Budgy Smuggler, Australian for Swimwear.

Why do you make swimwear in Australia?

We ask Chief Smuggler, Linny.

"Since we started, nearly 20 years ago… every pair of Budgy Smuggler swimwear has been proudly made in Sydney, Australia.

It’s made in the same factory of some great Australian brands before us like Zimmerman, Jets and of course Speedo itself when it was Australian owned. Most or all of those brands have shipped manufacturing totally offshore in search of understandably higher margins but also with less control on the manufacturing cycle, environmental impact & labour standards.

People often ask why we also don't move to a cheaper manufacturing base...they ask if you can save $5-$10 a pair and you make half a million garments...couldn't you make $5M more? In our minds, that's not how it works.

There's two things that are crucial in our minds at Budgy Smuggler. The first, quality and the second is the feeling you get when you put on a pair of Smugglers."

"On the quality front, it's hard to beat being able to track your production through every step. We want it to be quality you can be proud of and that people in our home country, Australia, are proud of.

The second is the feeling that you have when you put on a pair of Smugglers. We want you to literally feel like you're putting on a piece of Australia, to a brand that cares about its home country, about its manufacturing eco-system and that doesn't want to mass produce like pretty much everyone else.

It's also the right call for the environment.

While it's true we could save $5-$10 a pair if we made overseas, nearly 1/3 of what's made overseas ends up in land fill or discounted to below cost...so what's the true cost?

And lastly, there’s something we really love about seeing our swimwear being crafted. Our factory is run by our original cutter, Wayne, who has been with us for 2 x decades!

He's got no plans of stopping any time soon and neither do we."

Comments (9 comments)

January 22, 2025

Geoff Stainton

I have 4 pairs of smugglers, I proudly wear some of these when I holiday in Thailand. I asked about you making cotton budgie underpants. You already have the templates so it should be easy, I would buy them if you made them!

January 20, 2025

Robert

its great to see a company that is putting quality before profit
the quality of their swim wear is A1+….well worth the extra few dollars to get the quality…..the old saying is….you get what you pay for…..
Budgy Smuggler is certainly the only brand i would buy
their mail order service is excellent too…and prompt service

January 20, 2025

Nardia

Made in Australia 🇦🇺 please don’t change!!!

You are holding this country together! Making Australia great one pair of budgies at a time !!

January 20, 2025

Euge

A big fan of your Australian made swimwear love to support our own brands . Big disappointment when I bought the undies to find they were Chinese made

January 19, 2025

Michael

I love to see this! I’m a Canadian, and when I ordered my first pair of Budgys I was shocked to see they were actually coming from Australia. I’m happy to support any economy, and company that reflects this business model, I feel that extra that I spend is not only on good quality, but also on the worker making the product. I love my budgys and always look forward to getting a couple new pairs to start the summers in Canada.