Skimpy Men’s Swimming Briefs Are Making a Splash

This season, after years of fielding requests for a particular swimsuit online and at his retail stores, the men’s wear designer Todd Snyder gave those who had been asking what they wanted: a swim brief.

Mr. Snyder, who is known for making modern versions of classic items in the American man’s wardrobe, said that even though he had a sense of customers’ appetite for swim briefs, he was surprised by his version’s reception. “It’s been doing killer,” he said of the brief, a new addition to his namesake brand’s swimwear offerings — competing “neck and neck” with the trunks his brand sells.

The Todd Snyder Mykonos brief, which is sold in three solid colors and has an inside pocket for small items like keys, is among the latest iterations of a swimsuit being revisited by some luxury brands (most are European) and by men bold enough to wear it. They do not include Mr. Snyder. “I think I’m past that,” the 57-year-old designer said, laughing. “Those days are gone.”

Bode expanded its line of nostalgic and embroidered clothing to include solid-color swim briefs last year, and other rarefied styles currently for sale include asymmetrically cut briefs by Rick Owens, a rococo pair by Versace, a leopard pair by Dolce & Gabbana, a checked pair by Burberry and logo-stamped styles by Louis Vuitton and Gucci.

But no luxury brand has leaned in quite like Miu Miu, the women’s wear label beloved by many men, which was ahead of the pack when it showed swim briefs styled with T-shirts, polos and low-slung shorts in its spring 2024 collection. Now the brand offers a pair in seven colors and 14 sizes. Its three-figure price, like those of some other styles, is just as likely to cause a double take as the briefs themselves are.