The strongest brands usually have a hero product they are instantly recognised for. Hermès has their Birkin bags, Burberry is known for their trench coats and Porsche's 911 sports car is a classic that continues to be coveted.
When it comes to British men's resort wear brand Orlebar Brown (OB), their tailored swim shorts have long been turning heads since 2007 for their hallmark side-fasteners and photographic prints.
Earlier this month, founder Adam Brown was in Bangkok to officially launch their latest James Bond collection and the brand's expansion to Thailand. Alongside the famous swim shorts, the whole range of holiday wear will be available when their new store at Central Floresta in Phuket opens on March 14 next year.
"For the first time with this new territory launch, we're launching as a fully-evolved collection," smiles Brown. "There's a story to tell around travels, summer holidays and having a great time with family and friends, while before it was about talking to people through a pair of swim shorts. We're 17 years old and we're growing up. It feels like a different phase in our maturity and it's exciting as a brand."
Adam Brown at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok.
Orlebar Brown's latest 007 Gold Collection.
While Orlebar Brown is sold at over 40 stores around the world in holiday havens and fashion capitals, Thailand's first store comes even before Japan and Hong Kong.
The brand started out in England, before breezily spreading to Europe at coastal hotspots such as Ibiza and St Tropez. It later expanded into North America and Australia with ease due to no language barrier. The biggest milestone yet for the brand, however, is Chanel's acquisition of OB in 2018.
"It's great and I never envisioned it before," Brown recalls how he had never planned for his brand to be acquired by the luxury fashion house. "I've never done anything in fashion. I worked as a photographer before and I've never had a business. I'm aware that it's a very nice story, to think that you started something in your spare room and it sells to them. [Chanel] is very hands-off, very supportive and they've allowed us to be Orlebar Brown. I was very pleased it happened."
Brown started out his eponymous brand after encountering a pain point while attending a friend's birthday trip in Rajasthan, India. The founder had worn a pair of swim shorts to lunch at his hotel and had been asked to go change. It made him realise he didn't just want nice swim shorts, but a pair of shorts you could also go to swim in.
007 shorts.
"It was the anti-thesis of the baggy boxer, the voluminous, misshapen short," the 59-year-old says. "I don't want to wear my shorts just by the pool, I want to be able to have lunch in them or go to town in them. It was about a versatile product that could take you from one place to another. It didn't just exist on a beach or by a pool."
And so Brown started offering what was missing from the market: their classic Bulldog swim shorts which are made with side fasteners and tailored labour that involves 60 different elements. This goes the extra mile compared to the typical men's swimwear that only use 15-20 pieces of fabric.
A lot of meticulous consideration has gone in to achieve the perfect fit, while the fabric made from 100% recycled plastic also illustrates the brand's eye on sustainability. Currently, the swim shorts make up 30% of the business, but an ever-growing addition of towelling polo shirts, T-shirts, linen shirts, knitwear and accessories encourages gents to take the beaches in style.
When the brand was founded in the early 2000s, it stood out for offering men's resort wear and lounge wear when such items were still a tacked-on afterthought. Brown's research and inspiration for the brand harkens back to a more refined era, when men used to dress up for the sun.
Photographic swim shorts.
Cruise 24 collection.
"If you go back to the 1950s and 60s, people in Hollywood, Miami and Acapulco would dress in white suits and go have a cocktail by the beach," shares Brown. "In my early research looking back at imagery from everywhere in the world, men used to dress up to go into sunshine.
"But in the 70s and 80s, it became surf culture and felt like everything was gone. Men on holiday were fine to just put on a T-shirt and rubbish pair of shorts. It's been nice that we can be a part of creating a different opportunity with men's dressing, as there is activewear for sports and tailoring for the country but there was a gap with holiday wear."
Without a doubt, the perennially well-dressed James Bond had always been a figure that found his way onto mood boards at OB.
"I included pictures of Sean Connery from Dr. No and didn't think anything of it really, but he kept reappearing and was always on our mood boards," the British founder recalls.
In 2012, it became a happy surprise when Daniel Craig was spotted wearing a pair of OB shorts in Skyfall. It immediately boosted the Orlebar Brown to even more popularity and naturally, a relationship was fostered with Eon Productions.
The 007 Gold Collection, the fourth collaboration collection with James Bond, is inspired by moments from two Bond films which celebrated their 50th and 60th anniversaries this year, namely The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) and Goldfinger (1964). The collection will be available online from Sunday.
As The Man With The Golden Gun involved a scene that was shot on Khao Phing Kan in Phangnga Bay, on what is referred to as "James Bond Island", now seems to be the perfect time for the brand to officially launch in the country of its inspirations.
"For me, Bond always felt right because James Bond is about adventure and travel," Brown speaks of their natural similarities. "He has a humour to him but looks after you and is trustworthy. I like the fact that he's British but he's international and everyone around the world knows him.
"We too have customers from all over the world and we should resonate with those customers. I get the most enjoyment from Roger Moore though, weirdly. I like his deadpan presentation and how he interpreted Bond."
Fans of the films can look forward to shopping for this collection, while car fanatics can look forward to the upcoming second phase of a collaboration with Lamborghini. Brown shares that while the first phase involved darker colours such as black and navy, the newer pieces will feature more bright and vivacious colours. Capsule collaborations and photo prints are among the brand's easy hits, so now that OB is arriving on Thai shores, it's highly possible that iconic Thai resorts, pools or beaches may make their way onto future swim shorts.
If anything, talking to the founder only highlights how he refuses to produce anything ordinary. His jarring experience in Rajasthan illustrates that his female friends were all dressed up at 3pm while the men didn't even try.
"I think it's just lazy," Brown states, saying a mere consideration of fit and colour could easily make a stylish difference. "For me, the worst thing in life is to be average or not have a point of view, whether it's just clothes [or having an opinion]. It's easy to make a polo or linen shirt, but what gives it a bit of attitude? It might be the fit, fabric weight or stitching inside the cuff -- just something that shows you care."
