Reformation Swim

Reformation?

Refor­ma­tion star­ted in 2009 and is an Ame­ri­can brand that – duh! – makes eco­lo­gi­cally res­pon­si­ble clothing.

Refor­ma­tion designs for real women. The desig­ners think about how and when women will be wea­ring their biki­nis and swim­suits and – not unim­por­tantly – how the­se gar­ments can be recy­cled after­wards. Awe­so­me!

Tha­t’s why Refor­ma­tion devi­des its clothing into five cate­go­ries, based on the mate­rials they use to make it:

- All stars: natu­ral, rapidly rene­wa­ble and reusa­ble fibres 

- Better than most: mainly recy­cled or natu­ral fibres

- Could be bet­ter: bet­ter than the most used fibres, but not innovative

- Don’t use unless cer­ti­fied: raw mate­rials with a cer­ti­fi­ca­te as proof of ani­mal wel­fa­re, orga­nic ori­gin or traceability.

- Eeww, never: less than 10% of the raw materials

The goal is to make 75% of all Refor­ma­tion clothing with raw mate­rials from the A and B cate­gory.

Eco: from needle to thread?

For its biki­nis, bot­toms and swim­suits, Refor­ma­tion mainly uses deads­tock (unu­sed vin­ta­ge, old stock and fabrics of unk­nown ori­gin), Econyl® (reused nylon) and elas­ta­ne. Lycra, you say? Yep. Micro­plas­tics in sus­tai­na­ble clothing. Refor­ma­tion admits that elas­ta­ne is not a dura­ble mate­rial and that it tries to use alter­na­ti­ves. But some­ti­mes elas­ta­ne can’t be avoi­ded, appa­rently. And tha­t’s why the brand also gives tips to pre­vent the­se micro­plas­tics from being relea­sed during washing: use cold water and wash your swim­wear in a spe­cial washing net.

Refor­ma­tion commu­ni­ca­tes openly about its raw mate­rials and clo­sely moni­tors its pro­duc­tion process.

And the­re is good news: Refor­ma­tion wants to redu­ce the use of harm­ful subs­tan­ces. Way to go!

A great place to work?

Refor­ma­tio­n’s mana­ge­ment team con­sists of 75% women or peo­ple from under-repre­sen­ted groups. Yeah!

The brand designs and pro­du­ces most of its exclu­si­ve (and often limi­ted) collec­tions in down­town City of Angels (Los Ange­les): no less than 79% of the pro­duc­tion takes pla­ce in the USA. The rest of their clothing is made in low-wage coun­tries, but the­re Refor­ma­tion stri­ves to pay wor­kers and mer­chants the mini­mum wage.

Overall / short

Clean, luxu­rious and exclu­si­ve beach­wear. Desig­ned for women who want to show off their sus­tai­na­ble tanlines!