Double Trouble

The Harrison Twins, Lewis and Owen, Are Bringing The Enthusiasm Of BodyBuilding's Golden Age Back To The Sport.

- Jim Schmaltz

Like many twins, Owen and Lewis Harrison were often dressed alike as toddlers, drawing attention from appreciative adults in Kendal, a small town in northern England, where they grew up. One imagines the two healthy, energetic lads bringing cheer to the locals with their cherubic smiles and identical outfits, the sight of the tiny twins always a crowd-pleaser.

Well, not everybody was pleased.

“When we were younger, there were a lot of pictures of us in the same clothes and If—king hated it,” Owen says.

Drawing attention seems to be in the genes for Owen and Lewis. Today, as 25-year-olds, the Harrison twins are still crowd-pleasers, only now the appreciative audience numbers in the millions. The two don’t dress in identical clothes anymore—in fact, you could say their lack of clothing has made them a global sensation.

Owen and Lewis are international fitness models who have built a thriving brand and a successful personal-training business, having scored a recent endorsement deal with sports nutrition powerhouse BPI. In an industry oversaturated with social media fitness celebrities, the telegenic siblings have an appeal that isn’t explained by the simple novelty of their status as twins or their raw physical appeal. You could say they built their brand the old-fashioned way: by being themselves. They promise no fads, gimmicks, or quick fixes. Instead, the Harrison twins offer what’s in short supply in today’s selfie culture: authenticity.

TWO GUYS, ONE BRAND, ZERO B.S.

The Harrison twins’ lack of pretentiousness is best understood by their origins. Currently living in Manchester, the two grew up in a working-class environment, filled with blue-collar towns far from the snobbery of Savile Row shops and five-star hotels of London. When Monty Python mocked upper-class twits, they sure weren’t referring to northern England.