iconic poster art from the James Bond archive. The collaboration is the first in what will be a continuing partnership with EON Productions, aka the producers of the Bond films.
Orlebar Brown founder Adam Brown actually derived much of his initial inspiration for his swimwear from Bond (Sean Connery, to be exact). Connery’s pale blue shorts from the first Bond film, Dr. No, were quintessential Riviera style, and they became the framework for both the brand’s trunks and eventually the full resortwear line. That film, plus Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die, inspired the first collection, and all feature a predominantly blue color palette that recalls the ocean.
Brown is also well versed in the entire fashion world of the film series, not just the swimwear. His top looks include Connery’s toweling one-piece in Goldfinger—“a bold but highly functional look,” he says—and Roger Moore’s safari jackets: “Practical garments based on traditional military wear with a distinctly ’70s retro look.” But of course, there’s one scene that is a clear favorite: “Daniel Craig’s Orlebar Brown shorts worn in the rooftop pool in Skyfall, for obvious reasons!” he says. 55 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, orlebarbrown.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF ORLEBAR BROWN
