S/S 2011 Onia’s Swim Trunk Collection

When Carl Cunow needed to find new swim trunks he went to the dependable men’s floor at Barney’s Co-op and was thoroughly disappointed with his options. Rather than settle for loud surf shorts, or the unthinkable mankini, he decided to design his own. He left his job in Product Development at Steven Alan and started Onia. Carl designs the swimwear while his partner Jake Post headers up the sales team.

Carl Cunow brought a lot of personal experience to the table when designing the collection. He opted for a cotton-nylon blend for the suits because it has both a soft hand and dries quickly. Carl also notes that unlike traditional swim trunk material (nylon suplex) his cotton-nylon blend doesn’t stick the wet legs.  The styling of the trunks themselves was intended to be versatile. Men prefer to wear the same trunks on the beach, playing beach volleyball and to the bar.

The collection consists of 3 styles: snap-closure “Calder” trunks, “Alek” board shorts and the “Amaury” board shorts, each available in two lengths. The trunks sell for around $130 a pair. All trunks feature a zip fly, and come in an array of colors from neutral khaki and black, to burnt orange and forest green, to ocean blue. Select prints are also available (and are more expensive than the solid colors).

Onia swimwear can be found in New York at Rogan and Steven Alan. You can also find the trunks online at Bonobos.

Photographs by Douglas Lyle Thompson.