Happy Friday everyone! It’s the first weekend of August, and it feels like all of Europe is on vacation. Are you looking for eco-friendly swimwear? Here are 10 sustainable Swiss brands using recycled fabrics with lots of inspiration to get you swimming!
About sustainable fabrics
Before I share swimwear brands, I thought that you might want to know more about the materials they are made of.
“ECONYL®” and “REPREVE®” – by far the most popular swimwear fabrics.
The Italian firm’s most famous product is ECONYL®. It is a 100% recycled and recyclable nylon fabric made from discarded fishing nets, fabric scraps and other waste. It is Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified and guarantees that the material does not contain any harmful substances.
REPREVE® is the world’s number one brand of recycled performance fiber, (it is not a fabric or a finished garment!). Fabric mills purchase Repreve yarn and then weave the fabric. The finished product can either be 100% Repreve or a hybrid with other fibers (such as Spandex). Repreve high-quality fibers are made from 100% recycled materials (mostly plastic bottles), it is the only eco-performance fiber with U TRUST® verification to certify recycled content claims.
Besides these two most popular choices, you can also find:
“EcoRib” – a stretch-ribbed fabric made from nylon fiber scraps;
“Hemp” is one of the most sustainable natural fabrics, it enriches the soil and clears the air;
“Yulex” is an innovative plant-based and sustainable alternative to limestone or petroleum neoprene;
“Bio-Nylon” – a biodegradable plant-based fiber;
“Amni Soul Eco” is the world’s first recyclable and biodegradable polyamide yarn, which is eliminated from the planet in about 5 years, whilst other fibres take decades to decompose.
More on the topic you can read here and also here
1. KAIO swim
Kaio creates practical, elegant and respectful swimwear. “Why compromise, when you can have it all!” Brand’s vision is to not only respect your body, but also your soul. Kaio respects the people, celebrates womanhood, seeks to contribute to women’s empowerment and minimizes production waste. Their “PURE collection” is made from ECONYL® fiber, 100% regenerated nylon fibre from fishnets and other nylon waste.
2. Round Rivers
Round Rivers is a sustainable swimwear brand that turns plastics from the Zurich river Limmat into upcycled clothing. They’ve created a new approach called “active sustainability”: brand raw materials are generated by actively cleaning the environment. Round Rivers’ promise is to “sell the amount of outfits we can produce with the material we have collected.” Check out their new swimwear collection online that is made of 12.000 plastic bottles collected from Limmat in 2020.
3. MAIN Design
MAIN Design is a small independent business headquartered in Brugg, run by two girls with big dreams. They care deeply about the environment and community. “As we need to protect what we love most, we believe in conscious creations: where new products can be created and bought without having to use new resources”.
Brand mission is to be “as sustainable as possible, always improving and finding new ways to help our environment and the community. We proudly donate 1% of our online sales to Healthy Seas”.
MAIN Design’s solid and printed swimwear are produced using Econyl, and for bloom signature fabrics, they use Repreve. All swimwear pieces are handmade with love in Bali.
4. Neumühle
Neumühle is an idyllic valley in Switzerland, “the place where fox and hare say goodnight to each other, where you get woken up by the sound of cowbells instead of the alarm clock”. And, it is also the home of the founders Edith and her son Andreas Fehr.
Neumühle uses ecologically durable, functional and recycled materials. All their products are designed and manufactured in Switzerland. Focusing on products’ functionality and long wearability, the brand offers 5 years free repair of the net swimwear.
5. PALMAR swimwear
PALMAR products are “inspired by the pure beauty and simplicity of the Mediterranean and dedicated to create simple, modern and feminine Swimwear that every Woman can look and feel good in”. Brand’s aim is to offer perfect fit bikinis for different body types.
All the bikinis are designed in Switzerland and manufactured in a small factory with 50 employees located about 1 hour outside Hong Kong. Whenever possible PALMARS’ bikinis are produced with regenerated fibers: all their solid colors are made using ECONYL® certified fabrics and print fabrics are made using regenerated Polyester. For the ribbed looks they use a premium fabric made of virgin fibers (not a recycled fabric).
Only for my blog readers, I have a secret coupon code for 15% off: ‘PalmarFriends2023’.
This is all for Part 1, I would love to hear your thoughts to fine-tune Part 2 on this topic, please comment below and don’t forget to check out our sustainable summer capes that pair perfectly with sustainable swimwear!
