Fabrics for swimwear: beauty, history and performance

Innovation and style, fabrics for swimwear are made to surprise

Catchy, sexy, bon-ton, glamour. It is difficult, if not impossible, to classify, identify, sort out the impact and the feelings which swimwear items have triggered over the past centuries. What would the history of cinema be  without Ursula Andress emerging from the sea waves in the first 007 film? Or without the black swimsuit worn by Deborah Kerr in From here to eternity  in her attempt to seduce  Burt Lancaster while splashing in the sea. 

And these are just two small examples showing how important swimwear and beachwear items have been for the development of our contemporary culture. The history of swimwear and beachwear and, especially, fabrics for swimwear and beachwear, reveal nuances, backstage secrets and stories to be told.  And this is true also for Carvico creations. 

The history of swimwear: the bikini revolution – but not only…

Enhancing the silhouette, improving the swimming experience, putting together glamour and sport: these are the targets which have shaped the history of swimwear and its evolution through several milestones.

“Having a swim” has never been easy, especially until the early XIX century; the true revolution took place later on during that century, with the introduction of  a brand new concept of the body and an increased sense of freedom, transgression, beauty and independence brought about by the creation of the fist bikini produced by Louis Reard, in 1946. The Swiss designer was well aware of the power of a garment which was meant to revolutionize the way the female body had been seen up to that moment. However, the bikini was not the only peculiarity featured in the history of swimwear: during the ‘20s, fabrics for swimwear were also used to create taffetà skirts, or swimsuits made of wool jersey, matched with shorts. Nowadays, such items may look goofy and obsolete, whereas, one century ago, they proved that the skin could finally be shown after centuries of constraints. 

During the ‘30s, when fabrics for swimwear were mainly made of stretch silk, we could finally find some nice sets putting together Bermuda shorts and bras. The female body could finally be exhibited and admired, and swimsuits could mediate between nature  – sea water – and the human desire of getting in touch with it. 

Beachwear and swimwear, fabrics for new experiences

The most significant landmarks in the history of swimwear could never have taken place without beachwear fabrics, designed for the beach and for sports, and aimed to interpret every aspect of the water experience: dynamic, glamour, relaxed. 

The words beachwear and swimwear translate into fabrics suitable for sunbathing, swimming in the sea or in a swimming pool and practicing sport. We are talking about  a selection of fabrics designed for the creation of swimwear and beachwear items like the abovementioned bikini, one-piece swimsuits and competition swimsuits. Fabrics created to satisfy customers’ needs in terms of look, quality and performance, inspirational items made to help us live our water experiences at our best, both when sipping a cocktail at the beach, surfing or training with an aqua gym session.

The water world offers us thrills, challenges, adrenaline. To perform at our best we need to wear garments which can follow our movements without constraining us or creating fiction, while, at the same time, supporting our muscles and reducing the production of lactic acid. 

That is why such items must be high quality; the choice between Polyester and Polyamide is personal and it is just a matter of comfort, hand feel and individual preferences.

When talking about beachwear products, it is worth mentioning one excellence product born in 1974. A compact fiber, conveying the concepts of energy and strength : LYCRA®.  An extraordinary example of adaptability, this unique fiber can extend up to 7 times its original length, and then go back to its original dimensions, allowing designers to create very different shapes and versatile items.

Fabrics for swimwear and beachwear, Carvico example

For over 50 years. the fabrics for swimwear and beachwear by Carvico, have been inspired by the beauty and uniqueness of very different water experiences. 

These fabrics are both  beautiful and high quality, visually impactful, and innovative. In one word, simply excellent. Sumatra, part of the company collection of fabrics for swimwear and beachwear, embodies the perfect balance between comfort and glamour with the addition of a high resistance to chlorine, suntan creams and oils. 

A passion for elegance is what characterizes instead Malaga, a fabric for beachwear, resistant to chlorine and abrasions, which perfectly blends light weight and elasticity. 

The willingness to challenge one’s limits, to explore and love water, have led to the creation of Revolutional™  by Carvico, a performance fabric – featuring two international patents –  which fits the body perfectly, and is ultra-thin, ultra light resistant chlorine and sand. Revolutional™ is ideal for beachwear and competition swimwear.

Browse Carvico website to find out more about their whole range  of fabrics for swimwear and beachwear. 

Fabrics for swimwear: Melville, innovative production cycle and high performance

Innovation, sustainability and circular economy: these are some of the key concepts Carvico has based its production strategies on. 

And one of the outcome of such strategies is Melville, a swimwear fabric made of 45% PBT 55% REPREVE® recycled polyester, a 100%sustainable fiber (link al primo articolo scritto) from post-consumers plastic (PET) from the food industry. Plastic, which has been polluting our waters and beaches in the past years, is re-used to give life to new creations. 

Melville is a fabric for swimwear created through an innovative process for the production of high performance, chlorine-proof garments, ideal for those ambitious athletes which want to achieve excellence in perfect harmony with water.