Ecological swimsuits

Does this make my butt look big? Are vertical or horizontal stripes slim? Am I falling off this top? Widespread questions when faced with the dreaded two-piece three-way mirror, but do you ever stop to ask if your suit is biodegradable? Possibly not, but if designer Linda Loudermilk has her way, she will definitely start.

At Swim Week in Miami Beach, Loudermilk introduced what she calls the world’s first fully compostable swimsuit developed from a vegetable starch that has been turned into a fabric. While that may make some girls a bit nervous about diving into the water in a suit created to dissolve, Loudermilk assured viewers that the suit won’t start to decompose until it’s buried in the ground, at which point it is will break. down in 180 days.

Loudermilk joins a movement of “eco-sewing” designers who are consciously deciding to use sustainable materials like wood pulp, hemp, bamboo and recycled plastic bottles or repurposed materials like military parachutes instead of conventional synthetic textiles. Producing swimwear makes a lot of sense – if you take the time to appreciate Mother Earth in all her oceanic splendor, you’d better take a moment to see if you’re destroying it at the same time with the clothes you’re wearing.

Think of a cute coat made from bamboo with an organic women’s tunic or if you’re trying to practice energy conservation while perfecting your tan, wear a solar-powered bikini. That’s right, I said a solar powered bikini! The suit is covered with photovoltaic strips that capture the sun’s energy so that after a little time outdoors, you can safely charge your phone or iPod. (Just be sure to unplug them before taking a dip!)

Nonetheless, the eco-sewing movement faces challenges for swimwear as it has been a struggle for some designers to produce swimwear from eco-friendly materials. You see, most girls like that their outfits can hold a shape or form a shape and that’s not the easiest thing to do with materials that are chemical free. Aqua Green, the company that makes the Eco Swim line, offers an enhanced “eco-cellular” foam bra cup created with biodegradable vegetable oil that will not leave thousands of polyester bra cups in landfills to baffle future generations into an archaeological excavation. The suits themselves are made from recycled nylon and cotton.

And while the biodegradable suit can only make a small dent in the clothing waste cycle, it is a great step in generating new suggestions from designers, that in your innovation business, perhaps your material selection can be just as bold. as your styles. Perhaps the new frontier of fashion lies in being brave enough to move away from synthetic materials that are classic options and to go for alternative materials like bamboo.

And perhaps one day, women around the world will be able to boast that their outfit not only makes their waist look smaller, but it also reduces their carbon footprint!