Hello everyone,

story:

Here's a transcript of the video voice-over, in case you aren't able to watch it, which is the "long story" of Avaréa

It’s hard to explain how water makes me feel. The seas, ocean, even the rain. The moment I see the ocean, hear the waves, most importantly, the moment I touch water, is a moment of utter oneness with nature that I haven’t been able to experience to such intensity otherwise. Utter presence and most otherworldly of experiences. And then one day it hit me. I was sitting on the beach watching the surfers catch their waves each. That thing you’re looking at now, that had been in the back of my mind for over 5 years wasn’t just a blend of my education or skills and a business idea anymore. In this moment of epiphany it became clear that it can’t be anything else than my purpose. Everything I love and everything I love doing combined into one thing, one “job”. From illustration that gives birth to the prints, through sketching the designs, playing with colors, to the final steps of portraying what I created through the lens of my camera, whether it’s stills, or films. Not to mention the unmatched amount of presence I feel when I am in the water. This idea not only became the depiction of my purpose, but in that moment, it became something that was possible, which I think is something that one really understands on another level when one pours their heart and soul into something. You might think it’s just another bikini drowning in a metaphorical sea of endless designs. Let me tell you what I know it isn’t. It isn’t random, it isn’t a fleeting idea or an urge to make something. It is the urge to express everything I love doing, and turn it into something tangible. The urge to express my thoughts through the prints and designs, my feelings through the colors and my experience through pictures, whether moving or still. And to be able to help preserve creatures and animals deep in the ocean that are endangered (cuz let’s be real, what isn’t these days) and affect our ecosystem more than we want to admit. This is my heart expressed in all the ways I find possible.

For those who aren't keen readers, here's the most condensed explanation of this project, which would be the "short story"

Ethically produced luxury swimwear designed from scratch that lasts and gives back % of profit for ocean conservation

Collection overview

Fabric specifications

REPREVE "Our Ocean" - Recycled polyester from plastic found in the ocean (plastic bottles, fishing nets..) - Option 2

REPREVE Our Ocean helps reduce plastic pollution from coastlines and improve coastal community livelihoods by collecting and transforming plastic into recycled polyester. This FiberPrint® traceable performance fiber decreases dependence on virgin fossil fuels. (https://repreve.com/our-brands/repreve-our-ocean)

Steps taken from production stage to final delivery

This project has been in my mind for 6 years, and I've been actively working on it for over a year now, sketching the designs, making moodboards, drawing fashion illustrations, drawing the prints, sampling the products as well as prints and fabrics, and I also created my own font - all of this has started in November 2024 and it keeps going until present moment

In the following pages you'll see each style one by one, with its inspiration - moodboard, style sketch, fashion illustration, print close-up and color chart

These following designs are the "base" or priority designs & prints that I can move forward with if reaching the funding goal

[this is due to MOQs (minimum order quantity) per style/color]

this print is inspired by the very first seashell I found when I moved to Spain 2 years ago, it remains my favorite type of seashell to this day

I'll be able to move forward with the other designs in the collection overview if the funding goal's exceeded:

If I reach 3000€ - I will launch 3 designs, etc..

Sizing

Sizes range from XS to XL (XS, S, M, L, XL)

Fit

It’s no coincidence it took me a year to sample these designs from idea to sketch to production

I kept making corrections, one after another with each new sample coming in, there was always something to fix to make the fit just right for the perfect amount of feminine silhouette

Avaréa - behind the name

It doesn’t really have any direct meaning as it is a mix of words I played with until I came up with this

I liked the sound of it, the way it looked and I knew I wanted the name to start with an A

In Polynesian languages the word “ava” is often linked to water, it refers o water passages

Rea as a name means flowing, often associated with Titan Rhea - the mother of gods

It can also mean beloved companion or a friend

Putting all of these together while thinking what water and nature means to me in general, and what feelings it evokes, Avaréa means something like this to me: The endless waves of the ocean that carry you with the warmth of beloved companion

Whatever it means to you, is entirely your choice to make, but this is what it means to me

Environmental commitments

I've designed my swimsuits to be durable by choosing specific fabrics with many features that support longevity of a product

Reusability and recyclability

I plan to avoid plastic as much as possible, if time pressure doesn't allow, first drop might use biodegradable bags for keeping the swimsuits safe, but my intention is to create reusable fabric pouches that can be used for storing your swimwear as well

Sustainable materials

recycled polyester, both outer shell and lining, it keeps its shape unlike many other swimwear fabrics among many other pros (see fabric features)

Environmentally friendly factories

fair working conditions production either in Sri Lanka or small family owned business in China, both using sustainable/eco-friendly certified materials

Ocean conservation

donating percentage of profit to endangered ocean species

Instagram

@avarea_swimwear