This is the St. Tropez way
MANILA, Philippines - Three years ago, I took a photo of a store in Saint Germain in Paris because I liked the colorful swim shorts they had on display and the sign that was hanging on its doorway. Instead of “Closed,” the sign said “Gone Tanning.” I thought it was genius, just the kind of highbrow cheek you’d expect from a brand like Vilebrequin (pronounced ‘Vi-bre-kwan’), the French swimwear brand known for first making a buzz among the jetsetting swim-and-sun partygoers who frequented the French Riviera back in the early ‘70s.
This was during the halcyon days of St. Tropez, when Brigitte Bardot would come for one night just to party and Mick Jagger married Bianca. Vilebrequin’s inception was in one of the island’s many terrace cafés one afternoon, a young man, finding the crotch-hugging lycra swimbriefs of the era too trite (and maybe tight as well), pulls out the checkered table cloth and, working with his scissors, designs a pair of swim trunks for men inspired by ‘70s-style surfer shorts (comparable to our modern version of the boxer shorts).
His design, a vivid, inventive pair that was longer in the leg and freer in the crotch and bum area, took shape and was fashioned from spinnaker canvas, a waterproof fabric that dries quicker under the sun and in the wind. This was the first Moorea design, a garter-waist boxer short intended for swimming. Since then, Vilebrequin’s Moorea has been worn by the Riviera elite and the lithe, radiant youth that still frequent St Tropez’s beaches. Each pair of swimming trucks is now made of quick-drying polyamide, but the subtle lines have remained and, combined with the brand’s signature pop-out colors and designs, are favored by European royalty, football stars (Zidane and Beckham promenade European beaches in Vilbrequin) and Hollywood’s most discerning.
Nearly 40 years after it was created, and 20 years after it opened its first store outside of St. Tropez, Vilebrequin is trying to make waves in the tropical landscapes of Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In countries known for their beach lifestyles and surfing spots, you’d expect that swim shorts inspired by surfer wear would be popular among the watersports crowd. But in the 2000s surfer community, shorts are looser, longer and baggier, drop-crotch statements that compliment a beer runs and scraggly hair. Not entirely the market of a posh brand that was born into a life of champagne, all-day partying and flying kisses — rather than high fives.
Vilebrequin’s appeal lies in its elite upbringing. It caters to that niche market that can appreciate pastel colors and bold, carefree prints on men’s swimwear, that male beachgoer that doesn’t need his swim shorts to skim the knee to become comfortable (although Susan Chan, Vilebrequin’s managing director in the Asia-Pacific also points out that Vilebrequin has a longer style called Okoa for surfers). This means, beyond St. Tropez, the crowd that escapes to the Hamptons in New York or to the less-touristy Formentera island just off Ibiza. In Hong Kong, Vilebrequin is worn by young expats who frequent South Bay Beach on a Sunday afternoon, recuperating after a night of excessive partying. In the Philippines, it caters to the Amanpulo crowd or those who lap up the summer sun fronting Discovery Shores in Boracay or the more private Shangri-La.
Vilebrequin is, unapologetically so, all about la dolce vita, highlighted again in the newest 2010 spring-summer collection. Here you see more of the brand’s signature vibrancy. Prints inspired by a drive through the hills and marine landscapes of Provence, evoke lush vegetation, brilliant florals and exotic animals. It’s all about a life, not just worth aspiring for, but one worth living.
* * *
Vilebrequin is located at Greenbelt 5 and is distributed by Stores Specialists Inc.
