Pigeon Island, a first-of-its-kind sustainable swim and resort wear brand celebrated two years of sustainable innovation in the fashion design industry recently.
Pigeon Island roots its design philosophy on two environmental pillars – the first being marine conservation and empowerment and secondly, creating fashion products from plastic waste. The brand, inspired by its namesake marine national park in the North East of Sri Lanka has given itself the mandate to build awareness and educate society on coexisting, conserving, and preserving marine ecosystems and sea life.
The plastic-to-fabric program of the Pigeon Island brand is one of the most quantifiable plastic recycling programs, where it is possible to measure the exact amount of waste converted to create the product. 7 plastic bottles are recycled to make a pair of Pigeon Island shorts and 10 plastic bottles are recycled to make a polo t-shirt.
For every piece sold from the brand’s collections – a line of marine-inspired swimsuits and tropical wear depicting sharks, turtles, and other sea creatures – a portion of the profits will be donated towards efforts to end plastic pollution and protect the seas around the brand’s namesake, Pigeon Island National Park in Nilaveli.
“Pigeon Island is a brand that stands for conservation and each piece in our collection is creativelydesigned to not only increase awareness about the importance of marine preservation but also toencourage people to act towards saving endangered species.” said Ajai Vir Singh, Founder of Pigeon Island Tropical Wear.
In addition, Pigeon Island recently partnered with Blue Resources Trust, a marine research, conservation, and education non-profit organisation based in Sri Lanka. Through this partnership, Pigeon Island and Blue Resources Trust will gather research on the status of sharks and rays in Sri Lanka and contribute towards their conservation and sustainable management.
Daniel Fernando, Co-Founder of Blue Resources Trust stated, “At Blue Resources Trust we use scientific data to improve the protection of threatened species and their habitats. Wealso promote education and awareness and strive to encourage greater participation of local communities in conservation. We are excited to partner with Pigeon Island and together we will advocate for the protection of our oceans and marine life.”
Pigeon Island’s sustainable and ethical swimwear retails at The Deep End, Odel at One Galle Face, The Design Collective, Glory Swim Shop at One Galle Face and Hilton Colombo.
For more information on Pigeon Island and to learn how to save our oceans, please follow @pigeon_island on Instagram.
