The summer of Speedo: Doug Conklyn, Speedo’s senior vice-president of global design, tells us more

0:12I'm happy to say that 2025 is the year of the Speedo summer. The iconic brand is over 100 years old but fresh as ever, with more and more men wearing their Speedo briefs by the beach. Or how about Walter Goggins' cover shoot for Cultured Magazine? As a Speedo lover, I had the pleasure to speak with Doug Conklin, Speedo's Senior Vice President of Global Design.

0:52Doug Conklin from Speedo, what a pleasure talking to you about a brand that I am aware of. I'm a big fan. And before we started the interview, I mean, you also have a very close relationship to the brand since you were six. Since I was six. And it gives away my age a little bit. But I saw Mark Spitz win seven gold medals and break seven world records in a Speedo suit. And that summer, I got that exact same Stars and Stripes suit and started a swimming career that's basically lasted my entire life. Up until actually a career-ending skateboard injury. So I swim for fun and not so much for competition anymore.

1:33But I've been a Speedo guy all but just a couple years of my life, to be honest. And it's a thrill to be a part of this brand that's meant so much to me on a personal level. And to have this incredible responsibility to be a part of this, a small part, you know, of this nearly 100-year-old brand. It feels like a higher purpose to me than just designing cool stuff. And what's remarkable about Speedo for me, Doug, is the power of the brand. I mean, as you said, you're about to celebrate 100 years. And people here in the UK, in the US, in Europe, they're saying this is the speed of summer of 2025.

2:10So you're still very much en vogue, right? Yeah, well, I think we're even more a part of the conversation lately. I think because of the interest specifically in the men's brief, which, you know, as we were chatting about earlier, we invented that style. It was designed specifically for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. and it happened to be worn by an Australian, designed in Australia, worn by an Australian, Ian Murray Rose, who went on to get three gold medals in those Olympic Games. And then it found its way into like sort of outside the competitive community. And I think the thing that I love the most about it is in those early days, people were nearly arrested for indecent exposure for wearing that suit.

2:54So it has this sort of beautiful combination of performance and rebellion and style that was sort of revolutionary in the industry. And we don't often take credit. We're kind of a quiet brand. You know, we've got more gold medals than any brand. We've been around nearly 100 years. As I said earlier, you know, if it was done in swimwear, it was probably done first in Speedo. You know, the introduction of nylon as a material instead of cotton or wool, the introduction of the racerback, which revolutionized swimsuits and gave this freedom of movement and the sporty sensibility. the introduction of the brief even you know there was a time where you know the men's swim costume was a full body one-piece suit and speedo was the first brand to disconnect that and just put out you know a men's what we would know today as the modern day sort of swim trunk so it's phenomenal to be a part of this brand that has done so many things and in our nearly 100 year history And with our strong connection to the Olympics and competitive swimming, it's really exciting to start engaging with the consumer that's not the competitive swimmer and that is embracing this iconic style, the brief, in a way that feels fresh and new.

4:11And as a result, we're absolutely investing in that style and adding more colors, more fabrics, more cuts. Because it's really, for me, it's an expression of confidence and style. It's not about having the perfect body. It's embracing this, you know what, I feel good. I like who I am. I'm out there. I'm loving it. And I have this sense of confidence. And again, it kind of goes back to the sense of rebellion in the early days when people were nearly arrested for wearing so little clothing, you know, in public spaces. So it's got this cool vibe to it that I really, I really appreciate. Doug, you know, before our interview, I was actually live on radio talking about swimwear.

4:54And I did say speedos are for all. You know, I've been a speedos wearer. I think people sometimes have this image. You need to be an athlete or to have a six pack. But in my view, I think Speedo is also a brand that talks about liberation in a way as well, especially for men. A hundred percent. And also, you know, the thing that a lot of people don't realize because of this close association with competitive swimming and Olympics and all the rest of it. Swimming is an interesting sport and it's one of those things that, you know, you've got to get to a pool. It requires a certain amount of technique and that type of thing.

5:26So in one way, swimming becomes sort of this exclusive sport, but everybody loves to go on holiday and to be by the water and enjoy some of the best times in our lives have been spent on holiday by the beach and the ocean and the lakes and et cetera. And our product mix goes well beyond what we serve our most elite athletes to learn to swim styles and goggles and recreational swimwear and all of that. So it really is, despite being so closely associated with Olympic and the elite top of the top swimming, it really is an inclusive brand. We have a little something for everybody. And I want to ask you as well, you know, we're talking about the speed of summer and everything.

6:09How much is the brand reacting to this success in terms of product development? Because as you rightly said, there are new colors, there are new models, because men are also allowing themselves to try for something a bit more daring as well. Yeah, well, you know, look, in menswear, or specifically we're talking about this men's style, it's very cyclical. So there was a time where the brief was taboo and people were wearing shorts down to their knees and all the rest of it. But you're seeing a whole new generation that missed out on whatever stigma or whatever, you know, whatever, however people looked at the brief and thought, my God, I would never be caught dead in that.

6:48And they're rediscovering it. And so, you know, we've been seeing our search terms consistently year over year. The brief continues to be one of the most searched terms in swimwear. And, you know, I think we finally got to the point where it's like, look, we invented this thing and we haven't really owned it. And like I was saying earlier, what a great, amazing thing to be part of a brand. There's a handful of brands in the world that created iconic styles. Like I said, Bass created the Norwegian loafer that became known as the penny loafer. Levi's, the 501 or the five pocket jean. Speedo invented the brief.

7:27And it's this iconic style that everyone, and it's used interchangeably with the style. So even if it's not a Speedo brand brief, people still refer to that style as a Speedo, which is, again, very few brands get to rise to that level of notoriety. And sort of so for me, it has a ton of value. And to your question, we've added softer, newer fabrics, beautiful recycled nylons with spandex that have this buttery, soft comfort feel. Feels like a soft, almost like a T-shirt. it also it's less compressive because you know a lot of we make a lot of product for racing and training and fitness swimmers who generally like a little more compression and a tighter fit well if you're hanging out on the beach you kind of want to hang out on the beach right you need more expression and less compression and so we've built that into our styles with a number of out seam uh differences as well because some people like it really small for the maximum tanning opportunity and some folks like a little more coverage but it's really again the biggest thing for me is it's all about confidence and style it's not about having the perfect body it's not about all the rest of it it's just you know we're seeing this young consumer embracing it because they've just like it's fresh and it's new and it's cool and and people like to be out ahead of the curve you know we're definitely we're definitely hitting the mark with those sort of early adopters you know i do like the shorter scenes i have to say because you're talking about the tanning, I think it's a little bit more even, you know, but that's my take.

8:56I agree. That's where I go. Yeah. And I want to ask you, Doug, as well, Speedo is present in so many countries around the world. Do you see many cultural differences as well? Because, you know, of course, you know, we have Europe, you know, countries like Italy, you know, they love their tiny Speedos. But I wonder, the U.S. is a bit different. Perhaps men are a tiny bit more conservative in the way that you use the swimwear? A hundred percent. I mean, we've been seeing in our traditional, you know, swim trunks, shorter inseams coming up. But Italy, Spain, they've been ahead of the curve in terms of the shorter outseams or inseams on the traditional sort of swim trunks.

9:34it's catching on now in the U.S. I would say for sure Europe is ahead of the trend and has always embraced you know you you can go back 40 years 50 years on the beaches of you know south of France Italy Spain Portugal and you'll see men rocking you know the briefs for a while really only the competitive swimmer was wearing wearing the brief in the United States but you know and thanks in a large part, I think the world's becoming a smaller place. You know, we're so connected through social media. So trends are happening like that. It's not like, well, you know, hit the, you know, United States in two years.

10:11It's like people are on Instagram, TikTok, you name it, they're seeing what's happening and immediately trends connected. So the world is a smaller place. Of course, we see color preference differences like Northern Europe or England, UK is there's a preference for darker colors, definitely brighter, more expressive colors in the south of Europe. Asia has a different point of view. Australia, where we're big, brighter, bolder colors. US can kind of play in all of those sort of areas. But, you know, I think this latest exposure that we've gotten with the Walter Goggins. I was going to ask about that.

10:46That's an iconic cover. Amazing. And, you know, like, I think it was a lot of things happening at the same time. I mean, he's never been hotter. And I've watched this guy in the Quentin Tarantino movies like I've always been a fan. And of course, White Lotus has been in the conversation. And for him and look, he looks great. Right. But for him to be in that bright yellow Speedo just there for everyone to see it, it projected again this level of confidence. And I also think I'm not taking myself so seriously either, you know. And so it has gone viral. It's gotten Speedo back in the conversation.

11:22Because, again, we're typically in the conversation every four years with the Olympic cycles. And everyone's like, Speedo, because you see us on the blocks. You see us winning the gold medals and all the rest of it. But I have to say, it's really cool to be back in the conversation with a style that is polarizing. And some people would be like, hey, maybe we don't want to be known for that because, you know, it cuts both ways. Right. But for me to have a style that is interchangeably used across brands because it's so iconic, like not many brands get to get to share that space and have that piece of history.

11:57So for me, it's super important, something to be really proud of. I need to get a pair of those yellow ones that Gorgens was wearing. I'll get you some. Yeah, that's our solar brief. And it has the smaller outseam. It's a great fabric. It fits beautifully. And we offer a boatload of colors in it as well. But we've expanded, like I said, we've expanded the offering to different levels of outseams. We're in Rio de Janeiro recently doing some research and looking at the trends there. And, you know, the guys there rocked a brief, no problem, just walking down the sidewalk and, you know, some larger outseams as well.

12:37So, like I said, we're all in on this thing. And it's time to kind of reclaim our own heritage and, you know, attract new consumers that traditionally thought maybe Speedo wasn't for them, even though we've invented, you know, one of their favorite styles of all time. I'm very glad you mentioned Rio. Of course, I'm from Brazil, so I do think people in Rio, they do wear their swimwear in quite a nice way. And you were talking about cyclical, because in Brazil, at least, in the 70s, maybe there was a counterculture movement, and some singers, they were wearing quite very tiny kind of swimwear. And then it went back to shorts, and now I think, as the whole world is going, I think the brief is back in Brazil as well.

13:20It is. I think, you know, like I said, I've lived through already many cycles in menswear. And when I first started working, I was coat and tie and beautiful leather shoes, the whole thing. And then it was like, oh, ditch the tie. Oh, put on the khakis, ditch the blazer. Then it's jeans. And now it's just, there's no rules whatsoever. And I think that younger consumer, maybe they didn't see their dad wear a tie or put on a proper piece of clothing and that type of thing. So I think there's a lot of interest in styles that just kind of went out of fashion. And now people are discovering and saying, hey, that's pretty cool, or you've always got those people that are hypersensitive to trend or style or wanting to express their own.

14:01Again, for me, the brief is about expression in multiple ways. Doug, out of curiosity, you're based in California, but is that where Speedo is headquartered? I mean, where are kind of your main bases in the U.S.? Yeah, well, so our headquarters is in London. We're owned by Pentland Brands, which specializes in amazing heritage sports brands. The design center is in California. So I've got my whole design team here. But we also, you know, we've got regional offices around the world. You know, Europe, Asia, Australia, United States. The United States is still the biggest market overall. But, and, you know, we're here in Southern California, which is kind of ground zero for swimwear and that type of thing.

14:51What is your speed of choice when you go to the beach? Is it a solar brief or perhaps you're more Northern European with the typical black or navy one? yeah so i you know my favorite style actually that i that i wear most often is um in europe they call it the aqua short in the u.s we call it a square leg and it's it's the the knit brief but it's more of a i guess the equivalent of women's wear would be the the boy the boy leg or the boy cut so it's not as skimpy as the brief i would train i would wear the brief exclusively when i was swimming competitively and training but if i'm on vacation with my family and hanging out It's either the sort of boy cut short or we have a beautiful 14-inch outseam water short.

15:36It's made out of this incredible four-way stretch fabric. We do bright colors and prints. But I've always been prone to the shorter inseams in terms of the swimwear. Thank you very much, Doug. And to get your pair of Speedos, go to speedo.com. The show was edited by Flynn Simmons and I am Fernando Gusto Pacheco.

15:58Thank you.