Fashion

Oh noooo: is the Speedo coming back in style?

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speedo

Please don't, I say. Everyone should of course wear what they feel comfortable in, but maybe there is one exception: the Speedo. At least, that's what I always thought, but apparently I was completely wrong. Speedo has released their sales figures and they are currently skyrocketing. In 2023, the number of orders in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa has increased by more than 200 percent compared to last year.

Side note: I find it impressive that Speedo has been such a pioneer that their name is referenced when we talk about this product. In England, they sometimes call it a ‘budgie smuggler’, which also sounds fun, and in the Netherlands, it is sometimes referred to as a ‘ballenknijper’, but generally, this is just a Speedo.

And it really seems that we are going to see this more and more on the beaches. In Australia, this has long been the case, Kristy Saddler from Speedo tells CNN. In fact, according to her, it is currently ‘one of the best-selling styles’ in the entire country. Fortunately, they have very extensive collections, so there is something for everyone: ‘A classic black brief works well for the adult man in St. Tropez, while a brief with a neon print does well at parties on the beach in Ibiza.’

Well, we might have expected it: in the ’60s and ’70s, the Speedo was indispensable on the beach, and trends do tend to come back. We saw this with the string-above-the-pants trend and the thin-eyebrows trend, although that comeback — fortunately for me — was short-lived.

By the way, many well-known faces are already fans of the Speedo again. For example, Gert Verhulst was spotted in it, but Levy van Wilgen and Ferry Doedens have also been wearing only this model for a long time. Jacquemus has even included a Speedo model for men in their collection. Yep, we really can't escape it anymore.

According to stylist Bastiaan van Schaik, there is also a big advantage to wearing a Speedo: hygiene. ‘It's much more hygienic, and that's why it's often mandatory in French swimming pools. Because what boys in the Netherlands often do is wear swim shorts over their underwear. Such a swimsuit is made to dry quickly, but that cotton underwear doesn't, so it stays damp.’ Okay, noted. Men, if you wear swim trunks and don't switch to that Speedo, at least take your boxer shorts off underneath.

Source: AD.nl