Mounderwear, the men’s underwear and swimwear label known for body-positive design, premium fabrics, and a loyal following that spans the LGBTQ+ community and beyond, has announced the launch of Core Swim, its newest collection for Summer 2026. In a season when less is more, the collection arrives as a deliberate return to clean lines, timeless cuts, and a focused color palette built around fit rather than flash.
“This summer is all about simplifying things,” says founder and designer On Mekahel. “We live in a world where everything feels over-designed, and Core Swim is our answer to that. We’re focusing on pieces that will look just as good three years from now as they do today.”
At the heart of Core Swim is the classic swim brief; a silhouette Mekahel set out to perfect rather than reinvent. It is the kind of piece that earns a permanent spot in the rotation: no gimmicks, no excess, just an exceptional fit that does exactly what great swimwear should. “I wanted to create the swim brief every man should own,” he says. “Something classic and effortless. Core Swim is about stripping away distractions and focusing on what matters most: great fit, great colors, and confidence.”
The collection is crafted from a premium stretch fabric engineered to move with the body, dry quickly, and hold its shape through repeated wear, season after season. Every cut is designed to celebrate the body’s natural form rather than fight it, offering support where it counts while remaining comfortable enough to carry a man from morning on the sand well into the evening.
Color is where the collection truly comes alive. Orange leads the charge as the season’s undisputed hero: bold, warm, and impossible to walk past on a beach. Classic white and black round out the palette, anchoring the collection in timelessness.
To bring the campaign to life, Mounderwear traveled to the Italian coastline — a setting that felt as inevitable as the collection itself. Sun-bleached, effortless, and eternally stylish, Italy offered the kind of backdrop that doesn’t compete with what’s in front of the camera. “The collection is called Core, so the shoot needed to feel authentic and real,” Mekahel says. “Nothing over-styled. Just strong, clean imagery that lets the collection speak for itself.”
Mekahel founded Mounderwear nearly a decade ago, drawing on years of modeling for other underwear brands to build something he felt was missing from the market. He has grown the label alongside his husband, Dave, who remains his closest collaborator and most trusted critic at every stage of the design process. “Dave is involved in everything,” Mekahel says. “He’s the first person to see the samples and the first to tell me when something isn’t working. We balance each other out really well. I’m the dreamer and designer, and he’s great at looking at things from the customer’s perspective.”
Since its launch, Mounderwear has cultivated a deeply devoted following within the LGBTQ+ community — a relationship the brand holds close — while making clear that its message is for any man who wants to feel good in what he wears. “We design for men who want to feel sexy, regardless of how they identify.”
As the brand approaches its 10-year anniversary, that founding conviction has only grown sharper. “My goal is to keep evolving while staying true to the reason we started: making men feel confident,” says Mekahel. “We’ll continue expanding into new categories, exploring new ideas, and pushing the brand forward, but confidence, comfort, and celebrating individuality will always remain at the heart of MOUNDERWEAR.”
The Core Swim collection is available now at www.mounderwear.com. Follow along at @mounderwear.
