One of the biggest things we’ve learnt while building Wild Coast is that creating sustainable activewear is not black and white.
To create pieces that can move between surfing, pilates, sweat, saltwater, stretching, washing, travel, and everyday wear, fabrics need to perform under pressure. They need durability, flexibility, shape retention, and comfort.
The challenge is that many high-performance activewear fabrics rely heavily on synthetic fibres like polyester and nylon, both of which come from petroleum-based sources.
At the same time, natural fibres such as organic cotton feel incredible on the skin and are often a far better option environmentally, but they don’t always offer the same level of stretch, compression, or technical performance required for movement-focused apparel.
That’s been one of the biggest learning curves while building Wild Coast, finding the balance between sustainability, function, longevity, and feel.
Our first Wild Coast collection was a small-batch, zero-waste capsule designed and made entirely in New Zealand using cupro fabric.
From the beginning, we wanted to avoid overproduction and unnecessary waste, choosing instead to create a limited run that focused on quality over quantity.
As the brand grows, we’re continuing to refine what sustainability and performance look like for us long term.
We’ve spent a huge amount of time researching fabrics, learning about supply chains, testing different blends, and exploring more durable and lower-impact materials, including hemp-based fabrics for future collections. Hemp is one of the fabrics we’re most excited about from a sustainability perspective, but we’re still in the process of trialling, testing, and finding options that genuinely work for movement and performance.
As we scale, we are also exploring production options in China to access more advanced technical fabrics and production capabilities. But choosing a factory has not been something we’ve taken lightly.
We’ve worked hard to ensure that any manufacturing partner we move forward with aligns with strong standards around quality, ethical production, transparency, and how garments are made.
Because for us, growth should never come at the expense of the values Wild Coast was built on.
The deeper we’ve gone into this industry, the more we’ve realised that sustainability is less about perfection and more about intention.
Creating thoughtfully.
Continuing to ask better questions.
And being honest about the process along the way.
We’re still learning.
Still refining.
Still testing.
We think that transparency matters more than pretending to have all the answers.