Sustainability

Our roadmap to the lowest possible impact on nature.

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Vision

We are always looking out for new, innovative materials that are ideally based on natural raw materials or at least do not rely on petroleum-based resources. Our wish and goal is to produce products that have as little impact on nature as possible, but are still high-performance and offer the necessary functionality for surfing. When developing new products, selecting materials or purchasing packaging material, we always follow our R-Principles - Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Resell, Recycle.

The R-Principles

The R-Principles can also be applied in everyday life.

Materials

Our surf bikinis and swimsuits, as well as our yoga & activewear require the highest quality and performance material. In the water, it should feel like a second skin, and back on the beach, it needs to dry quickly. Giving your body the full freedom to stretch and move requires immense elasticity. With this in mind, we chose the best fabrics with the lowest environmental footprint – recycled yarns sourced in Europe.

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Fabrics made from Recycled Polyamide

All of our plain fabrics are made from recycled polyamide. Often called nylon, it is a high-quality synthetic fiber. We use a regenerated polyamide made from industrial waste called Econyl®. When using Econyl®, the impact on global warming is 80% lower than nylon, which is made from petroleum. After mixing with elastane, it is woven into a very high-performance fabric that is perfect for our surf bikinis and yoga leggings.

Opportunity

By processing Econyl®, we avoid using new nylon and thus conserve petroleum resources. Technically speaking, Econyl® enables circular production, as the yarn can be recycled into new yarn again and again. This way, our products are not wasted after they have reached the end of their life.

Challenge

Technologies to split elastane from polyamide through chemical recycling have not been developed yet. This is why our surf bikinis and active-wear can’t close the loop for a circular economy at the moment. We actively follow the developments in recycling technologies and hope to provide you with a fully sustainable solution.

Fabrics made from Recycled Polyester

For our print designs, we use recycled polyester made from used plastic bottles. Recycled polyester is almost the same as polyester in terms of quality, but its production requires about 60 percent less energy compared to new polyester. Similarly, the polyester fibre has to be spun with elastane to create a high-performance fabric for swimwear and activewear.

Opportunity

By using recycled polyester, we can reduce the environmental footprint and reuse waste material that would otherwise pollute landfills and oceans. Polyester has a similar quality to Econyl® and has the potential for an endless recycling loop.

Challenge

Our fabrics do not yet allow the use of 100% recycled polyester fibers. Unfortunately, the high quality and functionality that we expect from our surf bikinis still requires a small amount of new polyester fibers. We are continuously exploring ways to increase the amount of recycled material, as well as following the latest science on technologies to separate elastane from polyester that currently do not exist.

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Recycled polyamide has 80% lower impact on nature than polyamide made from petroleum.
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Recycled polyester requires 60% less energy to produce than polyester made from petroleum.

Microplastic Pollution

Recycled or not, synthetic materials will always have an impact on our environment. When synthetic materials are washed, microplastics are created through abrasion, which ends up in our rivers and seas via wastewater. To prevent this, washing machines would have to filter the wastewater, but unfortunately no machine does this yet.

One solution is to use the Guppyfriend washing bag. This protects your bikinis from abrasion by the washing machine and other clothing, making your bikinis last longer. The washing bag catches the microfibers that would otherwise end up in the sewer system and from there into nature.

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Animal Protection

Up until 2020, we were using leather tags for the branding of the products of our signatures collections. With the branding update in 2021, we are completely eliminating the use of leather. Additionally, we will have a closer look at our supply chain in order to figure out if there are any components using animal products, e.g. in glue or dye. If possible we will substitute these products or mark them for full transparency.

Routes of Transportation

In 2018 we decided to move our production from Indonesia to Europe in order to bring it closer to where we source our fabrics and therefore get rid of unnecessary additional transportation. Our products are now made in Portugal by a small family business under fair working conditions. All our materials are sourced in Europe.

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Shipping and Packaging without Plastic