A (Somewhat Desperate) Call for U.S. Manufacturers
When we started building NotNakedSwim, we set three simple principles for ourselves: Full coverage. Sustainable. Made in the USA.
Full coverage because what’s currently on the market just doesn’t work for us. Sustainability because we care about the environment and the footprint we leave behind. And made in America because we believe in supporting local communities and keeping craftsmanship alive here at home. That was the vision. Easy enough, right?
But as we began bringing the brand to life, we quickly realized some of these goals were going to be a lot harder to achieve than we expected.
(Re)defining “Full Coverage” Swimwear:
We started by doing what any brand should do: listening. We talked to women, ran surveys, studied the swimwear market, and gathered as much feedback as possible. And as it turns out we’re not the only ones who feel like swimwear trends have gotten a little… less than desirable. Many bottoms today leave you wondering: is this the front or the back? Sometimes it honestly feels like there must be a global fabric shortage. Or that whoever is designing these pieces has forgotten a basic fact of anatomy: by nature, our bums are bigger than our lady parts. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the only options offering true coverage often cater specifically to religious markets. Which is great… but not exactly the look we were going for either.
So we started asking ourselves a simple question: What would we actually want to wear? Something that doesn’t feel like borrowed granny panties. But also doesn’t feel like dental floss.
After several rounds of designing, prototyping, testing, redesigning, and repeating the process all over again… we finally landed on it. Our signature look. We found the sweet spot landed somewhere between hot shorts and biker shorts. Actual full coverage swimwear. Once the prototypes were ready, we tested everything.
Are they comfortable when wet? Check.
Can you swim, run, play beach volleyball, chase kids, and still move freely? Check.
Are they cute and fashion-forward enough that we’d wear them ourselves? Absolutely.
Most importantly: if I bend over… does anything show? Nope. Nothing shows! Not even if you’re wearing underwear underneath.
That was the moment. “Morgan… I think we just redefined ‘full coverage’ for the swimwear industry!”
Trying to Build a More Sustainable Swimwear Brand
If you’ve ever walked down a beach after a busy weekend, you know exactly why sustainability matters. The trash people leave behind is honestly shocking. One day my four-year-old looked at the sand covered in plastic cups and wrappers and asked me: “Mom… why do people do this? Do they not like our planet?” How do you even answer that? The honest answer is that people are often just lazy. Five feet from a trash can and the garbage still ends up in the ocean. And while we can’t control everyone else’s behavior, we can control the choices we make as a company. So we started researching the swimwear and textile industry obsessively. What materials could we use that aligned with our values?
That’s how we discovered fabrics like recycled polyamide, rPET, and regenerated nylon used in many sustainable swim fabrics. Materials certified under global recycled standardsthat give discarded plastic a second life. The concept is circular: waste gets transformed into fiber, fiber into fabric, and fabric into products that can last for years instead of ending up in landfills. What we haven’t found yet, despite looking everywhere, is swim fabric made from ocean-recycled plastic produced in the United States. If you know of one, seriously, tell us: baddies@notnakedswim.com. Because helping clean our oceans is something we care deeply about.
One thing we did find though? Shipping mailers made from ocean-recycled plastic. So of course we went with those!
We also started questioning small things most brands never think about. Like clothing tags: nobody likes them. Most of us cut them off the second we buy something. But those little tags still require fabric, thread, ink, packaging, manufacturing energy, shipping… all for something that ends up in the trash in about five seconds. So we eliminated them. Instead, we print our logo and care instructions directly onto the garment. It’s a small change, but when you scale that across thousands (or hopefully one day hundreds of thousands) of pieces, those small changes add up! As the brand grows, we’ll keep looking for ways to reduce waste, reuse materials, and make smarter choices.
Stay tuned: We’re planning a community beach cleanup event soon and will share details for anyone who wants to join or organize one locally.
The Reality Check of “Made in America”:
In a world of fast fashion, overnight shipping, and AI-generated product photos that don’t match the actual item you receive… quality has taken a serious hit. We didn’t want to play that game. We also didn’t want to rely on overseas manufacturing that often comes with questionable labor conditions and long supply chains that aren’t exactly environmentally friendly. So we committed to producing our swimwear in the United States.
Then we started getting quotes. And let’s just say… reality hit fast. Domestic manufacturing costs can easily run $10 to $20 more per garment compared to overseas factories. For a new brand entering the market, that’s a huge difference. But for us, knowing the people sewing our garments are working in safe, ethical conditions matters. Supporting American craftsmanship matters. So yes, our margins are tighter than they would be if we outsourced production overseas. But making money at the expense of ethics isn’t a trade-off we’re willing to make.
Then there’s the thing we didn’t realize before starting our first production rounds: It’s not just the swimsuit. It’s the entire ecosystem around it. Fabric. Zippers. Clasps. Elastic. Bra cups. Drawstrings. Thread.
Almost every one of those components is typically sourced overseas. We even had to drop one design from our launch because we couldn’t source the bra cups we needed locally within our timeline. It was frustrating. But it was also a big learning moment. If we’re serious about building a responsible brand, cutting corners just to hit a launch date isn’t the answer.
So Here’s Our Question - Why is it so difficult to find a U.S. manufacturer that:
Actually produces garments in-house
Helps source materials domestically
Works within realistic timelines
…& does all of this at a price emerging brands can afford?!
Is that unreasonable? Or do we eventually need to start our own manufacturing company just to solve this problem? At this point… we’re honestly not ruling anything out.
If you’re reading this and you: Own a U.S. swimwear manufacturing facility, know someone who does… work in American textile production, or have leads on domestic recycled swim fabrics: We would genuinely love to hear from you. Email us at baddies@notnakedswim.com.
We’ve made a lot of progress bringing NotNakedSwim to life, but we’re still searching for the right long-term partners who share our values around sustainability, quality, and American manufacturing.
“Because building something better shouldn’t be this hard.”
