Beachwear & Towel Manufacturer

Cover-ups, kaftans, shorts, towelling sets, bucket hats and tote bags, plus swim itself, which is a different construction discipline and priced separately. The fabrics we cut for the beach are cotton terry towelling and viscose: one absorbs, the other drapes, and neither is meant to hold structure. Linen, gauze and seersucker are woven and are not cut on our floor; if the range also needs woven shirts or bottoms, those go to our sister buying house, a separate company, on a separate order. What we would steer you away from is treating beachwear as summer versions of your main range: the fit is looser, the seams are usually flat rather than overlocked, and garments are expected to be worn wet, sandy and washed often. Those are construction decisions taken at pattern stage, not finishing touches added later.

Yes, some fading will happen, because every dyed textile loses colour under sustained UV; what you control is how fast. Beachwear is where it matters most, since it is worn in direct sun for hours, often wet with salt or chlorine. Three decisions set the pace. The first is dye class: on cotton we use reactive dye by default, which bonds with the fibre, whereas pigment dye sits on the surface and fades faster. The second is shade: deep and vivid colours fade most, so a saturated palette needs better dye classes and costs more. The third is proof: lightfastness can be tested to ISO 105-B02 on the production shade, charged per colour, and we can arrange it if a retailer requires a rating. If the range includes matching swimwear, polyester holds colour against UV far better than nylon, though nylon has the softer hand. Tell us your market and palette at quote stage, and we will specify dye and testing to suit.

Two quite different propositions, and most beach ranges can use both. Towelling is looped cotton: absorbent, soft, and increasingly used for cover-ups and co-ord sets rather than only for towels. It is heavier and reads as a considered resort piece, but it is bulky in luggage and slow to dry, so it suits the after-swim moment more than a full day of wear. Viscose drapes better than almost anything at this price point and feels cool and fluid, which suits kaftans and loose cover-ups, though it wrinkles readily and loses strength when wet, so it wants gentle care and a pattern that does not strain the seams. For a first beachwear range, most brands do well with towelling for one or two hero pieces and viscose for the flowing styles, and we will walk you through the trade-off on each before you commit to fabric.

In the same order, yes, though they are different disciplines and priced separately. Beachwear — cover-ups, kaftans, shorts, towelling — uses cotton terry and lightweight knit fabrics and relatively simple construction. Swim uses recovery fabric, usually a nylon or polyester elastane blend, with linings, gripper elastic, adjustable hardware and flatlocked or bonded seams, and the pattern has to be cut for a fabric that stretches and returns. That means swim carries a longer sampling stage and a higher unit cost. Running them together makes sense commercially because the customer buys both and you can share a print or colour story across the range. Tell us at quote stage if you want a matching print, because getting the same colour to read identically on two different fabrics is a decision made at dyeing.

If it is sold in Great Britain as a robe, plan for one. The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 count dressing gowns, bath robes and other garments of a like nature and use as nightwear. Adults' nightwear must carry a label: KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE in red letters if the fabric does not meet the BS 5722 flammability requirements, or LOW FLAMMABILITY TO BS 5722 if it does. Children's nightwear must normally be made of fabric that passes that test, but cotton terry towelling bath robes are an exception: they carry the label instead. A kaftan or cover-up sold as daywear is a different product, and whether your beach robe counts as a bath robe depends on how it is designed and sold, so check it with your safety adviser. Send us the wording with your label artwork and we sew it in during production, inside the neck or next to the size label, where the Regulations put it.

The cotton pieces can. Towelling cover-ups, robes, terry polos and shorts can be knitted from organic cotton yarn and made in our GOTS-certified facility (RSC 9687), with our scope certificate on request and a transaction certificate issued for your order if a stockist asks for one. Viscose is different: it is regenerated from wood pulp, not grown, so a viscose kaftan cannot be sold as organic. The useful check is where the pulp comes from, such as certified forests (FSC or PEFC), which our sustainable fabrics guide explains. A matching swim piece is nylon or polyester with elastane; recycled nylon is the recycled option, and a recycled claim on its label needs GRS or RCS documentation for the lot, which we do not hold ourselves. GOTS has two label grades: 'organic' needs at least 95 per cent certified organic fibre, 'made with organic' at least 70 per cent, so check each piece's grade before labels are printed.