Porto was never known for having a mild winter, and 2011 was no exception to this rule of thumb. As a part of the season’s equation, the rain was a constant, and so was the excessive amount of umbrellas left abandoned on the street. During this weather turbulence, another was about to set in for Filipe & Sérgio: the classic crisis of what to do after graduating from university.

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Noticing the abandoned umbrella phenomena, they started collecting them since these would otherwise go to waste, wondering what could be done with such umbrellas. As recent graduates, they decided to venture themselves by transforming broken umbrellas into swim shorts, putting their creativity and design skills to the test.

In fact, one can say that wetheknot started from there, with a mere 20€ bill, featuring a collection of unique swim shorts made from upcycled umbrellas called WET. This collection was extended until 2015 and would require collecting approximately 30 to 40 broken umbrellas per winter.

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The concept of upcycling was still a novelty at the time. Instead of looking at used umbrellas as something that should be thrown away, Filipe & Sérgio saw them as the perfect raw material. After undergoing a rigorous selection process, a vast number of them were classed as having great conditions to be upcycled. It was this production model that gave wetheknot solid ground for adopting sustainable practices since day 1.

Using broken umbrellas as the main fabric for these swim shorts helped to keep waste from going to landfills, nature, and from being incinerated. Why produce something new when we can reuse what we already have?

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We decided to mark a decade since our debut with WET by releasing 10 limited-edition swim shorts. This special collection includes WET’s original concept in a new updated design: the swim shorts are reversible, have a more sleek and contemporary cut, and have no built-in underpants, being therefore unisex.

This is our way to commemorate what was the beginning of wetheknot’s journey.

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The upcycled umbrellas used in this limited edition were provided by the Portuguese brand r-coat, which also reuses umbrellas to produce their pieces. Giving a second life to this fabric potentially makes the swim shorts material less durable. However, these were made to be used seasonally, helping to preserve the fabric’s quality itself.

Our future plans involve transforming the fabric from these upcycled umbrellas into a new fabric, increasing its quality and durability. This would help keep sustainability at the core of upcoming productions.
These limited-edition swim shorts are now available exclusively at the online shop.

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