Riz Boardshorts have been championing sustainable swimwear since 2009. Founded by friends Riz Smith and Ali Murrell with the aim to build a brand of swim shorts that were both beautiful and sustainable.
I first met Riz way back in the late noughties when we were working together as fashion designers for the same company in Farringdon, East London. Riz is an easy-going personable character and had a strong passion and talent for design. When Riz launched Riz Boardshorts it was clear to see that his eye for detail and passion for cleaner oceans were going to be a recipe for success.
Our aim is to offer a more soulful, sartorial, and sustainable approach to men’s swimwear.
Elegantly tailored and ethically sourced, our shorts perform perfectly in both the sea and the city.
The first thing that leaps out at you about the brand is the beautiful unique graphics, generally based around ocean wildlife themes. The shorts are crafted to create a relaxed timeless shape for lounging on the beach but also wouldn’t look out of place on a hot summer’s day in the streets of London. They come in a range of styles, lengths, and waistbands. The three styles are Tailored (with a chino style look available in three lengths), Elasticated (with an elasticated waistband) and Boardshort (with a drawcord waistband).
These boardshorts certainly don’t put sustainability over fashion. It’s a beautiful symbiosis of the two elements. You can take it as read that you are helping the environment when purchasing a pair and just concentrate on looking good in the process. Digging deeper into the sustainable side the duo’s devotion to cleaning up the world’s oceans shines through. They support the Marine Conservation Society and donate to the project with every pair of boardshorts sold, which funds the MCS efforts to protect the marine environment. All the boardshorts are made from 100% recycled plastic, made from plastic bottles, many of which are gathered from ocean clean-ups. Each year, 8 million lots of plastic are discarded into the ocean. And just less than 10% of all plastic is recycled. Countless marine animals pass away every year because of contamination as they frequently confuse plastic waste with food, or get captured in old fishing net and other marine waste.
FOR US SUSTAINABILITY SEEMS TOO GENERAL A TERM. WE WANT TO FOCUS
THE ENTIRE PRODUCT LIFE INTO A 360 DEGREE PROCESS
Another sustainable initiative is their Rizcycling scheme. Customers can get a whopping 25% discount on a new pair of shorts by donating their old unused pair of swimming shorts to be recycled, repaired, or rehomed.
Riz’s shorts are manufactured in small batches in Europe and are digitally printed in the UK. All their shorts are made to last with durable triple stitching and quality craftmanship. Then packaged in boxes made from recycled materials.
The Covid-19 epidemic has seen a huge effect on sales within all sections of the fashion business. Europe is dealing with a financial decrease of more than 7% overall. Swimwear has been impacted by the reduced accessibility of physical fitness centers, pools, and beaches, along with the travel guidelines, meaning people have decided not to invest this year in new swimming garments and equipment. In the United Kingdom, the arrival of brand-new swimwear had actually decreased by 18% in March 2020 compared to March 2019, suggesting more declines for the swimwear clothing industry in the months to follow. Hopefully, for companies like Riz Boardshorts, the reopening of swimming pools and travel restrictions in time for the summer may help to pump some life back into their sales. With staycation holidays being another trend from the crisis let’s hope that 2021 offers up another blazing hot summer this year so we can all enjoy the lovely beaches that the UK has to offer.
