There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler, and almost all of them are true. The early details are a little hazy, but here's the beginning... In a Sydney backyard, a group of friends wrote "Budgy Smuggler" on the back of a pair of Speedo-style swimsuits, just for a laugh. They accidentally misspelled "budgie," and Budgy Smuggler was born.

Led by Lockie Harris and Tom Malone, the early philosophy was essentially to recruit Smugglers and "let loose." This strategy wasn't sustainable, but we stuck with it for about ten years. One of our favorite early marketing techniques was to organize City2Surf with Smugglers and hope it would make headlines. We never made a name for ourselves, but we made a lot of new friends along the way.

In 2005, the boys finally developed their own swimwear design and launched one of Australia's first online businesses: www.BudgySmuggler.com.au. Everyone insisted, "It'll never work!"

At the time, many brands were outsourcing manufacturing overseas. We decided to continue making our swimwear here in Australia, under the guidance of our master maker Arnold, who has worked for several other iconic Australian brands, including Speedo and Zimmerman. When you put on a Budgy, we want you to feel like you're wearing a piece of Australia.

It may seem unbelievable, but a meeting with Barack Obama and the United Nations led to a change of ownership. Lockie, the original Chief Smuggler, decided to sell and handed over to Adam “Linny” Linforth in 2008. Linny, a top rower at a lifesaving club, started running the business from a bedroom in Manly, selling Budgys straight from his backpack while competing across Australia. Within a year, he had the keys to the Budgy Smuggler bus... and no idea what to do next.

Budgy Smuggler opted for a fabric better suited to surf boat rowing, allowing competitors to comfortably adjust their swimsuits to slide over the seats. This fabric quickly caught on in non-aquatic sports like rugby, AFL, cricket, and music festivals. At one point, more professional athletes were buying pairs than ordinary customers. The website even crashed when Steve Smith and Dave Warner wore smugglers in a test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, establishing Budgy Smuggler as a brand known for sports far beyond the water.

We literally shut down the streets of Sydney to hold a world-record-breaking swimsuit parade to raise funds for AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience).

George Rose, a member of the Manly Sea Eagles and an Indigenous star, rose to prominence by revealing on television the different Budgy models he wore each week. A growing number of athletes, including Buddy Franklin, Matt Giteau, and Adam Ashley-Cooper, are sporting the brand both on and off the field.

After more than a decade, Manly resident BJ Hartmann became the first full-time member of the Budgy Smuggler team, soon joined by Angus Keenan and Nathan Linforth. With their help, we moved the bed out of Linny's room, making way for our first desk and marking our transition from a hobby to one that still feels like a hobby.

Linny joined Budgy Smuggler full-time after raising over $50 million to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school graduation rates through her work with the AIME mentorship program. Soon after, Budgy Smuggler's first sponsored athlete, Tim "Reedy" Reed—whom Linny met five years earlier—won Ironman 70.3 and the Australian Ironman Championship with Budgy Smugglers. Reedy was also instrumental in developing the brand's most comfortable fabrics.

Budgy Smuggler is going international! Linny set up shop in the UK to free the thighs of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and enjoy the British sunshine. The growth strategy was simple: connect with players over a beer. Jack Nowell of England and the British & Irish Lions became a Budgy icon, while Australian rugby stars like Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Damien Fitzpatrick, and Adam Ashley Cooper played key roles in spreading the Budgy spirit across the northern hemisphere.

We're organizing the search for Mr. Ordinary in Australia, which encapsulates much of the Smugglers ethos. The most important thing was to be someone you'd enjoy being with, not just someone you'd like to look at. For our boys' and girls' ranges, we tried to make Budgy Smuggler a way to share good times with your friends, rather than being interested in your appearance.

We opened our first flagship store on Darley Rd, Manly, after a series of successful pop-ups, welcoming Milly Mac, who still runs our outlets today. In 2018, we debuted pop-up events in France and established a foothold in the northern hemisphere. We launched our first London pop-up at Old Street Station, with Jimmy Exelby and Jack Burton joining the core team to expand Budgy into the UK.

Our Smugglers family is increasingly sharing life's highlights while smuggling. We estimate the total number of tattoos is around 50 and growing.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

There are many mythical stories about the founding and history of Budgy Smuggler & almost all of them are true. The early details are bit hazy but it goes a little something like this...A group of mates in a backyard in Sydney write 'Budgy Smuggler' on the back of a pair of speedo-style Swimwear as a bit of a laugh. They accidentally misspelling 'budgie'.Budgy Smuggler was born.

Great question. We're currently working hard on expanding our clothing range... we're also looking at opening stores in Queensland and coastal New South Wales. We remain a family business and still make every pair of Budgy Smugglers here in Sydney, Australia. Our head office is now located in Brookvale, and our dream is to successfully install a rooftop pool for the team by 2028. When it comes to product testing, you can count on us!

Happy Smuggling, from Linny and the entire Budgy Smuggler International Team