March 20, 2012 |
FROM THE VAULT (WINTER / SPRING 2012)
Do you suffer from wet short post emergence from body of water, be it sea or pool? Do you long to be dry in a matter of minutes rather than hours? Well, Orlebar Brown has just the thing for you: the Bulldog II and the Setter II. Yes, they’ve redesigned their two bestselling designs in a brand-new speed-dry fabrication called Nano-Tex. What the hell, you ask. Well, to quote the science bit, “surface tension causes liquids to cling to fabrics where they can be absorbed. Nano-Tex Speed Dry uses nano-scale ‘whiskers’ to change the surface tension of fabrics, dramatically reducing water absorption and improving drying time”. We’re letting you know this so that you can make a informed decision on your next trunk-buying trip, though we think we know what you might buy, six times faster. In both saltwater and chlorine environments. For those who still aren’t entirely convinced by the benefits of such technology as garment, we took it upon ourselves to canvas the trunk-wearing public in our office (Garth and Vincent) on the benefits of a quick-dry short. For Vincent they augur “the end to clamminess – that damp feeling as you dry out. Which in turn reduces the risk of your appendage attaching itself to the underside of your leg, which if not unattached, can cause nasty chaffing.” Yes, you can liberally apply Vaseline, but who carries Vaseline to the beach? And anyway, that presents a whole host of new and unpleasant sand-related problems. For Garth, they spell an end to socially awkward moments. “You can go straight from beach to bar without having to get changed, which, on a beach, is an activity riddled with embarrassing pitfalls. There’s also the small problem of damp short and barstool imprint. Obviously, when such a damp imprint is spotted, the mind just naturally assumes. You are also no longer subjected to sand bottom.” As Vincent mentioned, sand and trunks do not mix: “Now the sand just naturally falls away instead of embedding itself in various crevices.” So there you have it, after extensive research on the part of Orlebar Brown, and less extensive research on our part, that classic menswear staple has indeed evolved. Technology moves forward in leaps and bounds these days.
by Natalie Dembinska
