Recycled polyester or nylon has evidently become fashion’s new buzzword. With pressure mounting on both fast fashion and luxury categories to get their act together in terms of sustainability, most brands are launching collections that are made of recycled fabrics or materials. And that would be a great thing if recycled alternatives would be replacing commercially produced ones. However, in most cases, recycled collections are just an addition to already mass-produced lines of clothing, made from virgin polyester.
“Sustainability should be a given”
A sector where recycled plastic is used most in, is unsurprisingly swimwear. It’s the one category that is impossible to make without polyester or nylon, given the need for elasticity and water resistance. But in a market that was estimated to be worth US$19.5 billion in 2020 and estimated to reach US$27.6 billion by 2027, standing out as a brand can be a tough task. Tough, but not impossible, as swimwear brand Ookioh proves. A brand that sees conscious materials and sustainability as a necessity as opposed to a compulsion or marketing strategy, Ookioh proves to be a breath of fresh air. “We’ve never used sustainability as a selling point, we feel that sustainability is a part of our core that we can’t sell our core. In many ways it should be a given to be sustainable,” says Ookioh’s founder, Vivek Agarwal.
Image Source: Instagram/ookioh
Even so, the brand’s swimwear is made in an Italian mill from 100 per cent regenerated materials. Ookioh uses post-consumer waste products like fishing nets, fluff, rigid textiles as well as pre-consumer waste from nylon production to make its fabric. The final fabric is 78 per cent recycled polyamide and 22 per cent elastane.
Image used for representational purposes only.
The Woman Effect
Launched in 2018 with the aim of becoming a market leader in swimwear, Ookioh set out to be inclusive in terms of size and varied swimwear requirements from women across the globe. From sleeved swim tops and high waist bikini bottoms that provide ample coverage to string bikinis- the brand has something for everyone.
“We wanted to change the narrative and make sustainable fashion fun. Even in the US or here in India, most of the styles were catering to women of a certain demographic. Nobody was thinking about women beyond that,” says the founder of the direct-to-consumer brand. Many would say the brand has been successful to create a varied consumer base, with customers in almost 32 countries including Japan as well as a contrast demographic in Middle Eastern regions.
Image Source: Instagram/ookioh
Agarwal credits a lot of this to the fact that Ookioh is an all-women team. “Everyone from the photographer to the website developer, to obviously the creative and packaging team- they’re all women. And I think that when you look at things from a female perspective at every touchpoint, it reflects on the brand”, he adds, “that’s how we were able to offer designs that work across the breadth of different body types and a varied colour palette.”
Image Source: Instagram/ookioh
What Beach Bod?
Even with a brand that has been successful in catering to a varied demographic of women, one of the biggest challenges Ookioh faces is that of women being apprehensive of wearing swimwear unless they’re of a certain size. “Our biggest challenge has been to market confidence because it is so ingrained in society to want to have a perfect beach body in order to wear a swimsuit. Confidence along with comfort are important to pull off anything”, says the founder.
Image Source: Instagram/ookioh
Sustainability Shouldn’t Cost More
Despite providing a conscious and largely catering set of products, the brand has set a price threshold for itself in an attempt to be sustainable and accessible at the same time.
“If you have to mitigate the damage of fast fashion then your goods need to be affordable, otherwise you’re just catering to the top five per cent (of consumers) and that doesn’t solve any problems,” adds Agarwal. All Ookioh swimwear is priced uniformly at US$50 (approximately ₹3,800) for separates and US$100 (₹7,500) for a one-piece.
The Recycled Future
While more and more brands are introducing recycled materials, especially in swimwear, it may not be enough until this wave of regenerated fabrics reaches a mass level. “On the flip side, brands are now being held accountable and responsible and consumer is also becoming more educated when it comes to sustainability. Brands are talking about it, even if it is from a very cursory point of view, at least the consumer is getting more educated,” adds Agarwal, “tomorrow if a new brand comes up, they’ll have to face certain challenges and questions. They can’t come and use (virgin) nylon again.”
While recycled swimwear does have a smaller carbon footprint overall (making Ookioh’s fabric eliminates the usual process of making Nylon from Crude Oil - thus reducing the average Global Warming Potential by 80 per cent), it is energy-intensive as well since the process of treating discarded plastic waste requires energy use. “I think going forward, we should see a lot of fabrics come up that consume less energy at production stages,” says Agarwal.
Image Source: Instagram/ookioh