Adam Porter Smith

Adam Porter Smith, Founder, The Smith Society. Swimsuit designer and influencer chose NoMad for home.

NoMad resident Adam Porter Smith was sitting on the beach in Fire Island when he noticed that most of the men were wearing Speedos. Thinking about the obvious less-is-more trend, he couldn’t help but wonder, “what comes next?” In a sea of traditional board shorts and European-style briefs, the fashion insider felt confident that he could bring a vintage-inspired non-binary resort wear collection — think belted trunks and 1920s-inspired silhouettes — to the forefront of the men’s swimwear market.

Porter Smith, who already had a successful career in the optical arena, leveraged his background in marketing, sourcing, and sales, to launch The Smith Society in the summer of 2022. The former Marchon executive, who in 2016 founded Native Ken sunwear, tapped the creative team — led by Andrew Egan — at CoolGreySeven to assist with branding, design the logo, and orchestrate the collection’s visual materials.

The Smith Society reimagines the ideas of masculine and feminine by playing with both color and silhouette. The fresh, modern, and decidedly sexy styles draw inspiration from the 1920s and include a belted bather (the bestseller), a one-piece thong that can be worn alone or layered under trunks, and several tank tops. The collection debuted at Lateral Objects in Bellport, Long Island, and quickly became a social media sensation thanks (in part) to tags from @theoldgays and their nearly 500k followers on Instagram.

Porter Smith and husband, Billy Porter, are recent transplants to NoMad, and knowing that he could have chosen anywhere to live and work, NOMAD Magazine asked, why NoMad? “I always loved the area,” he said. “The restaurants and parks nearby are fabulous, and it is very central to getting around Manhattan. The shopping is also really good! We also love the views from our apartment — it’s an iconic NYC view of the Empire State Building which is spectacular.”

Moving forward, Porter Smith plans to strengthen the brand’s retail presence and expand the product line. Next up: a beach towel, a leather sandal, and a beach bag. Porter Smith’s sage advice: “Have a vision of what you want to achieve and when you feel scared about taking it to the next step, keep going. You must push through the fear over and over again.”