That doesn’t mean swim in a sack of chia seeds, just upgrade where you buy your suits and get more sustainable swimming satisfaction. Eco swimwear is still a burgeoning space in the fashion industry, so there are less designers to choose from.. which is why we have clear favorites;
We love EcoSwim. These suits, unlike many green swimwear lines we’ve tried, isn’t flimsy, unsupportive, and easy to pill. These are substantial, hold you in amazingly (like underwater spanx!) have chic retro style, and just happen to be green. They also allow for a bit of modesty for those of us not 21 or 6-packed. The base fabric (Repreve Nylon) the linings, the trim components (grommets, zippers, snaps, etc.), and even the packaging and hangtags are all made from recycled materials. For the bra cups (and ps, how nice to have cups and not show nip!) the company uses Eco Cell foam, a biodegradable substance derived from plant oils and recycled materials. In the printing and dyeing process, the company uses Oeko-Tex-approved standards which mandate that water usage be minimized and only lower impact dyes be used. These standards also limit the concentrations of many toxic chemicals used in textile manufacture, from heavy metals to formaldehyde. The company uses both consumer and industrial waste to create their fabrics. Repreve actually reuses its own industrial waste in their production process to limit their use of natural resources. The company is unique in that their fabric is created from 100% recycled materials, meaning no raw materials are introduced in their production process. Plastic bottles and nylon are the main inputs in their fabric, but you’d never know that this high-quality material was created from discarded materials. That’s why the term is upcycling; in the process the materials are actually reformed into a more valuable substance.
Kelly B is another designer on the forefront of the greenie swimming scene. This Kelly B Bikini is sustainably made from 65% Bamboo 27% Organic Cotton 8% spandex in Los Angeles, California.
Created using surplus polyester fabric leftover from making Olympic speed skater uniforms, Anna Cohen‘s line is made in Portland, Oregon manufactured domestically and created out of organic cotton, sustainable bamboo, and surplus mill-end fabrics.
For the hard-bodies in the crew, the beach focused line Meadow is handmade in Miami and super sexy. Meadow (yep, her name, beautiful, right?) works with sustainable materials such as bamboo, soy, organic cotton and upcycled fabrics, and last year planted 2000 native hardwood trees in Costa Rica. Each year proceeds from her business goes towards another wonderful green minded cause. Win/ win.
