We keep telling you about how our swimsuits are made from discarded fishing nets, but what does that actually mean?
Lets start from the beginning;
Each of our swimsuits come from a different beginning, a different sea. This is because the ghost fishing nets that our swimsuits are made from are rescued from all over the world. Now we're starting right from the beginning, so I'll explain what the hell ghost fishing nets are.
Ghost fishing nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned or lost at sea. Fishermen either decide to throw these nets over their boats or they just can’t be hauled back in and get lost. You may think this can’t be a huge issue but studies have found that 50% of waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are ghost fishing nets and other gear, with 10% of all ocean waste consist of these fishing nets which makes you really realise the scale of this problem.
So, how do we find and rescue these ghost fishing nets?
The incredible volunteer team at Healthy Sea’s rescue these nets from the seas, they make multiple trips every year to different seas and dive to rescue these nets. There are many cases where turtles and other sea life are stuck on these nets, so their work is fundamental in cleaning up the seas and allowing for a healthier life for marine life and coral reefs.
Then we transform it into our fabric
Then this is taken to their factory in Italy where these nets are transformed with other waste (fabric offcuts, into ECONYL fabric, (photos of this)
The fabric is dyed into different colours and we then import the fabric into the UK to our factory where we cut and sew the fabric into our iconic swimwear.
The life of where your clothes come from is so important especially if you’re hoping to become more of a conscious consumer. I think it’s also really cool to understand the process of where your clothes are from