As Easy As Pan Y Mar: A Lifestyle Brand That Sets The Bar High For Sustainable Swimwear
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Being sustainable is now becoming a must in the fashion industry. Rightly so, given the problems fast fashion (but also luxury fashion) has generated over the years ranging from exploitation of people and nature to low quality and unmanageable waste.
Designers such as Stella McCartney and Reformation have furthermore shown that ethical and conscious clothing doesn’t necessarily mean monochromatic and simple, but also sexy and desirable.
But what about a far-less-talked-about niche of fashion, swimwear? Can sustainable swimwear also be fun, sexy and desirable?
The answer is most certainly, yes. Mara Hoffman paved the way to full of fun and colorful patterns, versatile and body-inclusive bikinis made from upcycled fishnets and recycled nylon (ECONYL). However, due to fashion’s pressures to (over)produce, Mara Hoffman didn’t feel the industry any longer and shut down her brand. But the desire for cute, ethical, body-flattering bikinis that we want to live in and love even beyond summers, remains.
There’s the constant pressure from sustainability oriented consumers for more transparency, more research into materials, more innovation, more design versatility and more beauty, and swimwear is exactly the niche of fashion that still leaves a lot of room for exploration, from the sustainability point of view. And this is where the two Italian female Berlin-trained marketing entrepreneurs, Valentina Trave and Flaminia Cirillo step in. Without any experience in fashion, but with great passion for swimwear and swimsuit design, Valentina and Flaminia decided to give it a go. The self-proclaimed “daughters of the sea, dreamers with salty skin”, saw an opportunity to turn their passion into reality, and voilà, Pan y Mar ( “bread and sea”), a swimwear turning into a lifestyle brand was launched.
The well-researched fits that include all shapes and sizes, the color combos and authentic storytelling (with a flavour of boho) is what every mindful shopper wants to see and feel with sustainable swimwear and lifestyle brands.
Although very internationally oriented, with their brand philosophy and customer targets, Pan y Mar pays homage to their Italian artisanal roots by collaborating with local artisans and naming their bikinis after some very Italian flavours.
It all begins in Pescara, Abruzzo region in south Italy, the birthplace of Pan y Mar, where summers are hot, life is slower and the tomato pasta sauce tastes better.
BOLD AND FREE: AN INVITATION TO A BEACH PARTY THAT CELEBRATES YOU
Pescara, a south Italian city where people don’t go on vacation, because the vacation IS the city itself. Situated at the Adriatic coast of the Italian peninsula, Pescara is where the summers’ heat pushes until November, and where the well-known south Italian vibe dolce far niente translates into a pan y mar , a boho-beach lifestyle where the summer existence is as easy as “a piece of bread and the sea”, but with a dash of good music and chill people.
“The bikini is a summer staple. You just need a skirt and you’re good to go, from daytime until nighttime", explain the founders. Inspired by the people they love and their travels abroad, Pan y Mar’s bikinis are a real treat.
Double-layered, versatile from a design point of view, and color-bold, Pan y Mar signed bikinis are made from upcycled fishnets sourced from fisheries in Italy. It took a lot of prototyping, failures and try-ons to arrive at the bikini models that feel and look great on different body types, (and being sturdy enough to keep you covered if you chose to ride the Pacific waves).
The hard work paid off, and, for now, there are three main bikini types to choose from: triangle, double-face, and balconette, each of which comes in several vibrant color combos. They plan to develop unis, as well, and they have also started expanding into multi-wear cover-ups, tees and tote bags with their logo. For more inspiration, check their online store here.
NOTHING LEFT TO CHANCE: THE VIBE IS ALSO IN THE DETAILS
The essence of Pan y Mar is love for the sea, and admiration of simplicity that often hides extraordinary beauty. This naturally ties in with what Italians have been famous for worldwide; focus on details, and appreciation of simple everyday pleasures gave rise to extraordinary food, fashion, and design solutions. It is, ultimately, what made Made In Italy a trademark of quality and style.
And for Pan y Mar, every detail, from small bikini embellishments, to their language is intentional and truthful to the brand’s philosophy and identity. The names of bikinis and cover-ups are as playful and evocative of those simple summer pleasures and adventures.
For example, a white triangle bikini is named stracciatella, after a gelato flavor, a red balconette bikini set she burns, sets you off feeling sexy on the hot sand, and yellow triangle bikini let’s groove invites you to bring your bikini to a hot latina music dance floor (that desert field of Coachella, could equally do!). If you need to cover up, laughing in the purple rain or dancing with your eyes closed, cover-ups wearable as a skirt and as a top, will not leave a lot for imagination, but it will reveal your untamed nature. Just as we like it!
And for those who want their bikinis spiced-up a bit further, there are two types of details bikinis come with: a crochet neck string, a detail specifically related to the region of Abruzzo, hand-made by Carmela, a local Pescaran artisan, or carefully selected vintage glass beads from the 70-ties in Italy.
The packaging is also carefully thought out. When you order a bikini, it arrives in a dustbag with a logo, made from 100% recycled cotton, which will protect your belongings and your bag lining from salt and humidity once you re-use it at the beach.
SETTING THE BAR HIGH: SUSTAINABLE SWIMWEAR FOR ALL MADE (ENTIRELY) IN ITALY
Playful, sexy and festival-esqu, who are brands’ target buyers? Pan y Mar’s bikinis are age-less. They will satisfy any type of adventurous, sustainability-minded and free-spirited woman who wants to invest in a high-quality bikini. Their small batch production and direct contact with a shopper via instagram makes the whole shopping experience very personal, timely and pleasant.
Future wishes? They’d love to expand to the North American market, especially “the beach states”, such as California or Florida, as well as the Asian one. They are currently negotiating a presence in Japan’s market and they secured their participation at SAND swimwear and resortwear tradeshow that will be held in October in Dubai.
There is something so honest and authentic about Pan y Mar, just as the initial idea of Valentina and Flaminia to create a bikini brand was. No marketing gimmicks. Just a simple invitation to join the summer party at the beach, somewhere in California, Italy or Brasil, doesn’t really matter, as long as you allow Pan y Mar to make that summer feel last a bit longer. And don’t we ALL wish for that?
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