Swim Week on South Beach is mostly about glitz, glamor and impossibly leggy models traipsing about celebrity-lined runways.
But at one Friday night show at The Setai, it’s also about trying to save the planet — one itty-bitty bikini at a time.
A group of “eco-couture’’ designers will unveil lines that eschew synthetic textiles like polyester. Instead, they’re crafting “sustainable” swimwear out of fabrics made from wood pulp, hemp and bamboo or from recycled plastic bottles, “upcycled’’ factory scraps of cotton and nylon and “repurposed’’ material like military parachutes.
Designer Linda Loudermilk said Thursday that she would debut what she billed as the world’s first fully compostable bathing suit.
It’s fashioned from a plant starch, she said, that has been turned into a fabric so new she just got her hands on it four days earlier. She said the suit won’t dissolve on a woman’s body, but bury it under dirt, like in a land fill, and it would break down within 180 days — leaving not a single spandex strap, blot of chemical dye or foam bra cup insert behind.
Read the complete story, and see the slideshow at miamiherald.com