Be comfortable in your own skin,
And use clothing to accentuate it.

And as someone once said, be covered in sweat than in clothes at the beach! However, as Warren Buffet once pointed out, only when the the tide goes can you see who has been swimming naked.

It doesn’t take long to know of my literary backgrounds, does it? Merging my worlds of corporate with style and fashion has been a task for me my entire existence. Which is why I draw such inspiration from New York Fashion Week Mens (#NYFWM), a first in its field, and the ability for entrepreneurs and global icons to talk fashion in the most unlikeliest of ways. The reason that the swimwear, underwear and self-confident nakedness comes into chatter is because of the two shows I attended by Parke and Ronen and Thorsun, showcasing Adonis bodies with bare accents and runway trends that will haunt the web for several months to come.

Parke and Ronen

One of the most awaited presentations of fashion week is always Parke and Ronen, known for fitted swimwear and sexy briefs. In synch with the rest of fashion week’s trends, they presented some more relaxed fit outfits, without forsaking the need for a fit body as epitomized by their models. Starting with a retro music laser show and a theatrical opening, you knew that the show promised a lot.

Of all the trends I saw, the one that jumped at me immediately was the sheer quantity of animal print used, particularly leopard. Now anybody who knows me knows my infatuation with all things leopard, so needless to say I was yelping in my seat with the knowledge that my favorite menswear trend was not languishing anytime soon. (And probably gave off the impression that I was not being coy enough staring at six packs from behind my sunglasses). For I do think that the spotty cheetahs and leopards add a whimsical, wild and confident character in a man. Especially when on his swimwear, tanks and underwear.

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Blues and waves were another common theme, apparently an inspiration from Pan American Eastern airlines and flight lounges. With blue being a dominant theme, clearly fitting with the spring summer beachy vibes, it was no wonder that this was perhaps the most wearable and transient of trends for mainstream inhalation.

And keeping the prints in mind, much akin to Ricardo Seco‘s dynamite outerwear, was the trend of block prints (even aside from animal prints) on underwear and swimwear. I once heard that its about character and confidence when you are stripped down to your bare essentials, and the swagger of seeing detailing around usually hidden but frequently targeted bodices was a proper prospect indeed.

The finale, with the models strutting the walks and heating up the runway in only swimwear and underwear is what fashion shows are made of. Turning audiences into ghosts, this was one show that will have the internet and Pinterest abuzz for years to come.

And guess who got to go backstage and to the afterparty?

Thorsun

On related but disparate notes, George Sotelo of Thorsun didn’t go quite as brief, but presented a swimwear collection of luscious bathing suits. Similar to Parke and Ronen’s models, the free display of washboard abdominals was a precursor to the swimwear on display.

Which included a play on ombre, trigonometry and recurrent motifs in understated colors. Without the need for sunglasses, as any Miami advertisement will often want to proclaim as a mandate, I found the colors to be the right amount of bright – with less of a focus on show and tell and more on the functionality. For I found, later, that some of the swimwear even had pockets! Totally functional for modern men with phones loaded with more apps than blood cells.

Thankfully most of it was shying away from using elastic at the drawstrings and having flat panel shorts-like tops. For all men with summer only six packs know that when the drinks quotient goes high or the hangover food becomes a tad over in consumption, those elastics act like yeast for the unappealing kinds of muffins. Well designed, keeping this in mind!

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At the end of the day, this gave us guys enough inspiration for what to wear on the beach, for bed or for play. But just like life, it was time to move on: for just like bathing, if you do it for too long, you just end up getting wrinkled.

On to more fashion shows and more obsessive photo behaviors.