Budgy Smuggler swimmers have had a cheeky rise to fame on the Beaches
It’s hard to walk past the beach and not see an iconic pair of Budgy Smugglers swimwear. While the Manly born and bred company is now selling a pair every two minutes, there was a time when Adam Linforth, the business chief executive officer or ‘chief smuggler’ as he prefers to be called, was going for four or five days at a time with zero orders. He took over the business as sole owner in 2008, at a time when boardshorts were past the knee, and kept a stock of around 300 pairs in the wardrobe of his apartment.
“I thought I’d be a millionaire pretty quickly – and then we lost money for the next eight years,” Adam says.
The Manly local worked full-time at another job while running the business. “So it was over a decade before Budgy Smuggler made a profit. Everyone thought we were a little bit insane. Board shorts, or the ‘curtains of shame’ as we call them, were very long. So it was a long time before the culture changed and Budgy Smugglers were a little more ubiquitous,” Adam says.
The brand originated when a bunch of mates wrote ‘Budgy Smuggler,’ misspelling the word ‘budgie’ on the back of a pair of male brief-style swimmers at a barbecue. They decided to trademark the name, set up a website, and make videos of each other wearing the swimmers.
Adam, who was friends with the group, took over the business five years later, and grew the business slowly, before Budgy’s big break came. It all came about because many professional male NRL players were wearing swim briefs under playing shorts to avoid any embarrassing moments after a tackle.
“There was a rugby league player called George Rose who used to play for Manly. Another swimwear company had actually sponsored Manly, but they only gave pairs to the ‘good-looking’ boys in the squad, and George was a bit upset about it (as he missed out),” Adam says.
So he sent George a few pairs of Budgy Smugglers, which he started to wear in the games. “His pants used to get pulled down every tackle, and then the (television) commentators started asking George, ‘What pair are you wearing this week?’” Adam says. George would then show his latest pair – anything from bright flouroescent colours to a black caviar print.
“Today I think about half of the NRL wears Budgy Smuggler each week, the majority of professional rugby players and a good chunk of the AFL,” Adam says. “Ironically, we’re a swimwear brand that’s got famous from sports that don’t involve swimming or water!”
Now the business has three Australian stores, including one in Manly, along with an office and warehouse in the UK and France. Adam’s family are all involved, with his mum doing the books, dad on custom sales and sister in design and product development. His cousins work there and his uncle helped build the store.
There are around 100 new designs released yearly, with colourful patterns ranging from rubber ducks to bananas. They also have a range for women and children.
“We’re trying to build a business that Australians are proud of,” Adam says. “If I look back to when we started, Australians were pretty much considered good at selling iron ore and not much else. I want us to be a symbol of the creativity and resourcefulness of Australians.”
