VOGUE VAULT

When it comes to sizzling swimsuits in sensual summer scenes, there’s no better era to look to than the 80s.

In some ways not much has changed since 1983, when Vogue Australia enlisted photographer Patrick Russell to shoot a swim special for our November issue. Today, our summers might be hotter, and our swim industry bigger, but summertime in Australia is still world class. Whether it’s the steamy pavements in the cities, lush tropical forests or the scorching sand on our beaches, there’s no doubt we live life best in the heat. Shot on location in Noosa, Russell opted for a posse of ‘surfie boys’ to act as male models. The result is wholly Australian – Speedos, a tangle of tanned limbs and the innocence of locals in their moment of glory. “[The surfies] completely disarmed the models, too. It was an easy sexuality. It was easy and fun,” Russell said of the shoot day. Describing the men in the photograph as “a glass of cold water on a hot day”, the final product is just that: an oiled-up, entirely 80s picture of an Aussie summer.