Fants is a sustainability-focused, Melbourne-based label creating kids’ wetsuits with an ‘anti surfwear’ feel.
Working with international artists (such as Sam Taylor from the UK, Bang Sangho from South Korea, and Johanna Walderdorff and Benedikt Luft both from Germany), the brand is championing a new coastal aesthetic. Think fun unisex prints – not surf logos and obvious beach motifs.
Fants’ sustainability credentials are also challenging the status quo. Instead of petrochemical-based neoprene, as of 2022, their wetsuits are made with natural rubber sourced from Forestry Sustainability Council (FSC) approved trees.
‘Now we are one of only a couple of Australian wetsuit companies using FSC-approved natural rubber’, says Fants founder John Pace. ‘I’m not surprised the number is so low; it was near impossible to find a natural rubber supplier who’d not only work with us at small scale, but could also supply a high quality product that met all the performance and sustainability criteria we had.
‘Through persistence and some lucky connections we were able to make it happen and now there’s no looking back.’
Fants also offers a recycling program, allowing customers to return their old wetsuits to the brand (as their children grow out of them), and in return, receive up to 50 per cent off their new purchase.
‘We realised that kids outgrow wetsuits faster than wetsuits wear out, so we keep them in circulation and out of landfill by encouraging customers who need to move up a size to recycle their old wetsuit for a discount on a new one,’ explains John.
‘We then sell the old wetsuit in a secondhand section of the site so another kid can enjoy it.’
Of course, Fants’ natural rubber suits offer all the other good things you can expect from a summer wetsuit – comfort, quality and SPF 100 protection for your littlies!
