
Croatia’s gay beaches and what the postcard leaves out
Croatia’s gay beaches are the postcard. Behind them, fifteen years of Split Pride, a queer centre in the old town and Rijeka’s queer-feminist festival.


BARCELONA
ES Collection is older than ADDICTED, begun in 2006 with swimwear. It has since added shirts, tank tops and shorts to the swim briefs and swim shorts, for the hours after the sea.
Split’s Bačvice is a sandy city beach that the local tourist board calls the “Croatian Copacabana”. It is where picigin is played, a ball game in the shallow sea. Swim shorts have to stay put through all of it, and ES Collection’s, such as the Thin Flame, are made of a fast-dry fabric with an inner lining for extra support.

Briefs, bikini cuts and swim thongs share the range. The Siren Swim Brief is made of 89% recycled polyester, with a removable Pack Up XXL insert at the front. The Luxer Bikini Brief is Lurex all over, with a removable waterproof foam insert of its own.

Besides the flagship at Consell de Cent 239 in Barcelona, ADDICTED and ES Collection list a shop in Sitges, at Sant Francesc 9, among their stores. Croatia, meanwhile, has hundreds of islands scattered along its Adriatic coast. A swimsuit there often has to get through a ferry queue, a swim and a long lunch before it comes off.

ES Collection swimwear, swim shorts and briefs included, is on sale at addictedshop.eu.
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