How Sunspel brings its history to bear on the swim short

Having been at the forefront of the development of designer menswear since its 1860 establishment, Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) - to the surprise of no one - has a rich and involved history in many of the icon products currently showcased in its flagship stores. The modern T-shirt, for example, was in many ways pioneered by the Nottingham company, which also introduced both the polo shirt and boxer short to British shores. Such accumulated expertise was not lost on the design team overseeing the firm's next big clothing innovation: men's swimwear.

Sunspel was admittedly not a mover and shaker behind the creation of the earliest swimwear, not least because the clothing then around couldn't even be described as such. In Victorian times, people would customarily bathe in their own, uncomfortable heavy woollen one-pieces - a situation that makes one wonder why naturism didn't catch on sooner. Such clothing would have been horribly itchy and ill-fitting, but thankfully, new fabrics and styles finally became available by the 1920s.

But this was still a long time before the liberated 1960s, with the tailored swimwear of the day even incorporating belt and buckle effects and fly fronts to increase the resemblance to outerwear, making it seem a little less heinous to the contemporary gentry. Finally, the tendency for soldiers and sailors to relax in their boxer shorts - and be photographed doing so - inspired the manufacture of swimwear that actually resembled their garments of choice.

Sunspel may not have been producing designer swim shorts at this time in the mid-20th century, but it was definitely making waves with the boxer shorts that the company founder's grandson, John Hill, had brought from the United States in the UK in 1947. Almost immediately, he brought Sunspel's already time-honoured principles of impeccable craftsmanship and constant refinement to bear on boxer shorts that were slimmer, more comfortable and more practical than ever before.

It's no wonder that in 1985, one Nick Kamen - in a certain well-remembered advertisement for Levi's - used them to elevate himself to undoubted sex symbol status. In the process, Sunspel's crisp white boxer shorts became their own icon, and served as a definite inspiration for the company's new designer swimshorts range founded on the three design principles of comfort, fit and fabric. These may be shorts that take design cues from 1950s swimwear, but they are also unashamedly modern garments, tested to the hilt and consisting of a contemporary performance fabric, lined with a superfine mesh.

With another major inspiration being a certain effortlessly iconic (and rather small) pair of swim shorts as worn by Sean Connery in his 1965 outing as James Bond, Thunderball, Sunspel's (http://www.sunspel.com) own luxury swimwear exudes a formidable Riviera chic to match any of its long-refined polo shirts. It's been designed from the outset to make the male swimmer feel supremely cool, comfortable and confident, both in and out of the water.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel UK (http://www.sunspel.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.