Girlfriend Collective Finally Launched Swimwear

“Our customers have been asking for swimwear from us for a long, long time, and it was a really fun task to take on,” explains Girlfriend Collective president Justine Liu of the brand’s brand-new bathing togs. Even more fun than designing, we’d argue, is seeing the vibrant new collection in all of its color-soaked glory, complete with the rich photography and inclusive representation for which the brand is known. The tropically-hued assortment consists of three one-piece swimsuits (priced at $78 each), along with three bikini tops ($48 each) and two bottoms ($38) that can be mixed and matched. “Our goal was to design a range of vibrant, fun, summer-friendly swim styles for every body type,” explained Liu. “Our tops offer a different range of coverage and adjustability while our bottoms give you two staple rises, and we made all of the bikini top silhouettes in one-piece options in case that’s more your vibe.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Girlfriend Collective joint without the rigorous attention to sustainability that we’ve come to expect from the brand — and the label was honest about the limitations of producing low-impact swim goods. “The bad news is there isn’t a good swimwear fabric out there that won’t shed microfibers,” stated a press release that accompanied the launch. “We know because we looked.” (Synthetic fabrics are known to release microscopic plastic particles into the water supply as they break down.)

Girlfriend is combatting this issue by donating 1% of every swimwear purchase to Healthy Seas, a non-profit that collects discarded fishing nets from the ocean. And of course, every piece in the collection is fabricated from ECONYL — “It’s a buttery soft, high-performance swimwear fabric made from recycled fishing nets,” explains Liu.

If this sounds like something you want to dip your toes into — or if you’re ready for a deep dive on the summer-worthy assortment — shop the entire collection here.