Baianá Beachwear Biodegradable Fabric

Why did Baianá choose to use a biodegradable polyamide yarn instead of regular swimwear yarns?

Baianá was born with a mission to create an ethical and ecological alternative to the traditional swimwear market by committing to a sustainable manufacturing process and textile life-cycle. We believe in honoring our space in this beautiful Earth by leaving the smallest footprint we can leave.

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Every year millions of garments are discarded, generating a critical increase in the level of landfilling and pollution on our planet. We believe that industries with an enormous impact on the environment (such as the textile industry) should substantially reduce their amount of waste discarded in landfills to preventing from passing it on to future generations.

Garments made of traditional synthetic fibers take decades, or even centuries to decompose after being discarded. To allow our planet to breathe, we only use the Amni Soul Eco® yarn in our production. Amni Soul Eco® is the first fully biodegradable polyamide yarn in the world. In addition to fully decomposing in three years after landfill disposal, the Amni Soul Eco® is Oeko-Tex® certified, meaning that no harmful or toxic substances are present in the yarn.

What is Amni Soul Eco®?

Developed over five years of researches by Rhodia, Amni Soul Eco® is a polyamide 6.6 textile yarn which has been formulated to allow garments made with this innovative technology to quickly decompose after being properly disposed of in landfills, making the articles environmentally friendly. While other fibers take decades to decompose, it only takes about three years for Amni Soul Eco® to disappear from the planet.

Amni Soul Eco® is not only biodegradable, recyclable and reusable, it also offers the many functional benefits of Rhodia's polyamide for consumers, such as its soft touch, extreme comfort, breathability, moisture management, easy-care, easy washing, and it is easily dyed in different colors for the industry to produce any kind of garment for every segment.

And there is more: as the biodegradation process begins, the yarn is broken down into organic matter (biomass) and biogas that can be used to cogenerate electricity and therefore become new environmental resources. The process to create the yarn is also sustainable – the fabric is produced in a closed cycle manufacturing system, a production process which collects and recycles scrap, wastewater, raw materials found in the water, and heat that is generated in some of the production phases.

Are there any toxic substances in the fabric that will go into the soil or water streams once it decomposes?

The Amni Soul Eco® fabric has no toxic components on its formulation. The product is Oeko-Tex® (standard 100, class 1) internationally certified, which means the residues of the fabric biodegradation are organic compounds. They are free of heavy metals and their non-toxicity to the environment has been proved by testing according to the method / standard ASTM E1963 - Standard Guide for Conducting Terrestrial Plant Toxicity Tests.

If Amni Soul Eco is biodegradable, does that mean it will start decomposing when exposed to water or sweat?

Don't worry about water or sweat, the Amni Soul Eco® fabric is made to last for many years –  the fabric only begins to break down when exposed to a combination of factors, such as absence of oxygen, high humidity and a high concentration of bacteria in an anaerobic landfill. Otherwise, its shelf life is as lengthy as that of traditional polyamides and the fabric will preserve all of it’s properties.

Why does Baianá work with such small collections and stocks?

The rapid rise and success of fast fashion has led to a major shift in consumer behavior, promoting the disposal of millions of garments a year, especially in the underwear and swimwear segments, that are not a popular option for second-hand consumption.

The ultimate cost of this sharp rise in mindless consumption is waste, pollution, and sweatshops. To provide such rapid turnovers of cheap clothing, companies have gone to extreme lengths to minimize cost margins.

Fast fashion also encourages the production of lower quality clothing. Quality and durability have been pushed aside in favor of cheap clothing that meets the current trend in fashion but will be out of vogue the following season. The biggest problem with this is that it has lead to enormous quantities of clothing ending up in landfills.

We don’t only promote conscious consumption to our clients, we apply the same values within our brand. We do not believe in waste and overstock within our company, we choose to work with small collections and stocks, averaging 250 suits per collection. We increase production on a necessity basis and our wholesale orders are made to order to make sure we don’t ever have to throw away or heavily discount any of our products. Baianá’s manufacturing process is artisanal and based on craftsmanship and fair trade, therefore our production capacity is small but ethical. Lastly, we commit to working with timeless designs and colors and avoid following trends to promote a healthy, long-term relationship between you and your swimwear.

For more information about our sustainable practices and values, email us at hello@baianabeachwear.com