As men’s swimwear has grown, the category has given rise to new transitional shorts, suitable for wearing both in the water and at the dinner table, which have attracted new consumer demographics and, in turn, new entrants to what had, for a long time, remained a relatively static marketplace largely dominated by lumbering surfwear leviathans with products targeting teenagers and lacking in aesthetic sophistication.

Launched in 2008, Orlebar Brown revolutionised the market with its modern, tailored swimwear and now a new wave of swimwear labels like Frescobol Carioca, Make Your Odyssey and Faherty are tapping the same demographic and hoping their swim-and beach-focused lines will act as beachheads from which they will be able to build broader lifestyle brands.

Orlebar Brown and Make Your Odyssey are exclusive to 4.

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