Elegance on the beach
Vilebrequin, the French swimwear brand for fathers and sons and now mothers and daughters arrives at EmQuartier
THAIS WHO are fashion conscious even when by the pool or on the beach can now be assured of looking stylish both in and out of the water with the arrival in Bangkok of the French swimwear brand Vilebrequin.
XP managed to have a chat with the brand’s president and chief executive Roland Herlory, who was in town recently to celebrate Vilebrequin’s new flagship store at the EmQuartier.
CAN YOU TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF VILEBREQUIN?
Vilebrequin was born around 40 years ago in 1971 in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. The brand is an expression of Saint-Tropez in the 1970s, a fascinating mix of elegance, fun and fantasy, lightness and uniqueness. The era was the beginning of the art of living, of a lifestyle on the beach and by the pool. That’s the brand today. That’s the sense of Vilebrequin.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE |THE BRAND’S CHARACTER?
Our value is a freedom that can be seen in the brand. It’s life on the French Riviera.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE BRAND’S NAME?
For that I have to go back to the beginning of the story, which is in fact a love story. The founder, Fred Prysquel, was a photographer and motor sports journalist who used to travel around the world covering Formula 1. He was in love with a woman living in Saint-Tropez so he moved there to be near her. Fashion at that time was everything mini including very short and tiny swimwear. He thought that fashion wasn’t for him. He didn’t have the body for it but he really wanted to attract this lady. So he came up with the idea of designing his own swimwear shorts. He drew the design on the paper tablecloth of a caf
