Budgy Smuggler makes a splash with Travis Head

Budgy Smuggler has put Australian cricketer Travis Head on a floating pitch on Sydney Harbour to launch its Summer 2026 collection, with bowlers wearing the new range as they tried to get him out.

The swimwear brand staged the launch behind the superyacht Mischief on 8 November. Head, a Budgy Smuggler ambassador, took guard in the collection, while each bowler’s delivery gave another piece its outing.

The idea brought together two familiar fixtures of an Australian summer: cricket and a swim.

A pitch to its customers

For chief smuggler Adam Linforth, the starting point was whether a conventional fashion launch would mean much to the people buying the swimmers.

"We looked at the traditional fashion launch and thought, who's that actually for?" Linforth said.

"Our customers don't watch runway shows. They watch the Test at the pub, then jump off a wharf. So we built the launch around that. Travis is the best in the world at what he does, and the harbour is the best office in the world. Putting the two together was the most Budgy thing we could think of."

Budgy Smuggler also used the stunt to make a point about AI-generated advertising, emphasising that the players, pitch and harbour setting were real.

The Summer 2026 collection includes new prints across men’s smugglers, women’s swimwear and accessories.