SWIMWEAR 2022: LESS IS MORE
The summer party season starts now!
The first thing I hope you notice about this issue is the 22 pages of breathtakingly gorgeous men wrapped deliriously briefly in the latest season’s swimwear! Our annual Swimwear issue gives our Southern Hemisphere readers a look at what’s on offer right now for summer. For those readers in the Northern Hemisphere heading into winter, it’s a chance to see what they might be wrapping their beach bulges in later in the year.
There’s a very distinct energy in the swimwear collections for 2022 – it’s all about fun and freedom and feeling frisky again! With pandemic quarantines, lockdowns and travel restrictions finally lifting, the brands are bouncing back with strong, bright, celebratory colours, fun prints and absolutely minimal coverage! The more flesh the better seems to be the message.
I’m calling it the Less Is More season. Beach parties, pool parties, boat cruises… the gays are thirsty for summer action, and the swimwear makers know it!
Take Rufskin, for example. Their deliciously suggestive gear barely contains their model’s junk out front or covers his butt crack around the back. Their audacious posing pouch is begging to be slipped off, and their brief has a fast-release clasp! Everything about the range is an invitation to party.
Todd Sanfield’s swim briefs are cut so low across the waist and so high over the leg you’re virtually naked save for a strip of fabric pouching the goods. And you don’t need to be Alan Turing to decipher the messages in Rude
Rainbow’s glazed donuts and suckable icypole prints.
New kids on the block, ThePack named their brand after inspiration from the wolf pack. But you could be forgiven for thinking the name has something to do with the way their swimwear packs in the junk and lifts and thrusts it out into the world. We are not complaining!
Classic brands like Pump! Code 22 and Modus Vivendi have also notched up the raunch factor with briefer cuts, bulge-enhancing designs and attention-grabbing colours.
I’m very happy with this new direction. A few years ago, pre-covid, swimwear was getting increasingly conservative. Boring boardshorts and tedious trunks were creeping in. No wonder some boys started wearing underwear to the beach!
When you’re in your skimpy new summer gear you’ll need some music to move to, so we’ve had a chat with three Aussies who can help. Tommy Shades will have you on the dancefloor, Alfie Arcuri taps into his sultry side with Devil’s Lips, and rising acting star Nicolas Hamilton treats us to his first music EP.
Speaking of thirst traps and action, this month, writer Matt Phillp spent time with porn star Manuel Skye who, like many in his industry, has more going on than you might expect. For example, we learn that he’s an acrobat, a yoga instructor, and a writer. Who knew? But don’t worry, he talks extensively about the hot sex, too! Plus, there are amazing photos by Ivan Avila.
Our in-depth news feature this month is America’s War On Trans Kids. Republican states across the USA are introducing antitrans legislation at a record rate, and it’s kids who are their main targets. Much of the legislation serves no practical purpose. Its main aim seems to be driving a wedge between progressive and conservative Americans for purely political purposes. That’s bad news for American democracy, and even worse for the kids who bear the brunt of these punitive laws – some of which seem to come straight from The Handsmaid’s Tale. We look at who’s driving this and why, and how the trans community is responding.
Also, journalist, media presenter and comedian, Josh Szeps has a long chat with Ian Horner about his career to date, his unexpected outing (and molestation) by Russell Brand on Huff Post Live, and tons of gossip on encounters with Dan and Eugene Levy, Roseanne, Jeremy Irons, Alan Alda, Ian McKellen, shock-jock Alan Jones and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Josh is thoughtful and funny and has plenty of opinions on the current media landscape.
There’s plenty to read in this issue. I’m sure you’ll enjoy browsing the summer swimwear. And, as always, stay safe, be kind, and love yourself.
You don’t need to be Alan Turing to decipher the message in Rude Rainbow’s glazed donuts and suckable icy-poles.
Andrew Creagh Founding Editor