After Source Fashion London, one conversation stayed with me.
Several buyers and designers asked us:
“Can swimwear be made with natural fibers?”
My honest answer is:
Natural fibers are beautiful, but they are usually not the right choice for swimwear made for actual water use.
Cotton, linen, bamboo, hemp, and viscose can work very well for resortwear, beach cover-ups, kaftans, shirts, dresses, and relaxed summer pieces. They offer softness, breathability, and a natural look that many brands love.
But swimwear has very different physical requirements.
A swimwear fabric needs to stretch well, recover quickly, support the body, stay stable when wet, dry reasonably fast, and keep its shape after movement, washing, sunlight, salt water, and chlorine exposure.
The biggest challenge is not only water absorption. It is recovery.
Swimwear must return to its shape after stretching, swimming, sitting, washing, and drying. Most natural fibers absorb much more water than synthetic swimwear fabrics. When wet, they can become heavier, dry more slowly, lose shape more easily, and provide less support on the body.
This does not mean natural fibers are not valuable.
They are very valuable — but they need to be used in the right product category.
For beachwear, resortwear, vacation shirts, beach dresses, cover-ups, and lifestyle pieces around a swimwear collection, natural fiber fabrics can be a very good choice.
For swimwear itself, we usually recommend tested performance fabrics with proper stretch, recovery, support, and water resistance, such as recycled nylon, recycled polyester, textured swimwear fabrics, and other suitable swimwear materials.
For me, sustainability is not only about choosing a natural material.
It is about choosing the right material for the right function.
A product that loses shape quickly, feels uncomfortable when wet, or cannot perform well in real use is not responsible development.
Thank you to Source Fashion London for selecting several of our newly developed swimwear samples for the catwalk, and thank you to every buyer and designer who shared thoughtful questions with us.
Good product development always starts with honest material understanding.
If you are developing a swimwear or resortwear collection and are unsure which fabric direction is suitable, I am always happy to exchange ideas.