WORKING LUNCH WITH ROS

Sam Calla & Paul Higgins – Circa75

CIRCA75 launched in 2004, and its swimwear one year later, and has been proudly made in Australia ever since. It’s Darlinghurst co-founders Sam Calla and Paul Higgins now are chosen the world over for their sexy cut, their fantastic performance in chlorine and salt water and how unbelievably comfortable they are. They are designed for the beach or gym, backyard, pool, or just relaxing on that well deserved break. Very Australian.

No one has helped Aussie men to strut their stuff with quite as much sizzle as Sam Calla and Paul Higgins of menswear label, Circa75.

This couple has effectively encouraged blokes to cast aside their swimming trunks and proudly step back into their briefs.

In fact, thanks to Circa75’s sexy cut, chlorine resistance and amazing comfort, the budgie smugglers of the past are tweeting a whole new song.

“It’s because our swimwear is made from 100% polyester,” Calla explains. “Our costumes don’t sag or lose colour. They have UV protection and they’re definitely body hugging.”

He’s telling me this during our working lunch today over Zoom. I’m in my Bondi apartment and he’s at Circa75’s headquarters in Kyneton, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

Admittedly, as this is a brand brimming with vitality, I’d been slightly apprehensive about our date. Would Calla simply hoover up a protein shake and leave me feeling a bit old school and frankly, pudgy?

But no, he’s chosen a chicken baguette from local foodie pit stop, Monsieur Pierre. It’s pure food porn, bursting with mayo and studded with caramelised shallots.

Meanwhile, my home-made smoked salmon sanger between two layers of greens with red onion, coriander and cornichons, looks as lacklustre as well, Tony Abbott in his beloved Speedos.

Circa75 is a brand built on a love story. Calla and Higgins met in the Sydney buying office of David Jones as newly minted university graduates turned retail buyers.

“Sydney in the mid-90s was so much fun,” recalls Calla “It was the heyday of the store and of the buying office.”

I remember it well. There were lavish parties nearly every night with A-list in-store events and fashion designers clamouring to be part of the DJ’s fashion family.

The two men eventually took an extended break in London and decided to start their own menswear brand. They called it Circa75, as it was the year between both of their births.

“Funnily enough, a lot of our customers are born around that time as well,” says Calla.

Back in Sydney, they reached out to some creative talent including an experienced pattern-maker and Circa75 was then on its way. Soon they would open a store in Sydney’s body-conscious heartland, inner-city Darlinghurst. They continue to manufacture in Sydney to this day.

“We started with a whole range of menswear, but we noticed that people kept coming back for the swimming briefs, so that became our main line and it soon developed a life of its own,” Calla says.

It all went swimmingly until the COVID lockdowns when many customers disappeared from big cities. They decided to explore business opportunities in regional Victoria.

“We’d never considered living here before but we kind of love it,” he says. “It’s a whole new vibe.”

And Kyneton, he says, is just close enough to still feel connected to the city.

Circa75 is now an online business with customers all around the world including those who frolic in the beach clubs of Mykonos, St Tropez and Capri. But made right here in Australia.

Having their own brand means that it consumes their lives. They work non-stop, always thinking about swimwear and coming up with new concepts. But no matter what, they always make time to stop for lunch.

“I enjoy having a good lunch break,” Calla confirms.

“I might grab a tuna salad or some sushi and get a little fresh air, so I can feel refreshed before going back into meetings.”

The two partners still enjoy working and living together. They even run together, preferring it to working out in the gym. They also married in Melbourne with a fabulous gay wedding becoming of sexy swimwear entrepreneurs.

“People are constantly surprised about how much time we spend together,” Calla remarks, “but we’ve always been in sync.”

In fact, they’ve just returned from a break.

“We were inspired to see what is happening on the beach. It was great to see that there were definitely guys embracing the wearing of briefs,” he says.

But don’t expect Circa75 swimmers to suddenly be covered in kitsch tropical prints. They have a fun range of neons and some patterns, but their core colour is green, which surprises Calla.

“The light in Australia must suit that shade but there’s also something in the psyche of men here. They love green,” he says.

In the meantime, they’re planning to bring out a range of Aussie made Turkish towels and are considering doing a pop-up store somewhere close to the beach in Victoria.