The opening ceremony has been and gone (yes, that was real) and the Olympics are here! Late last week, we checked in with OC friend Ian Hundley in London. Ian's first collection of swim shorts is now available exclusively at OC. Made specially for the opening of our very sporting new London store, each pair of Hundley Swim shorts is a hand-sewn patchwork of colorful cotton sailcloth.
A sometime model, artist, tailor, and summer camp lifeguard, Ian has always enjoyed swimming and clothes. We asked him for a full history of his lifelong loves and he told us about growing up in Canada, modeling with his brother Marc alongside Linda Evangelista, and helping Stella McCartney to fit the Team GB uniforms.
Shop Hundley Swim at OC London, our 10 Greene Street store in NYC, and our online London pop-up.
Alice Newell-Hanson: Do you remember the first time you went swimming?
Ian Hundley: I started swimming when I was three, because I grew up on a lake in Canada. I also went to summer camp every year for ten years. I became a camp counselor!
ANH: Did you teach swimming?
IH: No, I was a lifeguard at camp! I loved it, it was so much fun. Summer is my favorite time of the year. I hated high school and I grew up in a small town which was quite safe. I guess I was different without even knowing it. But in the summer, all our friends were from the city because they spent the vacation by the lakes. The city kids were always more tolerant of different things. It's how I learned anything I knew about fashion.
ANH: Was there a lifeguard uniform?
IH: No, not really. I think the only thing required was a whistle and possibly a clipboard? But I always wore a T-shirt because I was so self-conscious—I was a really thin kid so it never came off.
ANH: But you and your brother started out modeling in New York, right?
IH: [Laughs] Yeah, we did! After high school in Canada, Marc and I went to London for three months. All we'd do is go to clubs and so we met this designer. We didn't know he was a designer at the time, but he gave us his friend's number and told us that if we were ever in New York he'd photograph us. This is when Marc and I were young and a little more androgynous looking, and it was the 90s—and this is in contrast to me not wanting to take my T-shirt off! But Marc and I were like, "We're never going to go to New York." When we finally did go to the city, a year later, we called the number and it was Steven Meisel's number! He ended up shooting us for a magazine.
ANH: What magazine was it?
IH: I think it was Vogue! It was with Linda Evangelista. We knew very little about fashion but we understood who Steven Meisel was and who Linda Evangelista was. With all the supermodels at the time, in the early 90s, nobody didn't know who they were. It was so fun. We didn't know until we walked in and there she was, and we were delighted.
ANH: What were you wearing?
IH: It was something totally 90s. Probably white T-shirts and jeans. I bet it was CK. I think [Linda] was wearing a white dress, something very clean—she'd just got her new pageboy haircut.
ANH: How did you branch into your own creative projects?
IH: Marc and I ended up moving to New York a few months later. We were modeling and they were great jobs (editorials and shows) but we never made any money. We weren't models, real
A sometime model, artist, tailor, and summer camp lifeguard, Ian has always enjoyed swimming and clothes. We asked him for a full history of his lifelong loves and he told us about growing up in Canada, modeling with his brother Marc alongside Linda Evangelista, and helping Stella McCartney to fit the Team GB uniforms.
Shop Hundley Swim at OC London, our 10 Greene Street store in NYC, and our online London pop-up.
Alice Newell-Hanson: Do you remember the first time you went swimming?
Ian Hundley: I started swimming when I was three, because I grew up on a lake in Canada. I also went to summer camp every year for ten years. I became a camp counselor!
ANH: Did you teach swimming?
IH: No, I was a lifeguard at camp! I loved it, it was so much fun. Summer is my favorite time of the year. I hated high school and I grew up in a small town which was quite safe. I guess I was different without even knowing it. But in the summer, all our friends were from the city because they spent the vacation by the lakes. The city kids were always more tolerant of different things. It's how I learned anything I knew about fashion.
ANH: Was there a lifeguard uniform?
IH: No, not really. I think the only thing required was a whistle and possibly a clipboard? But I always wore a T-shirt because I was so self-conscious—I was a really thin kid so it never came off.
ANH: But you and your brother started out modeling in New York, right?
IH: [Laughs] Yeah, we did! After high school in Canada, Marc and I went to London for three months. All we'd do is go to clubs and so we met this designer. We didn't know he was a designer at the time, but he gave us his friend's number and told us that if we were ever in New York he'd photograph us. This is when Marc and I were young and a little more androgynous looking, and it was the 90s—and this is in contrast to me not wanting to take my T-shirt off! But Marc and I were like, "We're never going to go to New York." When we finally did go to the city, a year later, we called the number and it was Steven Meisel's number! He ended up shooting us for a magazine.
ANH: What magazine was it?
IH: I think it was Vogue! It was with Linda Evangelista. We knew very little about fashion but we understood who Steven Meisel was and who Linda Evangelista was. With all the supermodels at the time, in the early 90s, nobody didn't know who they were. It was so fun. We didn't know until we walked in and there she was, and we were delighted.
ANH: What were you wearing?
IH: It was something totally 90s. Probably white T-shirts and jeans. I bet it was CK. I think [Linda] was wearing a white dress, something very clean—she'd just got her new pageboy haircut.
ANH: How did you branch into your own creative projects?
IH: Marc and I ended up moving to New York a few months later. We were modeling and they were great jobs (editorials and shows) but we never made any money. We weren't models, real