This week Underlines speaks with Juliette and Josie, the sister duo behind independent British eco-brand Planet Warrior, as the brand launches its first eco-friendly swimsuit collection made from recycled plastic bottles. Like Planet Warrior’s sports bras and leggings, each swimsuit is made from disused plastic bottles found in oceans and beaches. Each swimsuit gives UV 50 protection for outdoor girls on the go, and comes with printed in labels, reducing additional label packaging with no cardboard tags or plastic ties.
What did you do before launching the brand?
We’re sisters who both had careers in digital marketing with nearly 20 years combined industry experience before launching our own digital marketing company together. Running amazing campaigns for products and e-commerce brands we really wanted to have a product of our own so we launched Planet Warrior together, combining our passions.
How did the brand start and when did you start working on it?
We started working on Planet Warrior behind the scenes for almost a year before launching officially in September 2018. Having grown up in Salcombe and spending a lot of our childhood on the beach, it was hard not to notice the growing problem of plastic pollution both here in the UK and further afield.
We both love fitness, swimming and yoga but found it impossible to get truly inspiring and stylish designs that didn’t arrive in plastic bags when you ordered them! The two ideas went hand in hand and our eco activewear brand was born. Our launch into swimwear was a natural progression for our active, outdoors loving customers who wanted their swimwear to be as eco friendly as their yoga kit!
What are the highlights of your collection?
Our signature tropical collection is by far our best seller and a personal favourite. All of our active wear is made from recycled plastic bottles collected from the ocean – one set uses 50 recycled plastic bottles! When we launched into swimwear we knew we had to launch our strappy and long sleeve costumes with the tropical print also, although we are expanding now into additional prints.
Describe the person who wears your designs: what is their style?
An eco conscious individual who loves to wear vibrant enviable prints.
A Typical Week in your life
There is never a typical week at Planet Warrior, there is always something new that we are working on which is why we love it so much. One of our favourite things that we love to do are the photoshoots. We are so lucky to live in Salcombe with beaches and coastline right on our doorstep that getting out of the office to work is amazing!
Your proudest moment to date?
We are super proud to have been awarded the Eco-Age Brandmark. This was given in recognition of us championing the need to clean up our ocean’s plastic pollution. Planet Warrior’s whole ethos is to reuse plastic waste and engage the local community through the creation of sportswear made from recycled plastic.
Your next big challenge?
We would love to enter into the US and Australian market; we think there are some amazing spots in both locations that Planet Warrior would really suit!
Your worst move so far?
Thinking it would be easy to find eco signage for our first pop up event. We wanted to have a fully sustainable pop-up stand and we found it really hard to find eco materials for posters, signage… It took much longer than we anticipated to source them and cost us a lot more than buying the standard posters.
What do you hope to achieve?
We have been overwhelmed by how many wonderful individuals have reached out and asked to be a part of our ambassador tribe. Individuals apply to be part of the tribe by letting us know what eco activities they are involved in and how they are helping the planet. Once accepted into the tribe, they join Planet Warrior and we can all work together to spread the message.
There is such a fantastic community who believe in looking after the planet from yoga teachers, to spin instructors, to pilates enthusiasts and so many more. It is a joy to collaborate with them and share tips for living an eco-friendly lifestyle. We hope to grow our tribe of amazing planet warriors across the globe!
What about time out?
Born and raised by the seaside, we love spending all our free time on the local beaches of Salcombe, cliff walks and any outdoor activities we can!
Where do you look for design inspiration?
One of the reasons we launched Planet Warrior was because we found that a lot of our activewear consisted of plain colours. We wanted to wear bold vibrant prints and patterns in matching sets with gorgeous details. We are always asking our ambassadors for their advice on new design ideas before launching new collections as we find it really important to know what they want us to bring out next. We love the prints for lots of the surf brands as they tend to have beautiful colours and designs!
What do you read and whom do you follow on social media to keep ahead of trends?
We follow Eco Age to keep up to speed with the latest fashion trends and eco tips. We also love to listen to business podcasts such as ‘how I built this’ which are amazing to hear about entrepreneurs and their stories to success.
