Seasick Swim: Circular Sea Treasures

First of all, kudos for the design of Seasick Swim's bikini tops, bottoms and swimsuits: not only do they come in super-beautiful, feminine cuts - sometimes asymmetrical, sometimes with fancy lacing, always in Caribbean-dreamy color combos - but they can also be turned around. The swimwear of the freshly launched label (since 2023) consists of 100 percent plastic waste from oceans and land sources. Founder Inga refrains from mixing fiber types to allow for subsequent recycling. Another design clue is that some items have an elastic band sewn in so that it can be removed later for recycling. Standards include the Oekotex Standard 100 and the Global Recycling Standard, and production takes place in Spain and Bulgaria.

Sensihemp: Sensual fashion made of hemp

Fashion made from hemp has evolved so much - as we see in examples like Sensihemp. The label from Portugal, which also produces in its home country, delivers surprisingly lightweight, beachy, earthy pieces. Hemp has a reputation as a stiff, stubborn, colorless fiber, but Sensihemp is making the leap to soft 100-percent shirts. The shirts, trousers, sweaters in unicolor, with surf-ready prints and pastel colors are for women, men, people. Founder Marta has been working in the textile industry for 20 years, and she has lived out her love for Mother Nature in various volunteer projects. So now the hemp fiber.

Anne Schollenberger: Vegan leather luxury

When a conventional label promotes products with 'vegan leather', it might sound nice, but often they're actually talking about plastic. Either animal-based or petroleum-based - for a long time there were only these two options, both of which are lousy for the environment. A young vegan AND plant-based invention saves both wildlife and fossil resources: cactus leather is robust, tear-resistant, resistant to water - and look as well as feel can almost be mistaken for real leather. Cactus leather is also Anne-Kristin Schollenbergers material of choice. The label founder supplies Peta-certified boots, bags, hats of premium quality, all three respectively coordinated. The production of the precious items takes place in Portugal.

Helena Harfst: So pretty, so easily elegant, so pure.

Helena Harfst creates timeless blouses, onesies, trousers, dresses inspired by regional – Hessian – folklore. In her designs she renounces pop patterns, colors, prints, but stays in the nature-inspired color realm from white to indigo and coral to black. This purist starting point is broken by modern translations from traditional costume such as gathers, lacing, quilting, patchwork. This results in a look that is not only timeless, but simultaneously contemporary. The label uses only natural fibers such as organic cotton, linen and hemp. By the way, considering the fact that this is all handmade in Hessen, the prices are surprising.

Casagin: The Feelgood Stuff

What we directly adored about Casagin is the communication: models with different sizes, close-ups with rolls, pores, stretch marks. Even though diversity - aka normality - can generally go much further in the industry, these photos already stand out. The Italian label supplies swimming costumes with sexy cutouts, bikini tops for wrapping, sporty as well as feminine underwear and sportswear - in other words, collections for all moments that have to do with wellbeing. The pieces are also produced in Italy, not to say 70 kilometers away from the headquarter. The materials include organic cotton and Tencel as well as biodegradable elastane and polyamide.

Oh OH Om: Hear hear, goddesses and gods!

Oh Oh Om originated somewhat like this: "Bye, outdoor and activewear, you're crap for the environment." Two years and six months later: "There is another way, namely environmentally friendly, free of harmful substances and functional at the same time." So today the label creates more sustainable collections of tops, trousers, jumpsuits. We love, for example, the Goddess Shirt Line with a water-based print representing Ganesha and Kali respectively. The materials: besides cotton, micromodal and biodegradable elastane, among others. The clothes are so comfortable and stretchy that it's a joy to do yoga and sports with them.