Our Journey to Sustainability
Since the beginning, Fair Harbor has been on a mission to help reduce and repurpose plastic pollution in the environment. In honor of Earth Month and the company's 10th Anniversary, we look at the past, present, and future of its core sustainability mission.
How It Started
Fair Harbor's love for the planet began at the beach. Our co-founders, Caroline and Jake Danehy, discovered their affinity for the outdoors on Fire Island with their family, where they spent their summers riding bikes, swimming, fishing, surfing, and running in the sand. "We didn't come back to the house until the grill was lit for dinner," recalls Caroline fondly.
As they grew, Caroline became more focused on conservation, exploring vegetarianism and joining environmental coalitions in high school. "It's always felt very intuitive," she says. Meanwhile, a college break in Costa Rica re-ignited Jake's interest in surfing—and his connection to the ocean. When the geography major returned to school, he studied the plastic impact on our planet and the ocean. "It became a full-circle moment where I fully appreciated how plastic was negatively impacting the ocean I loved," he says. "Those two worlds connecting created Fair Harbor."
Since their time spent in Fair Harbor forged the initial kinship between the environment and themselves, the name and beachwear category seemed like a natural fit for the eco-minded siblings. "We chose the name to honor our Fire Island history and beachwear in general because it was so connected to the ocean," explains Jake. "We started the business to help protect the ocean and designed a boardshort because we wanted our clothing to be worn in the places you're keeping safe from pollution."
Reinventing Swimwear
At the time, swimwear was also a category ripe for sustainability and innovation, so high-performance recycled material and the brand's chafe-free BreezeKnit™ liner disrupted the space dominated by irritating mesh liners. "We saw a problem, and we knew how to solve it—sustainably," Jake says. Friends and friends of friends connected them with factories and fabric suppliers.
Jake's hands-on approach to learning everything about the design and production process, combined with his strict attention to detail, led him to try on 40 different swimsuits and measure each to create the perfect spec. It took ten factory iterations before they produced a pair he was satisfied with. "Jake has always been meticulous about perfecting a product's details, design, and fit," explains Caroline.
Talking with customers at hundreds of trunk shows helped them understand where they could improve the swim offerings from other brands. "While Fair Harbor began on a sustainability platform, we also needed to ensure that our product was exceptional," Caroline adds. Their requirements: It had to be lightweight, breathable, dry quickly, and have a soft feel that made it comfortable.
Adding the Public Benefit
Ten years, 35 million repurposed plastic bottles, and more than a million Anchor Shorts sales later, the brand still keeps comfort and sustainability at the forefront as we've expanded our offerings to include women's, kids, knits, outerwear, and even denim. Each new season is a balance of design concepts and sustainable materials.
"I think people would be surprised how much goes into the design and production of and thought that goes into everything we do," says Walter Bassano, head of design at Fair Harbor. When designing key items each season, his team often has a style or silhouette in mind. The team then decides on eco-friendly fabrics for that style. "We will not use material that isn't sustainable," says Walter. Instead, the design team researches online and at fabric shows to discover the newest innovations.
Newer innovative fabrics in our lineup include Seawool, which is created from discarded oyster shells and recycled plastic bottles, and Tencel, made from certified biodegradable and compostable wood pulp. This summer, the brand will introduce a shirt made from Lenzing Ecovero™ viscose derived from certified renewable wood sources. Starting in Fall 2024, the brand will upgrade any products made with earth-friendly BCI cotton to rain-fed organic cotton, a more sustainable option.
"We're constantly reviewing new fabrics that are on the cutting-edge of sustainability in the industry," says George Vasilopoulos, Fair Harbor's director of production. "One of the big positives of the leadership here is that they're unwilling to make the move to less expensive fabrics if it compromises sustainability."
Minding the Details
Even the most minor details aren't overlooked as the team ensures that every aspect of a garment is as ecologically responsible as possible— from the buttons made from recycled plastic or coconut to the eco-plating on our Driftwood Denim hardware. Even the plastic T that goes into the hang tag is made from recycled plastic.
"We also repurpose scraps and extra fabric so they don't end up in a landfill," Walter explains. Leftover fabric will be used to make prototype samples or extra pieces for other purposes. Our gift-with-purchase totes offered in previous seasons were made from extra Bayberry Trunk material. The logo back patch on our Driftwood Denim is made from recycled material, and the leftover scraps from the cutting room floor are also reused.
Choosing Responsible Partners
But responsibility doesn't end with the fabric. According to George, we select factories with the highest level of social and environmental responsibility. The partners we work with across the globe are certified compliant with social, ethical, and environmental standards, including Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), The Global Recycled Standard (GRS), and Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA). "We go through the audits all the time on everything from ensuring that factories are safe to capping the amount of overtime hours that factory employees work," he says.
The launch of our Driftwood Denim last fall pushed our boundaries of sustainability even further as we worked with a new factory that employs advanced finishing techniques and reduced water processes. Heritage soft denim typically demands environmentally unfriendly processes to achieve its look and texture, but our innovative ozone washing and laser marking reduces chemicals and saves hundreds of gallons of water typically needed to achieve the effects.
Looking Toward the Future
The sustainability space is still evolving, so there's plenty of exciting new ground to explore and boundaries to push. "I'm most excited about the progress happening in the biotech space and in non-petroleum based biodegradable natural fibers that behave like synthetics," says Jake.
There's also more education and awareness to offer in the sustainability space. "I think that there's a lot more we can do to bring more awareness and to continue to build our community through activations and partnerships," says Caroline. "The fact that more people are participating in this space on a global level really makes me optimistic."
But mostly, our Fair Harbor co-founders are energized to keep building on what they've created over the past decade. From the beginning, Caroline and Jake wanted to make sustainability cool and effortless for everyday life. "There doesn't have to be a choice between style, comfort, or sustainability," she says. "Since we started, Fair Harbor has been about all of these things."