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This is by far the best launch of the year so far. Meet RIVEA, a new Swimsuit brand that review completed the swimwear model. Rivea designs and manufactures eco-friendly swimwears in Europe, using a fabric woven from plastic debris recovered from the seas and oceans and buttons made from ocean plastic granules designed by a jewellery artist in Geneva. Impeccably cut and iconic patterns, Rivea swim shorts capture the picture-postcard Riviera, where the living is easy and days spent poolside come with a certain nonchalant elegance.

It is elegant, sexy, eco-responsible and made from the sea to the sea. Must-have alert!

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It All Start With An Idea: The Sea

The sea is the birthplace of all life on our planet. For centuries it always represented a great source of inspiration and richness. For centuries, human activity has explored the sea, and modern life has introduced a deadly material into all the oceans of the world: Plastic! There are now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tons. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans. It is one of the biggest challenges of modern times.

Why is it that scuba divers and surfers are some of the strongest advocates of ocean conservation? Because they’ve spent time in and around the ocean, and they’ve personally seen the beauty, the fragility, and even the degradation of our planet’s blue heart.”

Sylvia Earl – American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer.

According to RIVEA, sustainability is not an option anymore in Fashion. Therefore, sourcing the right material in the right way is crucial for any new brand launch. RIVEA Manufactures eco-friendly swim shorts from plastic debris recovered from the seas and oceans. Thanks to a special partnership with SEAQUAL, whose mission is to use their network of 400 Mediterranean fishers to collect plastic bottles lying discarded on beaches or floating in the sea and then recycle them by turning them into polyester fibre. This virtuous business model means we can manufacture our swimwear in a way that corresponds with our values and our desire to be a vector of real change.

With a network of experts, the plastic harvested in the sea is transformed into textile and then into beautiful swim shorts. The Oeko-Tex® certified fabric was specially developed for Rivea using plastic bottles recovered from beaches or fished out of the Mediterranean. Ethical, yet stylish and practical too, this high-end fabric is soft to the touch, dries quickly and is highly resistant to wear and tear.

Let’s note as well that for each purchase of a swim short, Rivea will offer CHF 1 to the Oceaneye foundation, which is a generous way to collaborate beyond the product creation process. Founded in 2010, Oceaneye is a non-profit organization, made up of different and complementary personalities. The objectives, we are focusing on, are:

  • Provide information and raise global awareness on the threats of oceans’ plastic pollution;
  • Contribute to scientific research by collecting data, helping and supporting the work of the scientific community.

Every item of Rivea swimwear represents 10 plastic bottles, removed from the sea and beaches of the Mediterranean and then recycled.

The Riviera Style: Elegance and Timeless Design

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The two areas currently known in English as “The Riviera” without additional qualification are the Italian Riviera (Riviera Ligure), part of the coast of Italy and the French Riviera (Côte d’Azur), part of the southern coast of France. Riviera may also be applied to any coastline, especially sunny, topographically diverse, and popular with tourists. That’s why in Switzerland, around the sunny shores of Leman Lake, we also call the region centred around Montreux, the Swiss Riviera.

When we think riviera, we are immediately sent back in time into the elegant ambience of the end of the 1960s, where men and women would enjoy a stylish experience under the sun. We all have Alain Delon films like “La Piscine” or “Plein Soleil”, which evokes this beautiful lifestyle.

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Photo: https://style.corriere.it
Photo: https://bamfstyle.com

The riviera ambience conjures up images of sun-drenched beaches where life is simple and carefree.
Everyone loves to vacation in the shade of pine trees and striped parasols, as shown in Stuart Cantor’s and Slim Aarons’ photographs. We also think about Alain Delon, languidly lying by the pool in “The Swimming Pool,” or briskly doing something on a boat deck in “Purple Noon” — always flawless, always careless, always exquisite.

It has been found. What? – The Eternity. It’s the sea mingled With the sun.

Arthur Rimbaud

In such troubled times, we need more lightness and recklessness. The Riviera is an ideal theme, a true invitation to an optimistic and elegant journey. We all dream of vacations, wide-open spaces, sunshine and casualness. A holiday in the sun does not necessarily mean that you want to neglect your look. Very often, the opposite happens. We’re hungry for luxury and style, even if it’s 35 degrees.

RIVEA, The Collection

Everything in Rivea has a story about creativity and talent. Nothing was left aside, and all details count. Rivea wants its swim shorts to be flawless in every way without sacrificing quality, values, or environmental concerns. And this attitude is reflected in this one-of-a-kind competence, right down to the last detail. From textiles produced from repurposed fishing nets to buttons designed by a Geneva jeweller, there’s something for everyone. Made from rPET, craftsmanship, sustainability, and short supply chains lie at the heart of the Rivea approach. A human adventure in which the brightest minds have come together to create the first swimsuit whose life is a journey from the sea to the sea.

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The collection is sharp, rich and the approach is to the end of each detail. All the swim shorts can only seduce you, and the problem you will face will be: “how many of them should you purchase?” From all the beautiful pieces you can find in the current launch catalogue, let’s highlight 2 iconic patterns directly inspired by Alain Delon movies.

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Winding, sun-filled back streets to wander free of care, a picture-postcard set against a blue, blue sea: this is Mongibello, the imaginary island that comes to life in Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Talented Mr Ripley”. Played by Alain Delon in the film “Purple Noon”, Tom Ripley fascinates us with his stylishly insolent elegance, particularly when wearing the blue and burgundy striped boating blazer.

When talking with Rivea’s founder, he explains how important this project is for him. The idea started slowly but surely growing in his mind, and suddenly, one encounter brings a second one, and he ended up with a network of experts trying to do things differently. It is also crucial to him to focus on one product, do it right and make a true luxury product at all levels. The current exceptional situation also pushes creators to innovate and to see things differently. There is a global consciousness that helps to change the paradigm into something qualitative with high standards.

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If you think that a swim short is a simple piece of clothing, you are wrong. Depending on how great they are, many important details will make great swimwear or a not-that-great one. With Rivea, the design team has thought through the entire project. One amazing detail is the back pocket button. It does seem a simple detail, not that important yet; there is a lot of added value to this special button.

Designed by hand in wax by a Geneva-based jewellery maker, the buttons bear Rivea’s logo and distinctive wave motif. The preference for local, eco-friendly means of production means that the buttons are made in Switzerland from rPET and moulded by hand, with the precision for which Switzerland is justly famous.

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Rivea has asked Elisa Pantazopoulos, a jewellery artist based in Geneva, to design the perfect button for theirs swim shorts. If you look at the button details, you will see that the curves are irregular. That’s because it was drawn by hand. To make it, she used the same technique as the one she uses for making her own eco-friendly jewellery, sold under her brand name Eli-o: the time-honoured lost wax technique, where the organic imperfections inherent to what is hand-made result in a perfect piece of jewellery. 

By all means, Rivea is already a must-have for this summer and beyond. They managed to create a beautiful and elegant story, completely in line with “l’air du temps”. By connecting with a glorious heritage of the rivieras style, Rivea promises a bright future in swimwear. Stay tuned for more information and visit Rivea official website to discover the brand unique universe.

José Amorim
Information sourced by the author for luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purposes only, mostly courtesy of Rivea.