Aaron Chang: recycled fashion swimsuits
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA 
on 09.15.07
Another great find at the Action Sports Retailers (ASR) Trade Show 2007 is the new line from Aaron Chang. These are the first fashion swimsuits to incorporate environmental materials and they look great.
What is Aarong Chang and how did he get involved in developing womens swimwear? Well-known in the photography world, his work has appeared on over 100 covers, on coffee table books, on countless ads for companies like, Nike, Yamaha, Polaris and Levis. As an avid and legendary surfer, nature has always been in the forefront of his mind and he had a desire to incorporate his personal values with his professional work. According to Aaron, “I would like to convey through photographs a sense of wonder with the amazing design and architecture of life.”
Thus, a great concept was formed to merge photography with fashion with swimwear. While the first few suits were not eco-friendly, this spring Aaron Chang will debut two new swimsuit lines that are made from 100% recycled plastic soda bottles. The response has already been so positive that Aaron Chang plans to make all summer swimsuit lines from 100% recycled plastic and eco-friendly.
The swimwear incorporates the direct photographs or small pieces from the photographs are used to design a logo that is used on the swimwear. Themes on the swimsuits incorporate elements of the natural world, such as waves, sunsets, flowers, elephants and indigenous designs from Panama. All swimsuits use bright colors, such as hot pints, greens, reds. The swimsuits are reversible, thus allowing for two suits for the price of one; A great concept.
Currently all cover-ups (shorts, tops and dress covers) are made from 100% organic cotton. Detailing on the clothes and suits is made from wooden beads, thus no plastic parts on the clothing or suits.
But why stop with the swimsuits or the cover-ups – Aaron Chang has made sure that all items related to the clothing are also environmental. Marketing materials and papers are all recycled and certified by the Rainforest Alliance to not come from virgin rainforest trees. Catalogs, handtags and press kits are all made from recycled paper.
Aaron Chang swimwear will soon appear in Urban Outfitters stores. Discussions with other retailers encouraged the promotion of 100% recycled suits as they wanted to carry different designs which were at that time not recycled. This is one way that retailers and designers in turn both encourage each other and push each other to incorporate more environmental practices. Sometimes it comes from the designer pushing new eco-lines and, as in this case, the change was encouraged by the retailer asking for more eco-options.
For more information, check them out online at Aaron Chang.com or look for them at Urban Outfitters.
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Surf Green with Eco-Friendly Surf Gear
- Recycled Plastic Workout Gear is Great for Fitness, Great for Planet
- Green Your Bikini Waxing Routine with Soy, Pine Sap and Organic Bikini Wax
- Zero Waste—The Newest Eco-Fashion Innovation?
- Does Recycling Really Make a Difference?
- Sew Your Own Swimsuit Cover-up--Win Sweet Prizes!
Has this model eaten a meal larger than a soybean in the past year? More reinforcement of the mainstream's message of negative body image, now from the green community -- just what the world needs.
this is great, however to meet demand (as only around 7% plastic is recycled) the manufacturers would have to resort to a 75-25% split
i would really like to know where to get that swimsuit, its so cute and its not on his website for sale or any other websites i have found so far.
I believe the suit is in their spring/summer 2008 line. So it should be coming out soon, but you can try contacting them directly to see when/where you can buy it. best of luck.
Hudson: for you to call a thin person anorexic, is worse than a thin person calling an overweight person FAT. Sometimes thin people can't help the fact that they are underweight.
Don't jump to conclusions.
So, I just through talking with someone at Aaron Chang. They have two swimsuit lines from their spring collection that they sell on http://www.razorreef.com that are made of the recycled plastic/ecofriendly. After talking on the phone with someone at Aaron Chang, I was informed that the Mola and Etosha swimsuits on that site are part of their eco-friendly line. The Ginger Lei suit can be ordered from Victoria Secrets website and is just sold on that site as eco-friendly. The same one on the razonreef site is not made of the eco-friendly fabric. Aaron Changs whole summer line will be eco-friendly and if you look at the summer look book on Aaron Changs web-site, you can custom order any of those suits through razorreef.
Hey, you can be a earthy and fashionable. (and also skinny and eat a lot) Come one people, I thought that people who are earth conscious were more excepting than that!
in the june issue of seventeen magazine, they show 2 of the aaron chang suits. they are adorable! both are more whimsical than the one above but ubercute to thee max =)
Where are the Aaron Chang bathing suits manufactured? what country?
Whoa, as if i needed any more inspiration for going green. Hello Nurse!
Honestly, I've been a fan of Aaron's for years now since my early surfing days. His talent and vision for photography certainly carries over to this other venture.
This is great! I would love to feel the fabric becuase it is hard to image recycled soda bottle tops being soft enough to wear. Exciting progress!
I wish I could be thin like that model. She can probably look good in anything with that figure.