Our Story

Go ahead, do me a favor and put on your current swimsuit. I'll wait.

Now look down. Do you feel like a man? Or maybe your distracted by the billowing folds of board shorts that sway gently around your lower calves. Remember how cool backwards visors, frosted tips, and those like orange-lensed Oakley’s were? Well your board shorts remember. Or maybe you went on a study abroad and felt pretty certain about that little euro-speedo number all the cool bronze-chested Italian bros were wearing. And maybe - if your like me - that little speedo doesn't match quite as well up against the current blueish hue of your winter-tanned thighs. Maybe you’d like a few more square inches of fabric? Maybe you’re distracted by an array of Hawaiian flowers that assault your senses and forcibly drag you back to the harsh unforgiving landscape of junior high school. But let’s not stop here, for we must go deeper. Pray tell, how did you don your trusted trunks? Was there some type of mesh perma-underwear involved? That’s always a confidence booster... nothing like a nice bikini-cut mesh feature that’s inescapably wedged permanently into the most nether reaches of your sweet cheeks, there to remind you how much you love swim parties. And then I’m betting that at some point you squirmed into your shorts, looked down to fasten them up, and encountered velcro. For a zipper. I love that. Nothing makes you feel more like a man than sharing the same zipper technology as your two-year-old daughter’s cinderella shoes. Super cool.

Enter Starleys. We decided to figure out a better swim suit, and we really sat down with the right people here - You. These shorts weren’t designed for surf competitions, or dramatic James Bond-like exits from the pool of a luxury hotel in Dubai. (Though, you COULD win a surf competition in these, and you may look even BETTER than Bond.) We took a ‘for the people, by the people’ approach to men’s swimwear and tackled the problem from a backyard pool. Turns out when we asked your average joe what they wanted in swimwear, their answers were pretty uncomplicated. Clean lines, thoughtful fit, comfortable to move around in, solid hardware, you know... grown-up stuff.

So we listened, and we stripped away the useless features to make way for quality details. Things like metal buttons and aglets, piped finish to keep the suit looking crisp, four-way stretch fabrics with understated patterns that stand the test of time, actual zippers, and of course no tags or mesh thongs. We also tossed in front pockets and an elastic loop in the back, zipper pocket to keep track of your keys, and we made these things unnervingly comfortable. Jake, our co-founder, has even slept in them a few times.