The best sustainable swimwear brands Eco-friendly swimwear
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Hunza G
Hunza G’s production process begins and ends locally in the UK to create its signature crinkle swimwear. The brand – which recently collaborated with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – also produces small run-off quantities of headbands and scrunchies made from excess fabric to reduce wastage. Even its poly bags are biodegradable, recycled and recyclable – constructed with post-consumer plastic. As well as using the right materials, Hunza G prioritises communities by donating portions of its profits to charities like Street Smart UK.
Matteau
Matteau truly understands that each body is different. Sisters and founders, Ilona Hamer and Peta Heinsen fit their swimwear on friends and family to be sure they cater to all and empower their customers in the process. It's no wonder that some of the most stylish women in fashion, including Jeanne Damas and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, are fans of the brand.
Matteau is always working on evolving its business to be the greenest it can be, such as offsetting carbon emissions and tracing its materials back to the source.
Nénés
Parisian label Nénés takes the delicateness of lingerie and applies that to its swimwear designs, resulting in beautiful feminine pieces that will become central to your chic holiday wardrobe. Since 2018, the brand has been creating bikinis, swimsuits and lingerie, aiming to do so with the smallest possible impact on the environment, ensuring shoppers never have to choose between great style and being eco-friendly again.
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Faithfull The Brand
Based in Indonesia, every piece from Faithfull The Brand is hand-dyed and made by local artisans. The brand evokes the spirit of travel and takes inspiration from all over the world during the two founder's travels, Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Helle Them-Enger.
“It is important to us that we know how our products are made and who is making them. We want to keep a personal connection with each and every one of our employees to ensure they are well taken care of," the brand previously told us.
Fisch
If you want to make a statement by the pool, Fisch’s beautiful range of brightly coloured and printed Eighties-inspired styles is well worth checking out. Everything is made from Econyl and woven in a mill in Italy just two hours from their factory. This allows Fisch to minimise its carbon footprint. The brand is also a proud partner of Healthy Seas – a team of highly skilled divers that perform the tricky task of removing ghost nets from oceans, which go on to make Fisch’s fabric.
Vanessa Sposi
Vanessa Sposi is a fairly new sustainable swimwear brand that was established just last year. The collections are all ethically made, eco-conscious and infused with antioxidants, and definitely do not cut any corners when it comes to style. Designed in Paris, woven in Italy, and made in Portugal, each piece is created to be worn for years to come.
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Lula Ru
Luxury swimwear brand Lula-Ru takes inspiration from the classic styles of the 1950s to create environmentally-conscious collections that are timeless. All Lula Ru fabric is eco-sensitive and sourced from Eurojersey, a company that follows every stage of the fabric production cycle in order to reduce waste and water, energy, and chemical usage. The brand is perfect for summer days spent in the park, garden or beach.
Peony
Australian swimwear label Peony ensures all processes and chemicals used are ecologically safe and it uses recycled polyester and specially developed lining to help reduce waste. The brand says its designs are “the first bloom of peony flowers, which signal the beginning of summer” and is recognised for its classic shapes and soft colour palettes to create sustainable pieces that are durable and strong.
Medina
Medina creates its swimwear using fabrics made from regenerated nylon, created from waste plastics found in global waterways. The high-quality material is UV-proof, as well as sun cream-, oil- and chlorine-resistant. Founder Lou Medina aims to use her swimwear brand as a platform that will support and promote a different non-profit organisation or project that is currently protecting and helping to clean the ocean each season.
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Paper London
Each piece of Paper London's sustainable swimwear range is made from recycled fishing nets and production waste that's found floating in our oceans. With eight million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans, it's vital that brands recycle plastics to save the millions of marine animals that are entangled per year. By turning it into something functional, it helps to clean up the oceans.
Davy J
The Waste Collection is crafted from 100 per cent regenerated nylon from fishing nets and features both one-pieces and separates designed to be worn throughout the seasons. An average of 640,000 tons of fishing nets are left in our oceans every year and for every ton of waste collected, there's enough nylon regenerated to create more than 10,000 swimsuits. Davy J is a must-know label if you're a fan of water sports such as cold water swimming, as every piece gives the right support and boosts confidence.
Frankies Bikinis
As well as its sustainable swimwear, Los Angeles-based brand Frankies Bikinis has a range of sustainable cover-ups with halter dresses and sets which are eco-friendly – made with 100 per cent viscose from natural sources of wood pulp. The brand regularly collaborates with stylish celebrities; previously Gigi Hadid and more recently with Sydney Sweeney on a collection designed to inspire confidence.
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Jade Swim
Jade Swim uses Econyl fabric made from regenerated nylon for the majority of its swim pieces. The brand incorporates a minimalist aesthetic with innovative silhouettes, which can be worn as swimwear or double up as great layering pieces to wear daily. Jade Swim is a completely female-run company, from its owner to its warehouse team, and supporting young women is a huge focus of the brand's charity work.
Bromelia
Bromelia founder Lauren Quinn aims to support local artists wherever she's living, with an emphasis on underrepresented communities: namely female and LGBTQ+. Quinn moved to Brazil six years ago and has since then sought out locals who had a story to tell through patterns, design, art and photography. Bromelia swimwear is all ethically made, through fair paid wages, dignified workspace and respect for its artists in an all-female and LGBTQ+ creative team.
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La Porte
New York label La Porte uses sustainable fabrics that are made up of 80 per cent recycled Polyamide and 20 per cent Elastolefin, which is a recycled thread. Its pieces have two-way stretching, which means the suits fit well and also retain their shape.
"As a brand for women by women, we do not bend to the rules of perceived perfection, we do not bow to the toxicity of idealistic beauty - in fact, we rebel against it," says designer Jo Davenport.
Stay Wild Swim
Co-founders Natalie Glaze and Zanna van Dijk grew up diving and snorkelling extensively which led to a deep connection with the ocean. Because of this, their brand creates practical but stylish pieces that you can really move in.
Everything is designed and made in London using Econyl. However, the pair are mindful of the effect that washing Econyl has on our oceans (it releases microplastics), so they also stock Guppy friend bags to encourage their customers to wash their pieces responsibly.
Tide + Seek
Tide + Seek wants to help make a difference to reduce the number of plastic bottles that go into landfills every year. To attempt to offset the damage, Tide + Seek recycles plastic bottles to create its swimwear. Using Repreve, a polyester fibre made of 100 per cent recycled plastic, the brand offsets the use of new petroleum, emitting fewer greenhouse gases, while conserving water and energy throughout the process.
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Talia Collins
Former stylist Talia Collins’ range is not only designed to look good, but it also does good. "Every brand today should think about how to be more conscious and responsible," Collins explains. She mixes her Econyl fabric with Xtra Life Lycra to support and sculpt your body. She has also partnered with Healthy Seas and has a recycling programme: simply return your worn swimwear and her company will recycle it to create new pieces.
Mara Hoffman
Mara Hoffman is well-known for her sustainable fashion line, and her swimwear is no different. Everything is made from Econyl or Repreve – a polyester created from recycled plastic bottles – transformed into her signature bright-coloured prints.
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