ELENA CHEURINA
Founder of Ozero Swimwear
Though fast fashion has since been under a tonne of scrutiny, the industry is now bigger than ever before. Gone are the days when textiles were scarce, and people took time to mend, and re-mend items of clothing until they were falling apart, at which point they would be used as rags. Today, social media platforms celebrate fashion “hauls”, and many people deal with stress and anxiety via retail therapy.
“It’s a lot of overconsumption,” Elena Cheurina of Ozero Swimwear says. “People don’t realise it, but there’s just so many clothes being churned out every single day by so many brands worldwide. If you think about it, we’re not just talking about springsummer, fall-winter anymore. Malaysia has other seasonal collections, like Raya clothes for instance.
“What causes the cycle of overconsumption is the mindset of the consumers when it comes to seasonal clothing. You buy it for the one time you’d ever wear them, and then you never wear it again. There’s nothing wrong with wearing the same clothes. And the thing is, being a model, I have a first-hand account of just how much clothing is being produced every year.”
And one of those one-and-done clothing, was swimwear.
Two years prior to launching the brand in 2018, Cheurina realised that there weren’t a lot of good quality swimsuits in middle-ranged prices, and decided that she would make them herself. During her market research, she learned more about the cheap, conventional materials used to create swimwear— which were polyester and Lycra—as well as the consequences of using them. Then, she chanced upon Econyl, a recycled nylon that is woven with yarn
created from plastic waste, old rugs, carpets, textile waste, used garments, fishing nets and reclaimed old debris. From thereon, Ozero’s idea solidified further.
When she finally released the swimsuits, the initial reception was lukewarm at best as the concept of sustainable swimwear was still fresh.
But Cheurina hesitated to brand Ozero as ecoconscious at first. Passionate about designing with a cause, she stresses that being sustainable was more than just branding and until today, she continues to look for alternative materials that are more sustainable. “Let’s face it, it’s still plastic. While they don’t use crude oil to make Econyl, it still sheds microplastic in the environment, which is one of the biggest environmental problems today.
“But trying to find stretchy, comfortable and durable fabric for swimwear is exceedingly difficult because, at the end of the day, nylon is pretty much the go-to high performance material [of choice] as it has high resistance towards harsh conditions like chlorine, sun, tanning lotions, sunblock and so on. This is why it’s such a challenge to source a better option than regenerated nylon.”
When asked if sustainability was considered an expensive venture for business as well as their consumers, Cheurina says it’s both a yes and no.
On one hand, while sustainable materials are both difficult to procure and source, they last longer and cost less when you buy less, thus making them a long-time investment if they are well-kept.
“People ask me all the time if I could do cheaper ranges, but the only thing I can say is that if you want it cheaper, then it’s not going to be sustainable,” she says.