A new range of swim shorts with a Bermuda theme has been launched.

The Bermies range of skin shorts were the brainchild of Uki Deane, based in the United States, but with strong family ties to Bermuda.

The 25-year-old explained his first business venture was inspired by summer and winter breaks at his family’s home on the Island.

He said: “I pretty much grew up in Bermuda — it’s my second home. Bermuda is the only thing I looked forward to every single year.

“Every time I leave Bermuda, I feel like I want to take something from Bermuda with me.”

Mr Deane, whose father is American and his mother is Argentine, was brought up in Buenos Aires and now lives in Miami after graduating from Duke University in North Carolina.

He said his love of the water and his degree, which included business, but also arts subjects like visual arts and film production, pushed him towards his own line of swim shorts.

Mr Deane added: “I’ve got an artistic and creative side and a business side and I hope they’ve fused together with this.”

The range — complete with a logo including the outline of the Island — features names and colourful designs evocative of the Island like “Pink Beach”, “Longtail” and “Bermuda Triangle”.

Mr Deane said: “Everything about Bermuda was always a big inspiration in my life.

“I’m a big outdoors guy and I love boating, fishing, swimming, surfing and diving. Everything that involves the water is my line.”

But he said — although he owned a lot of swim shorts — were either too plain or had “weird” patterns.

Mr Deane added: “There was nothing crazy out there in a swim trunk I could grab and say ‘wow’.

“I started looking into different types of swim trunks.”

He said he was impressed by famous French designer brand Vilbrequin — but said the $200-$300 price tag was too steep.

Mr Deane added: “I’m 25 and I couldn’t be purchasing things at that price.

“I couldn’t find cool designs or they were too expensive or didn’t have a brand or lifestyle I could relate to — so I decided to design my own.”

Mr Deane’s website went live little more than a week ago and he plans to introduce the shorts to stores in the US, Bermuda and Argentina.

He said: “It’s only one week, but I’m already getting a lot of people from different places contacting me.

“Right now, I’m an online business and trying to get the ball rolling from there.

“I’m looking for investors and to have them stocked in stores in Bermuda and elsewhere. By next summer, I hope to have them in Bermuda.”

Mr Deane said that he hoped his line would boost awareness of Bermuda as the brand grew.

He explained: “Bermuda is not very well known around the world — when I talk about it, some people think it’s in the Bahamas or mention the Bermuda Triangle.

“It’s ridiculous such a beautiful Island with such wonderful people and nobody really knows about it. It’s a culture that should be shared with the world.”

Mr Deane’s designs, all priced at $49.99, can be found at bermies.com.