A Letter From Our Loop Swim Founders

Soon after it dawned on Itee and I that we were complicit in fashion’s bonfire of our planet’s resources, we made a new plan.  We had no idea in 2010 that the path we were forging toward sustainable fashion would practically become the default path for designers by 2020.

Loop co-founders, Heather and Itee, April 2019

Soon after it dawned on Itee and I that we were complicit in fashion’s bonfire of our planet’s resources, we made a new plan.  We had no idea in 2010 that the path we were forging toward sustainable fashion would practically become the default path for designers by 2020.

“To be truly sustainable, you have to look at every part of your supply chain and confirm that you can in fact keep doing everything you’re doing FOREVER – without depleting the planet’s resources.” (Quote from “Our Planet: Our Business”) That’s a tall order, and every day at Loop Swim, we are looking for ways not just to sustain our carbon footprint, but to help regenerate resources consumed.

Loop swimsuits are made from REPREVE recycled PET bottles.

We focus on designing eco-swimwear made exclusively from Repreve recycled PET plastic bottles. Loop Swim is responsibly made in China, and retails globally with value-aligned hotel, resort and specialty boutique partners. Recognized for our timeless, singular textile prints, we’ve become the premium resource for the eco-conscious global traveler and a key player in raising ocean plastic pollution awareness.

But we must all advocate not just for recycling, but for reducing disposable products altogether.  Throwing things away is an unsustainable mindset.  We know now the only things that go ‘away’ and don’t come back are our natural resources.

Loop Swim Co-founders, Heather and Itee

Imagine inventors, designers, creators all considering what will happen to their products after people are done using them – we have tremendous power to advocate for sustainability from our producers. Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle.  That’s the order of importance we all need to relearn.

We often start presentations by stating that in the 20 years we’ve been fashion designers, over 250 million tons of unwanted clothing has been thrown away. That’s about 36 kg per urban adult each year. Definitely the most unsustainable thing about the fashion industry is how disposable has become the new black.

Loop Swim Co-founder, Itee Soni, underwater in the Maldives in Loop swimwear!

We want to see apparel producers being financially responsible for what happens to their products at end-of-life, and producing to meet actual demand. Imagine if waste being dumped into landfill was billed to the producers? As soon as there is a financial incentive to recycle or design longer-lasting, sustainable products, we will all be able to enjoy what really makes fashion inspirational: great design.

We are super excited to join Connect Fashion’s Spring 2020 pilot, enabling garments to have a ‘digital passport.’ Their RFID yarn will not only identifies where, by who, and how your garment was made, and with what resources, but could also advise you how to dispose of your garment so that it does not enter landfill or our oceans.

Loop co-founder, Heather Kaye

To ensure a ‘deep bench’ of eco-minded future thinkers, we’ve built our Loop-Ed education platform by collaborating with NGOs, schools and global companies to reduce single-use plastic and clean up our oceans. With the Shanghai-based Green Initiatives team, Loop launched the “Plastics are Forever” impact project focused on ending the use of disposable plastics. We have since screened ‘A Plastic Ocean’ with thousands school-age children and companies throughout Greater China.

In March 2019, we recruited and organized delegations from 12 international schools in Shanghai to attend the first Eco Warriors Summit, culminating in commitments from all attendees to reduce or eliminate single-use plastic from their campuses by 2020.

We strive to be a key player in the movement to get all businesses – starting with fashion – thinking and acting circular. Producing waste is no longer fashionable.

To our future on a healthy planet!