Great stories almost always begin by chance. Vilebrequin’s story began in the summer of 1971, at a table in the historic Sénéquier, overlooking the harbour of Saint-Tropez. As he watched the comings and goings of boats, photographers, actors and holidaymakers, Fred Prysquel picked up a pencil and sketched a design for a swimming trunks inspired by Californian surfers on a sheet of paper. Legend has it that he wanted to impress Yvette.
It was an instinctive, almost absent-minded gesture. But that sketch was destined to change men’s beachwear. From that flash of inspiration, Vilebrequin was born – a brand that, in just over half a century, would transform a simple swimming costume into an icon of beach style. Even the name tells its story: in French, it means ‘crankshaft’, a tribute to the founder’s great passion for sports cars and his desire to imbue the brand with the same energy that animates an engine just as it starts. Or perhaps it would be better to say an engine of ideas.
That first swimming trunks, christened Moorea, already embodied everything that would become the brand’s DNA. It was longer than the tight-fitting briefs that dominated European beaches in the early 1970s, and was made from spinnaker fabric – the same material used for sailing boats’ spinnakers: lightweight, durable and quick-drying. A revolutionary choice for the time, which immediately helped set it apart from the competition. From that moment on, Vilebrequin’s growth was as rapid as it was natural. On the beaches of Saint-Tropez, those colourful swimwear pieces began to win over artists, entrepreneurs, sailors and celebrities, becoming a symbol of a lifestyle even before they were seen as mere garments.
However, this success was not the result of a single stroke of genius. What made the difference was the brand’s ability to evolve without ever betraying its identity. Whilst design helped to build the brand’s identity, it was the quality of the materials that cemented its reputation. Behind every Vilebrequin swimwear piece lies an almost obsessive attention to detail. The fabric is made from a high-density nylon yarn that undergoes a special brushing process using ultra-fine abrasives. The result is striking to the touch: the surface takes on a soft, velvety texture, more akin to the finest cotton than to a synthetic fibre.
Achieving a flawless print on such a sophisticated material presents a significant technological challenge. In fact, very few companies in the world are capable of producing it whilst maintaining the precision demanded by the brand. The same applies to one of the details that enthusiasts recognise at a glance: the perfect alignment of the patterns between the body of the swimwear and the back pocket. This is a task requiring absolute precision, where even a deviation of a few tenths of a millimetre is enough to compromise the final result. Research has never stopped.
In recent years, Vilebrequin has continued to experiment with increasingly high-performance and sustainable materials. Among the most significant projects is the development, in collaboration with Woolmark, of an innovative Super 120 Merino wool fabric designed specifically for use in the water. Ultra-lightweight, naturally temperature-regulating and odour-resistant even when wet, this fibre further expands the concept of beachwear, demonstrating how innovation and tradition can coexist in a garment built to last.
The same approach and vision that have characterised every single collection are brought to the fore in the designs for summer 2026. Conceived around the ‘Surnaturalism’ theme, they draw on nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The new collection reinterprets Surrealism through the luminous and carefree lens of Saint-Tropez, bringing to life a universe in which water and land merge in a succession of intense colours, dreamlike patterns and surprising textures.
X-rayed jellyfish, three-dimensional bubbles, imaginary seascapes, marbled effects and coral reefs transform beachwear into a canvas on which the imagination can express itself without limits. Alongside its aesthetic exploration, the brand has continued to invest in material innovation. This sees the debut of a new Japanese micro-perforated fabric – ultra-lightweight and highly breathable – for the men’s line; ramie shirts with a cool, natural feel; women’s garments featuring refined three-dimensional effects; and the new Meno swimwear, characterised by a shorter, sportier cut.
The collection is rounded off with a new range of accessories and a capsule collection created in collaboration with the Parisian brand 3.PARADIS, which adds a poetic touch to Vilebrequin’s summer collection through suspended landscapes and doves in flight. The latest chapter in this creative journey bears the signature of Fabrice Hyber, one of France’s most influential contemporary artists. A painter, sculptor and tireless experimenter, Hyber has built his artistic vision on a constantly transforming universe, where art, nature and science intermingle to give rise to organisms, landscapes and forms in constant evolution. It is precisely this vision, free from any preconceived framework, that has inspired the new collaboration with Vilebrequin.
The collection marks the launch of a project set to unfold over three seasons, through to Cruise and Summer 2027, and represents much more than a simple capsule collection. The prints seem to invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a world suspended between reality and imagination, where fish blend with plants, bubbles multiply endlessly and nature becomes an organism in constant motion. A visual language that perfectly captures the brand’s playful and unconventional spirit. To bring this universe to life, Vilebrequin chose to set the photographic campaign in the Vendée valley, where Fabrice Hyber lives and works. A place nestled in the forest, half studio and half natural laboratory, where art and landscape coexist seamlessly. Through Alexandre Guirkinger’s lens, this setting becomes a natural extension of the collection, transforming every image into a dialogue between creativity, nature and the sea.
The collaboration with Hyber once again confirms Vilebrequin’s ambition to bring art out of museums and onto the beaches. ‘Bringing art to the sea has always been our dream. We have never claimed to create art, but rather to reproduce Fabrice Hyber’s work as faithfully and respectfully as possible. Thanks to the expertise of our Studio and our workshops, we have succeeded in developing printing techniques capable of reproducing the colours, contrasts and expressive power of the original works with the utmost precision,” commented Roland Herlory, the brand’s CEO. A statement that perfectly encapsulates the brand’s philosophy. For Vilebrequin, swimwear is not simply an item of clothing, but a canvas on which design, craftsmanship and visual culture converge. An approach which, more than fifty years after its inception, continues to set the brand apart in the luxury sector, transforming every collection into a narrative that goes far beyond fashion.
Matteo Zaccagnino
