15 MAY 2024 - COLLECTIONS
Vilebrequin has a very long history of experimenting with fabrics. It reaches back to the early days, when the house’s swim trunks were tailored from unconventional materials like spinnaker sails and African wax, and stretches through to a new wave of cutting-edge swim yarns like silk, pure Merino wool, and ECONYL®.
BUCOL
There’s a reason you’ve never seen silk swimwear before: It’s a highly delicate fabric to work with, especially when wet. If anyone could rise to the challenge, it was Maison BUCOL. Born in the 1920s during the golden age of the Lyon silk trade, this jewel of a textile company has been creating fabrics for the most prestigious fashion houses for over 100 years. With a little imagination, and three years of research and development, Vilebrequin and Maison BUCOL were able to pioneer an innovative blend of silk and recycled polyester that retains the unique feel and look of silk while being resistant to sunlight, saltwater, and chlorine. Depth and richness of color are achieved by an additional sublimation printing stage which binds together fabric and dye. For the occasion, Maison BUCOL opened its archives to Vilebrequin. Three vintage vacation-themed 360° prints are joined by the iconic Vilebrequin sea turtle motif.
The collection features four swim trunks meticulously screen-printed in Maison BUCOL’s french ateliers using the traditional “Lyonnaise” method from the 19th century.
REDA
For Vilebrequin’s line of Merino wool trunks with The Woolmark Company, quality was of the essence. We knew exactly where to look: the Hills of Valdilana in Italy’s Biella Province, home to fourth-generation wool mill Reda. A leader in the production of excellent Merino wool fabrics, Reda’s story is threaded with 160 years of manufacturing know-how and relentless innovation. Vilebrequin x The Woolmark Company swim trunks are tailored using their Woolmarkcerti fied pure Super 120’s Merino wool—a cloth traditionally reserved for suiting. Because swimsuits are suits too, Vilebrequin dipped into Reda Active, a range specifically developed for performance, comfort, and movement. Innovative spinning techniques mean wool is lightweight with natural stretch. Machine-washable and quick-drying, your swim trunks stay in great shape, however many hours you spend at the beach Molto elegant, molto low-maintenance, e molto italiano!
From fleece to fabric, Reda is committed to overseeing every step in the process. Responsibly dyed, spun, woven, and finished at their mill in Croce Mosso, Merino wool is produced to the highest environmental standards. Of course, wool is a pretty good student to begin with! A natural fiber predominantly composed of keratin, wool degrades in marine environments, and doesn’t add to the microplastics problem. “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Vilebrequin» says Reda CEO Ercole Botto Poala. «This partnership shows how two companies can find common ground through shared values such as sustainability and responsible production.»
It’s not every day you see women walking around the French Senate in swimsuits. This historic moment took place on March 28th 2024 during the presentation of the end-of-course projects from the students of Institut Français de la Mode x Kering Sustainability Certificate. This one-of-a-kind design project is the response of a group of students to the impact of microplastics on the oceans. With the support of Vilebrequin and TheWoolmark Company (raw material and technical support), the students explored wool as a sustainable material for swimwear, developing a full collection of eco-responsible products aimed at longterm concrete and commercial development.
ECONYL®
There’s a very familiar sensation you get when you wear a pair of Vilebrequin trunks—a feeling of softness, a certain luxuriousness, and a care for detail that can’t be imitated. It’s a feeling it took us many years to create. Overcoming the technical constraints of swimwear while preserving our environment remains our absolute priority at Vilebrequin. The solution? Carefully selecting the finest, most forward-thinking fabric suppliers out there. Because in our view, the best answer to sustainability is lasting quality.
Nestled in the Trentino region, ECONYL® yarn manufacturer Aquafil has been a pioneer of the circular economy since 1965 (imagine, that’s pre-Vilebrequin!). Giving ‘Made in Italy’ a new name, ECONYL® yarn is created using nylon salvaged from fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring, and industrial plastics. A radical purification and regeneration process restores nylon to its original state. It can then be spun into an ultra-resistant, high-density yarn. Infinitely recyclable, ECONYL® regenerated nylon can be reused again and again without ever losing its quality, thus limiting the need for new resources. Durable, reparable, and recyclable: Vilebrequin’s classic swim trunk styles are proof that less is definitely more. As of last summer, 100% of Vilebrequin’s main line of men’s swim trunks are tailored from recycled and recyclable materials. A feat only made possible by working with innovative yarns like ECONYL® regenerated nylon.