A letter from Chief Smuggler, Linny.

Now there’s almost 5,000 wineries within a one hour drive from Bordeaux and I plan on visiting all of them… but it was clear that if Budgy Smuggler was going to to be a meaningful part of people’s lives, then we’d need to figure a way to express ourselves through a winter game that was strong as our summer.

For our current swimwear we've got our own unique fabric and our own shape/cut, combined with laser cutters and craftsmen who've been making swimwear for close to half a century.

For winter we've applied the same philosophy of interactive improvement and sourcing the best makers we can find.

If it's not a fck yeah we love it... then it's a fck no.

The View from the Streets & Cafes of South West France

France is obviously famous for fashion and it’s fair to say that they’re a stylish bunch but a lot more relaxed than I had mentally envisioned.   

You need a jacket for 8ish months of the year, so I started taking mental notes at the streets and cafes and also hanging out at my favourite local bar, Motto... 

Rue St Catherine - the longest pedestrian mall in Europe and a great place for people watching.

The Hoodie Lock Up - Stepping Away from our Traditional Logo

Mentally we needed to make the transition from a swimwear brand making merch to a fully blown apparel brand in our own right. Our core logo doesn’t always translate to clothing without looking like ‘merch’ and we noticed the trend of brands using a different logo /  lock up on different garments and we made this leap with our hoodies having a totally new lock on the front chest.

Retro Aussie Flair

A lot of Australian surf brands from Rip Curl to Volcom are still popular in the South West of France and this helped to shape the idea of a retro colour scheme for a more ambitious project - The Budgy Smuggler Fleece.

The First Samples didn't go to Plan

We recruited 2 x French secret weapons, JB & Alex Dubie to help consult on the styles that would endure in France. We knew if we could get something that was loved in France, we could make it in Australia… but making pretty pictures into a garment that people loved wasn’t as easy or as quick as hoped.

Secret product agent JB Dubie & Blimp Linny - early samples Feb 2024. There was still a long way to go!

We Missed Australian Winter

We did so many revisions that we actually missed the entire Australian winter so our first drop of Fleeces would be in France and the UK. We had 800 pieces that launched in October 2024 and honestly we thought we’d battle to sell through the full range across the winter. Nek minute, we'd sold through almost all of them in just 2 weeks!

Our Winter baptism had arrived

For our current range in Aus, we've tweaked it slightly... a little more length in the arms and breadth across the shoulders but the core of the garment we're totally in love with and incredibly proud of.  

Over 2 years since the seed was sewn we now have our first full Winter range complete with four Retro Polar Fleeces and nine Hoodies.With the product work done behind the scenes we're confident that the Winter looks warm and with a touch of Budgy flair.