Think Orlebar Brown and you’re instantly transported to a happy, sunny place. The British brand’s tailored swimwear and more are designed for the ultimate summer escapes, whether you’re partying at sunset on the White Island resort, unwinding with a glass of something in Provence, pleasantly adrift on a St Tropez yacht or catching a wave on the Cornish coast. All of the places, aptly, on Orlebar Brown founder Mr Adam Brown’s itinerary for the summer months. “It’ll be very much around water,” he confirms of his holiday plans. “It’s not going to be a season that I’m going up a mountain or going through a forest or doing any of that sort of holiday. It’s going to be very much – rather expectedly – beach and poolside.”

This is, as Brown says, to be expected. What to wear around in and out of the water while on holiday has been on the agenda at Orlebar Brown since its inception 15 years ago. The brand started out with a simple concept: creating tailored swimwear that would take you from beach to cocktail hour without any need for a change of style. As the range of Orlebar Brown shorts has grown, so the brand has travelled in new directions with casual apparel for the beach and beyond, venturing as far as everyday menswear appropriate for holidays in higher, rougher terrain. But to celebrate its 15 years, Orlebar Brown returns to its sandy origins.

The brand has created two new collections for summer. We’ve already introduced you to the party mood of Club Tropicana, inspired by Wham!’s ultimate summer track. The second collection is as direct as a three-minute pop song and simply called Happy. If Club Tropicana is colourful cocktail-inspired fun, Happy is its softer lighter holiday companion, perfect for the kind of vacation where everything goes swimmingly.

In the Happy collection, signature swim shorts, sweats, polos and outerwear are effortlessly light in shade and texture. Cotton knitwear comes in candy-cotton pink and can be easily paired with trousers of a similar, lighter hue. Pink not your vacation colour? Try faded blues instead, the colour of the perfect summer sky. Colour – whether faded fluoros or soft pastels – is crucial to the collection’s mood, says Brown. “The pastels feel soft and lush,” he explains. “They have a light-heartedness, an airiness, they make you feel good. It’s a very conscious decision to have a bright, summery collection rather than going for darker, richer tones.”

Which isn’t to say that Happy doesn’t include its fair share of punchier moments. A pair of bold printed shorts will make an eye-catching addition to your poolside apparel while the orange cotton-terry polo invites you to dry off in style. Together, they create a celebratory mood. “We want it to be real celebration of sunshine, travel, happiness and good times,” says Brown.

There is plenty to celebrate at Orlebar Brown. The brand was founded by Brown in 2007 after a globe-trotting career as a photographer. His hero product, tailored swim shorts, proved successful because of its elegance, style and sustainability – each pair of Orlebar Brown shorts still comes with a five-year guarantee. The tailoring came from a desire to make swimwear that could be worn beyond the beach, therefore making holidays a breeze. “I’m fundamentally lazy, if I’m brutally honest,” laughs Brown. “I like life to be relatively easy. It goes back to that initial principle of OB of being a pair of shorts you can swim in.”

It also, says Brown, was borne out of a feeling about men’s style. “I was 40 years old when I started OB,” he says. “And there’s the thing about men having to take their clothes off in public. I wanted to make people feel good when they put some swim shorts on and they’re walking around the beach. I think there’s definitely a difference to how you feel when you’re 40 to how you are when you’re 20. My premise for Orlebar Brown was if something is tailored and fits you properly, then you’ll look better, but also feel better.”

It’s a good feeling that endures with the Happy collection. The only ask of you? To dive in.