Australian swimwear brands leading the sustainable way this summer

Australians are now the world’s biggest fashion consumers. We buy more clothes (per person) than every other country in the world, and six tonnes of textiles and clothing ending up in landfill every 10 minutes. It’s time to curb our waste problem. With summer here, you may be on the hunt for some new swimmers, and the good news is that you can do this without costing the planet. These two Australian swimwear brands are leading the way in sustainability so dive in with a guilt-free conscience. BOND-EYE Sydney swimwear brand bond-eye design and manufacture their garments in Australia. This is a commendable feat considering the local fashion industry has largely shifted production offshore in recent decades to cut financial costs (yet spike environmental impact). It’s not every day you come across an Australian designer that makes their products on home soil, we love to see it. What we also love to see is innovations in fabric technology. Bond-eye just launched a hybrid fabrication entitled BARE, blurring the lines between athleisure, swimwear and fashion. It is handcrafted at an Australian knitting mill using regenerated nylon derived from pre-consumer raw materials and can be worn in the sea, the city and while working out. The sustainability scale of a garment isn’t just factored on what it’s made of, or where it’s made, but how much wear you’ll get out of it too — so this level of versatility is excellent. Not to mention maximising the cost-per-wear element too. CEO and founder of bond-eye, Steve Philpott, told Travel sustainability is “one of the main pillars” of the brand’s DNA. “It’s a perpetual journey of learning and evolution and it’s built in from our recycled yarn selection all the way through to the creation of a beautiful fashion garment designed and made to last,” he says. “Being able to manufacture here in Sydney and export a piece of our Aussie lifestyle in an Australian-made garment is a huge thing for us and our retail partners and customers, and it’s something we take great pride in.” They also work with female-led communities in both the factory and fabric mill. The recycled materials initiative doesn’t start and end with the garments themselves either. Every piece of packing, the tags, labels and trims are recycled as well as the compostable garment bags which can be put in home waste. Top pick Maxam one piece, $175 CAMP COVE SWIM Another excellent leader of the pack in the Australian sustainable swimwear game is Camp Cove Swim. Founded by Katherine Hampton in 2013, the label is respectfully transparent with their processes — every detail about fabrics and manufacturing to their Sydney studio and packaging, can be found on their website campcoveswim.com. The general rule of thumb I learnt early in my fashion education was, if a brand is doing the right thing, they’ll tell you, and if they aren’t they’ll be as vague as a foggy window on a cold winter’s morning. Let’s take a look at Camp Cove’s crystal-clear clarity. They create their printed fabric locally in Sydney using a digital printing method called sublimation, which eliminates the need for water in the dyeing process. The swimsuit lining material is made of ECONYL, a regenerated nylon made from recycled fishing nets and landfill. The production process is undertaken on the South Coast of New South Wales, in Jervis Bay. In Sydney’s trendy inner-west suburb of Marrickville, the brand works with local screen printers and embroiderers for their T-shirt and accessory lines. Deadstock fabric scraps are used to make smaller garments or scrunchies, to minimise waste. As for packaging, they have a zero-plastic policy — something other brands should take inspiration from. Top pick Alex recycled boyleg full piece swimsuit, $110 (on sale from $220)