Can Swimwear Be Sustainable? YES! How Kōraru Swimwear Revolutionizing Swimwear
Updated: Jun 14, 2023
Hello there, fellow swimwear enthusiasts!
Summer is in sight, and whether you are ready or not, it's time to get out your swimsuit! If you haven't gotten a suit lately, you will be pleased to know that more sustainable options are available now and Koraru is such a brand that's standing up to make a positive impact in the world of swimwear.
So Koraru Swimwear is making the list of IFD Favorite Finds! If you follow me, you know how much I love swimwear design and where I spent most of my career working. This brand has impressed me with its simple yet elegant styles and, most notably, its mission to use sustainable and eco-conscious materials—something not easily done with swimwear.
While diving into their website, I found an article in the Koraru "journal" entitled: "How Modern Swimwear Yarns & Fabrics are Revolutionizing the Fashion Industry." If you are familiar with most swim and activewear fabrics, you know it needs stretch capabilities to offer proper fit and support, usually made of petroleum-based fiber.
It's so great to see how Koraru is pushing the boundaries of swimwear by designing with sustainability at the core of its brand, making waves in the fashion industry, and setting a new standard for swimwear design.
So, grab a refreshing drink, and let's dive into the world of Koraru, where fashion meets sustainability in the most stylish way possible! Check out some of their best sellers, offered in a beautiful array of colors and sizes.
About Kōraru:
Founded by Oana Romaneiro a Romanian model and designer. She was born on the coast of the Black Sea, in the city of Constanta, but spent most of her adult life throughout Asia, where she worked as a model, before settling in Japan. She now lives in Tokyo with her husband and son, from where she designs for Koraru.
"I started the journey of creating Koraru a while after a vacation I took with my husband. It was our first time traveling to Maldives and I wanted to celebrate the occasion by buying a couple of new swimsuits. After one blissful week in arguably one of the most beautiful destinations I've ever been to, those swimsuits never looked, nor felt the same. They became saggy and deformed. I found it frustrating that as a customer, I paid for a premium product that didn't even last a week. And I realized that throughout my life, it has been a common theme with swimsuits that would look a different color at the end of summer than when they were purchased or became transparent when swimming. That prompted me to take a deep dive into the swimwear market, from luxury fabrics to ethical practices. I learned a lot about the difference that premium, technical fabrics make in terms of endurance. Fabrics that were once reserved for performance sports are now available for fashion swimwear. It was then I decided to take a chance and found Koraru, a brand that blends stylish minimalism with quality and sustainability, as an alternative to the status quo. The sustainability focus of the brand came from my experience in the fashion industry for 15 years. I have seen what toll poor quality garments and overconsumption take on our natural world. I believe a shift to slow fashion and more mindful consumption can help counter some of the negative impacts we have on the environment as fashion consumers. This, coupled with actively demanding from our leaders better environmental policies and regulations, is a start in the right direction. I hope Koraru and similar brands that were created from inception with sustainability as their foundation will show that, as consumers, we do care about the clothes we wear and what choosing those clothes means for the environment. And we choose to buy better." - Oana Romaneiro, (from www.koraru.com)
Born in the sea, KŌRARU swimwear is made from ECONYL® FIBER, regenerated nylon from nylon waste such as fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring, and industrial plastic. Learn more about some of the materials being used in the collection:
Learn more about sustainable materials in this Article: HOW MODERN SWIMWEAR YARNS & FABRICS ARE REVOLUTIONISING THE FASHION INDUSTRY (from Koraru.com)
SUSTAINABLE MODERN SWIMWEAR FABRICS
One way fashion brands can improve sustainability is through their fabric choices. Nowadays, clothes can be made from all sorts of fabrics - and some are definitely better than others for the environment. Picking swimwear can already be a daunting task without having to consider the material it is made out of. Luckily, new fabrics are being developed that are ideal for swimwear. Here are a few sustainable fabrics that are good options:
☼ HEMP
Hemp may seem like an unusual choice for swimwear, but it is a great natural alternative. When mixed with a little elastic, it can be made into a very comfortable swimsuit fabric that has good UV protection and does not shed any microplastic. Compared to cotton, another natural material, it uses 1/4 as much water yet yields 250% percent more fiber. This makes it a low-impact natural alternative for women who want a bathing suit for leisurely activities.
☼ RECYCLED POLYESTER
Another synthetic option for eco-friendly brands is recycled polyester. Regular polyester has a huge carbon footprint and uses massive amounts of water, chemicals, and fossil fuels to make. Recycled polyester, however, is more environmentally friendly. It doesn’t use any new petroleum and generates 75% less CO2 emissions. Using recycled polyester allows you to have the same durability with a much lower impact on the environment.
☼ ECONYL® REGENERATED NYLON
A synthetic material that has revolutionized the market is ECONYL® regenerated nylon. It is a recycled nylon fabric that can be used to make many different kinds of clothing items. As mentioned above, it is already a favorite of top brands like Prada who are using it for their Re-Nylon collection. It’s special because the process not only recycles but regenerates the nylon. This makes it as good as new and also infinitely recyclable.
ECONYL® regenerated yarn is sourced primarily from waste destined for landfills. Old carpets, fishing nets, and manufacturing waste are all collected and converted into revolutionary material. Because it is made from recycled materials, every 10,000 tons of Econyl created saves 70,000 barrels of crude oil and 65,100 tons of CO2 emissions.
Thanks for reading today and taking the time to learn more about sustainability in swimwear. Every step we take, no matter how big or small, is a step forward that ultimately adds up to great strides. Do you have a favorite sustainable swim brand or fabric you love? Let us know....we are always curious and open to learning more!
Do you have a favorite sustainable swim brand or fabric you love? Has anyone tried Vitamin A or Maoiswim which seem to be all over social media? Let us know....we are always curious and open to learning more!
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