SHEILA PREACHES EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SUSTAINABILITY AND FEMININITY
By: Erica Commisso
Swimwear brand SHEILA wasn’t born with sustainability at the forefront, but founder and CEO Clare Barrins says, but about solving a problem–finding a pair of bikini shorts in her size. And then, once she solved her initial issue, she decided she was not willing to add to another one–waste in the fashion industry–and became unwilling to compromise on sustainability. And SHEILA is practicing that in multiple ways.
“We don't buy in fast fashion quantities, we invest in premium certified fabrics, and we make pieces that are genuinely built to last a lifetime,” Barrins says. “We also hold our materials to independent certification standards: our recycled nylon is certified to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX, meaning it's been tested for harmful substances and is safe against skin. That kind of rigour costs more. We think it's worth it.”
Credit: SHEILA
SHEILA partners with a manufacturer that has established relationships with suppliers who specialize in producing premium recycled nylon, a material that’s made of waste that would otherwise pollute the earth, like fish nets, carpets, discarded textiles, and plastic waste. “These materials are collected and reclaimed before they can do further damage to our environment, then put to work in something built to last,” Barrins says. “It's a pretty powerful idea: the ocean's worst nightmare becoming your new favourite swimsuit.”
The brand name is also intentional, designed to reclaim the power of the word Sheila. In Australia, where the brand was first conceptualized, the world sheila is a sort of derogatory way to describe a woman. But Barrins decided she wanted to reclaim it and make it powerful again. “There's something in the cheekiness of taking a word that was used to diminish women and turning it into a brand that's entirely built around empowering them,” she says. “It gives us a strong, distinctive voice and a creative direction we can actually have fun with. Australian women got it immediately. And internationally, people are used to female names in fashion, think Zara, Celine. It works everywhere.”
Credit: SHEILA
In reclaiming power in both words and environmental impact, SHEILA pulls inspiration from its sources of strength–from femininity in every form and from sustainability, planting roots in Palo Alto, California, to keep sharing its message of inclusivity for every kind of woman. “Our design inspiration comes directly from how women actually live. It starts with a real problem: the woman who sits out at the beach because she doesn't feel comfortable, the mum who won't play with her kids in the water, the person who wants to ride her bike to the pool and then head to brunch without changing,” Barrins says. “We design for those women. Aesthetically, we draw on a 90s Californian summer spirit, high contrast, vibrant, a little nostalgic, with bold colour, confident silhouettes, and an energy that says you're here to be part of the action.”
Making these pieces that celebrate every version of womanhood sustainable was a no-brainer for Barrins, who is proud of the fact that SHEILA’s fabric carries two independent sustainability certifications. The recycled nylon is certified by The Global Recycling Standard (GRS), meaning that the recycled content claims are accurate and that the supply chain meets environmental and social requirements. The OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certification also guarantees that every component of the fabric was individually tested and verified free from harmful substances. These certifications, she says, are important because they allow consumers to have proof of the messaging instead of just having to take the brand’s word for it. “If I was going to make something, it had to be worth making, premium quality, long-wear durability, recycled materials,” Barrins explains. “The kind of piece you buy once and keep reaching for, not something you throw away at the end of summer.