What Makes an Ethical Swimwear Brand?
What Ethical Means and What to Look Out For
When it comes to deciphering whether a brand is ethical or sustainable or eco-friendly (etc), there are lots of factors to consider. It’s not a one-size-fits-all concept. This is one of the reasons the waters can get a little murky and it can become slightly confusing for you, as a customer.
Being ethical or sustainable can refer to lots of different factors. From manufacturing and production to human rights, consider what is important to you when choosing whether to shop a brand or not. Ask yourself, do their values align with yours?
Today, we’re taking a look at some of the things to think about when deciding what makes an ethical swimwear brand.
Plus, we’ll mention a few of the relevant things that come up for COSMOKINI.
The Fabric They Use
This is always a good place to start and it’s something we’ve talked about on the blog in the past in our post, Why Shop Sustainable Swimwear.
The fabric a brand chooses to use will tell you lots about how seriously they take sustainability. For example, at COSMOKINI, we use ECONYL ® Nylon – which means our swimsuits are both recycled and recyclable – something we’re very passionate about.
What fabric does your fave swimwear brand use?
How & Where They Choose to Manufacture
Another thing to consider is how and where the brand manufactures the collections. Local and small-run production is almost always more ethical. This shows that the brand is against mass fashion and throwaway culture and works with a slow fashion approach. Which is exactly how COSMOKINI works.
If They Care About People
To be an ethical swimwear brand, it also goes without saying that people are a top priority. From fair wages to safe working conditions, how much do you know about the way a brand works? How much do they want to tell you?
Who They Associate Themselves With
Whether a brand has certain charitable associations can also be a good indication of whether they are actually an ethical swimwear brand or not. Do they partner with anyone to confirm they’re working towards their goals?
Here at COSMOKINI, we’re very open about our partners and how important they are to us. While our regenerated Nylon fabric comes from ECONYL ® Brand, we also partner with Healthy Seas who are a major player in the regenerated Nylon fabric sector.
Transparency
The last thing we wanted to talk about was the issue of transparency. Which to us, is one of the most important things when discussing what makes a brand ethical or sustainable.
If you’ve not heard of the term ‘green washing’, it’s basically, the very vague language that many brands are using now to appear green/eco-friendly/sustainable etc. But actually, when you look a little closer, they don’t have much substance behind their claims.
Being transparent is super important when it comes to the ethics of a brand. Do they have lots of information available on their website for you to read? Do they talk about it lots as a central theme or is it vaguely mentioned? Are they open to conversation about it when you approach them on social media?
All of these things are ways that brands can be more transparent with their customers when it comes to their ethical stance and policies.
As you can see being ‘ethical’ or ‘sustainable’ isn’t simply ticking off a list of requirements. There are nuance and a range of concepts to consider and there are lots of brands out there making amazing changes – and continuously bettering their sustainability stance. Just like us!
So, what makes an ethical swimwear brand? Now, you have plenty to consider when deciding if a brand you love to shop is doing its best.