This Stunning Swimwear Campaign Is Bringing Barcelona Summer Straight to You
Estévez + Belloso
If there's anywhere I'd rather be right now, it's on a beach in Spain with the sun beating down on my freckled shoulders, sangria in hand.
But since that's not possible, with European borders closed to Americans due to the global coronavirus pandemic, CDLP — the Swedish company creating luxury men's essentials using sustainable, "future-oriented" fabrics — is giving us the next best thing: a series of stunning images highlighting the Barcelona summer and the brand's bold new sustainable swimwear line.
Estévez + Belloso
Shot by Spanish photography duo Estévez + Belloso at Club Natació Badalona, the images are a vehicle to a time and place most of us are only dreaming of right now — one that includes vibrant econyl swim shorts, the lull of the ocean, and, simply, friends.
Estévez + Belloso
"Being from Stockholm, which has many months of cold and darkness, Barcelona keeps being that city that always feels dreamy for us, with its great vibrations, creativity, design, and architecture," Christian Larson, who cofounded CDLP with Andreas Palm, told Travel + Leisure. "It also has this really interesting ruggedness to it, which we like."
Estévez + Belloso
Estévez + Belloso
Originally, Larson planned to shoot the campaign himself, but like many of our itineraries for a Spanish summer, COVID-19 had other plans. However, as Spain, a country that took some of the early trauma from the pandemic, started to reopen, Larson had to find a new vision.
"We started to look for local creatives to realize the campaign for us, and came across this really talented photographer duo, Estévez + Belloso," said Larson. "Their images are highly documentary and stylistic at the same time, and in addition to that, they have a great sense of finding characters that resonate with our world and are masculine in their own way."
Estévez + Belloso
According to Larson, CDLP was born from travel, meaning that staying still — as most of us have — was difficult, but not impossible. "Travel keeps being a source of inspiration for us, although the home is nowadays equally important — something that's become even more evident in light of the current state of the world," he said.
Estévez + Belloso
And through the process of letting Estévez + Belloso take the lead in Barcelona, he's found that despite physical distance, we're more connected than ever before. "[We're] seeing now more than ever how easy it is to collaborate around the world — and how many talented people you can have access to and work with remotely."
Estévez + Belloso
Someday, we'll return to Barcelona's beaches. Until then, I'll be wearing my CDLP swim shorts, made with regenerated nylon from recycled fishnets, on my Brooklyn roof, soaking up the sounds of the city, sangria in hand.
CDLP
To buy: CDLP.com, $145
CDLP
To buy: CDLP.com, $90
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