Luke Evans on Foray Into Fashion, Travel Must-Haves and Why Men Should Never Skip Leg Day
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When Luke Evans goes on vacation, there are only two things he needs: a good beach and a good T-shirt (okay, and maybe a few other things too, but more on that later).
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That’s the inspiration behind the actor’s latest endeavor, an apparel and lifestyle brand dubbed BDXY, which debuted this month with a capsule collection of figure-flattering T-shirts, swim trunks, underwear, candles and seaside-inspired accessories. Playing off the words “bold” and “sexy,” BDXY (pronounced “B-D-X-Y”) launches with a unisex tee as its hero product, inspired by classic Hollywood style.
For Evans, who co-founded BDXY with partner Fran Tomas and the actor’s longtime stylist Christopher Brown, the company is chance to flex his artistic chops off-camera, while creating pieces that he pictured himself wearing everyday — “Staple pieces that are unseasonal,” as the actor explains.
“I thought the best place to start would be with staple products of wardrobes, and T-shirts are worn by everybody,” Evans tells THR. “So we’re starting with the first thing that you have on your body, which is sometimes the most important thing, not just in how it looks but also in how it feels.”
The good feeling extends to the production of the shirts, which are sustainably-made in Portugal using use ethically-sourced, natural fibers (a blend of lyocell and organic cotton). Evans says he’s personally visited the family-owned factory where the shirts are produced, adding that “we were basically sent back to school,” with the amount of knowledge he gleaned from the siblings behind the operation.
As for the rest of the collection, BDXY’s initial drop also includes tank tops, retro-styled shorts, and two cuts of swim trunks (a “swim brief” and a Brazilian-style sunga) for men. Each of the styles are named after different parts of a film set, which Evans calls “a little quirky touch.”
THR caught up with Evans to talk about the familial inspiration behind his new brand, his go-to travel essentials, and why American men shouldn’t be afraid to bare (almost) all.
First off, tell us about the name “BDXY” and what it means.
It’s two words: bold and sexy. To me, ‘bold’ represents confidence, individuality, identity and strength. And that’s as much something that you can acquire through a piece of clothing, as it is a feeling inside and up here (points to head) and in your heart and your soul. And ‘sexy’ is very much the same thing. As far as I’m concerned, sexy is an energy as much as it’s a physical manifestation. You’re looking sexy, feeling sexy, giving off sexy, absorbing someone who is sexy. They’re both positive words, and they’re all-inclusive words. What I love about boldness and sexiness is that it comes in all shapes and forms. And so to me, that’s sort of what I want people to feel when they wear our product — that they feel those things as much as they want to look those things.
You’re best known as an actor — what made you want to start a fashion line?
I’ve dabbled in fashion being an actor in movies and television, and you also get invited to lots of interesting fashion shows. And you know, I’ve met lots of wonderful designers over the years from different fashion houses. But this all stemmed from my mom. She used to clean up people’s houses, but she was also a seamstress; she always had a sewing machine on the kitchen table. She’d make loads of clothes for me and I would watch her, and she would let me use the machine sometimes. So I’ve been around the creative side of fashion longer than I realized; I understand how things would hang if it was a T-shirt, or if it was a shirt, or trousers, or shorts. And I’m not scared of designing or cutting things and making them better.
Which brings us to creating the perfect T-shirt…
I have a pile of T-shirts downstairs and I used to go for the same three every time. One was very expensive; one was about the neckline; [and] one was about the elasticity of the arms. And I’m talking about T-shirts that have been washed 40, 50 times and still look good. So we created a hybrid of all three into one that we love.
Why did you decide to start with a T-shirt, rather than say, creating a denim line or leather bag?
I just thought if we were going to make staple pieces, we should be starting from the skin out. I’ve always been fascinated, along with my partner — who’s an architect — and Christopher Brown, who’s the other co-creative director, by the iconic nature of a T-shirt. It used to be an undergarment; it was designed to go under a shirt, and it was never seen by the public. And then, in the 50s and 60s, we were presented with the likes of James Dean and Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, who basically turned an undergarment into a timeless iconic thing that’s never going out of fashion.
Aside from a good T-shirt, what do you pack on vacation?
I am obsessed with candles. I have been all my life obsessed with candles. I even make my own candles. When a good candle burns out but there is still some wax [left], I will melt it down and put it in a new pot and put a wick in, because no wax goes to waste in my house. And when you travel a lot, you often end up in a hotel room that doesn’t smell that great, or a rented apartment that doesn’t smell too good, or a trailer that smells muddy or dank. And a candle changes everything.
Salinas Scented Candle
“The candle that we created was based on the area in Ibiza where I have a house. It’s a beautiful, natural, UNESCO-protected area of the south of the island called Salinas. And we wanted to encapsulate that smell of walking through the pine forest, through the sand, and through the dunes to the beach, and the different summer smells you experience.”
'The Captain' Sunga Mirrorzag
“I also always pack a good swim brief. I’ve never understood there being a reason not to wear a swim brief — who wants a tan line halfway down your leg on the beach? If you’re surfing, you wear shorts, but when you’re on the beach — at least in Europe and Australia and other places around the world — the swim brief is the thing. You know, it does means that your leg day cannot be skipped.
We have two cuts: we have the sunga, which is more of a square cut, very classic Brazilian style, and then we have the classic swim brief, which is what I would wear usually.”
'The Cameo' Shorts Army Green
“We also then created an 80s style pair of shorts — think JFK Jr. in the Hamptons. It may be shorter than some men may like, but I defy anybody to look at a picture of JFK Jr. and not go, ‘Stud!’ Like, gay, straight, whatever you are you, you’ll look at this man and just go, ‘Wow.'”
Jergens Natural Glow Daily Firming and Face Moisturizer
“I always travel with a good moisturizer. I have a moisturizer that actually has a very, very light skin tint, as well as SPF 20, and it tans your skin just subtly. It’s from Jergens and it’s great.”
Brylcreem 3-in-1 Original High Shine Men's Hair Cream
“My hair is getting much, much longer as I’m growing it, so the products I’ve had in my bag for years, don’t work on my hair anymore. And what I found works on my hair, weirdly, is conditioner. So I shower, dry my hair, and then I put conditioner in my hair. And I just leave it with conditioner, which is what I’ve got in my hair now. It’s cheap and it’s easy and it lets your hair shine.”
Philips Norelco OneBlade 360 Hybrid Trimmer
“I finally accepted that stubble isn’t working on my face anymore because I have gray stubble and I just look like a tramp, so now I have decided that I will be clean shaven until I have to grow it for a movie. I use a one-blade because you can also trim your hair on your ears. Fran, my partner, has a beard, so he’s always trimming and tidying up and manscaping his face with it too. It’s amazing.”
DL Eyewear 'Moore' Sunglasses
“I am right now wearing Dan Levy’s sunglasses. He very kindly sent me a couple of pairs, which I’ve been wearing in Valencia, and they look great. I do love sunglasses. And I love them more as I get older, because they stop the crow’s feet from showing.”
Ralph's Club Parfum
“And then I travel with good perfume or good cologne, obviously. I love this Ralph Lauren scent — it’s the smell that I sprayed every night when I was on stage in London for the past three and a half months [starring in Backstairs Billy]. I decided to wear the scent every night as Billy, and now when I spray it, I remember this character that I lived as every night, eight times a week, for three and a half months. So the smell is very important to me.”
Speaking of vacation, do you have any upcoming time off?
Well we just launched this line in February and obviously we are focused on that right now because we want it to be a success. But we understand that it’s about building a brand — this is a baby, and the baby’s not even walking yet. We feel like we’re just working now to help it stand.
It seems like everything is going well so far.
I mean, the thing about representing something is you have to believe in it, right? People are savvy, and they know if you’ve just signed your name to something, but you have no idea what it is, and I can tell somebody who’s signed up to be the ambassador of something, as opposed to somebody who has built it from scratch and knows everything about it. And what I’m proud of is the fact that we’ve done it all. We’ve done everything from from zero to here. I can tell you what your fabrics are made of; I’ll tell you the best cut of your T-shirt; I’ll tell you what color works on you. And along the way, maybe we’ll make people brave enough to wear swim briefs and sungas again too.
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