French swimwear brand Vilebrequin introduces a new collection for summer 2026 with artist Fabrice Hyber
Art and fashion have long intersected with one another. Is a designer not simply an artist, just with a very specific canvas? French swimwear brand Vilebrequin is no stranger to artistic collaboration, and its particular medium has remained steadfast since 1971. The brand was founded on the glamorous shores of St Tropez by photographer and motorsport journalist Fred Prysquel and his fashion designer wife, Yvette. The tongue-twister name comes from the French for “crankshaft” as a nod to Prysquel’s motoring background.
Vilebrequin’s original design took inspiration from California’s surfer-style long shorts, and remains very much the blueprint of its swimwear today, some five decades on. But while Vilebrequin has established itself as an icon of this (admittedly niche) industry, a large part of its appeal is that it subverts expectations and isn’t afraid to experiment, artistically speaking. Just over 10 years ago, Vilebrequin made waves (pun intended) by collaborating with Italian photographer Massimo Vitali, whose Slim Aarons-style beachscape imagery was transposed directly onto the swim shorts.
Men Swim Shorts Multi Bubbles - VBQ x Fabrice Hyber
The results were not only technically brilliant but established a new era of limited-edition “wearable art” that has become part of the DNA of Vilebrequin. Since then, the brand has collaborated with revered and often unexpected artists and designers, among them the late, great Virgil Abloh (under his Off-White label), American artist Derrick Adams and Karl Lagerfeld. This year, Vilebrequin debuts a new limited collection designed in collaboration with French artist Fabrice Hyber.
On the surface, the range seems to tread very familiar ground, with inspiration coming from underwater seascapes – the collaboration has been dubbed a “swimteraction”, and two more releases are due later this year. But the end product provides something much more complex and unexpected, a moving medium. ‘Bringing art to the beach has always been the dream,’ says Vilebrequin CEO Roland Herlory of the brand’s design ethos.
Hyber has created two designs for his debut collection that showcase his unique approach to art. Originally training in science, he later entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and started his career as a painter, but has since expanded his practice to include biology, physics and mathematics, creating works that function like evolving ecosystems.
Hyber’s are invented landscapes that fuse expressive colour and movement with organic, biological motifs. ‘Bubbles conjure ideas of marine life. Or soap suds. Splashing in the water, creating pockets of rest and lightness,’ the artist says of his Multi Bubbles swim shorts design, with the less abstract Pescador print featuring fish that ‘aren’t drawn, but scattered… like a series of notes scribbled freely in a holiday journal or diary.
‘We do not pretend to do art, but we tried to reproduce Fabrice Hyber’s art in the most honest and respectful manner,’ explains Herlory. ‘With the know-how of Vilebrequin Studio and ateliers, we are capable of delivering printing techniques that are as close as possible to the original artwork’s unique colour and contrast.’ The result is a collection that delivers on all counts: playful and emotive with a quintessential sense of sun-drenched wanderlust from a brand that never plays it safe.
The Vilebrequin x Fabrice Hyber collection launches in April 2026; vilebrequin.com
