WHERE WE COME FROM – HUMAN RIGHTS AND FASHION

We get the question “why do you produce in Canada?” A LOT! So we thought we would explain a little bit about our story and what drives us to keep our operations close to home.

At H&M you can buy a super cute bikini for $30. Every season, the Swedish mega-store is able to pump out fashion forward styles for unbelievable prices. But here at Bikini Empire, we are following a different model.

What drives us is both a quality product and quality of life. Starting with our fabric that we source from a solar powered factory in Italy. The factory continually wins awards for their environmental efforts, which is the main reason we’re all about their amazing micro fibre products. But that’s just the beginning, here’s the full story:

Bikini Empire – Where We Come From:

We are a Canadian company based out of a small Island on the West Coast of Canada and we believe in fair trade, fair working conditions, and fair pay to all people involved in the process of making our line of bikinis. That’s why we decided to produce them in a small, family run factory in Vancouver. Our seamstresses are paid approximately 600% more than garment factory workers in Bangladesh, and enjoy good working conditions and benefits. We also work hard to source all the small parts like zippers and elastic from Canadian companies. We think globally by acting locally.

Clothing produced overseas is rarely made entirely in one factory. Each piece is assembled where the absolute lowest cost of labour is, meaning a single garment ends up travelling unbelievable distances before finally making it on the shelves at your local big box store. Now that just doesn’t make sense. We believe in less polution in transport, and avoid supporting at all costs the sweat shops and fast fashion factories in China, Bangledesh, and Indonesia that most producers use.

"Low prices mean low standards for workers, which translates to unethical consumerism. These places promote poor working conditions, unfair pay, and are basically void of human rights."

We want to give consumers the option to buy beautifully made, well designed bikinis that are also ethical. When you slip into a Bikini Empire bikini, you don’t need to worry about your karma. It’s similar to our food system in a way. If you trace back a bikini from H&M to where it came from you would be pretty horrified, just like if you follow the story of a McDonalds hamburger. You are what you eat, and you are what you wear, so now we’re giving you the option… What will you choose?