Merino swimwear enters the arena

In pursuit of finding new markets for Australian wool, AWI has teamed up with Italian swimwear brand arena to create and market its inaugural collection of Merino wool beachwear for men and women.

With a presence in 128 counties, arena is a huge international swimwear company that last year recorded its highest ever revenue of €141 million (AU$230 million), up 45% on the previous year.

Created in 1973 by sports visionary Horst Dassler (son of the adidas founder Adi Dassler and nephew of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler), arena is this year celebrating its golden anniversary. The company has been famous throughout its 50-year history for its performance swimwear and sponsoring elite athletes from Mark Spitz to Shane Gould.

Olympian Bruno Fratus providing a testimonial of the Merino shorts at the Pitti Uomo tradeshow in June.

This year, arena has added to its core swimwear offering the company’s first lifestyle collection, the Spring/Summer 2024 Beachwear Collection, which contains ultralight Merino wool swimwear for men and for the first time ever women. Three different innovative Woolmark-certified wool blend fabrics using Australian Merino wool yarns (30-60%) have been developed for this collaboration, with the products all designed in Italy.

The initiative follows arena having previously been introduced by The Woolmark Company to the versatility and benefits of Merino wool.

“With its exceptional natural properties, Merino wool sits high on the radar of the sports and performance world, and is increasingly prevalent in the new market of aquatic activities.”
Francesco Magri, AWI’s Central & Eastern Europe Regional Manager

Ambassadors for arena’s Beachwear Collection include 2022 World Champion of the 100-metre breaststroke, Nicolò Martinenghi from Italy, and 2020 Olympic 50-meter freestyle bronze medalist Bruno Fratus of Brazil. Both were in attendance at the Pitti Uomo trade in June to promote the collection when it was previewed to trade visitors. More than 17,000 visitors including 11,900 buyers from companies across the world attended the trade show.

Natural partner in a new market for wool

Deputy CEO of arena Giuseppe Musciacchio says the company intends to position itself with this collection as the reference brand at a medium-high level in the beachwear-lifestyle market.

“We believe that our know-how in the world of competitive swimming constitutes a strong distinctive trait, in order to talk to that part of the market where performance and lifestyle increasingly go hand in hand,” he stated.

“For us, the adoption of innovative, sustainable, and surprising fabrics, such as a wool base, represents a winning path. In The Woolmark Company, we have found an excellent partner, with whom we can walk that path together.”

Merino wool’s versatile benefits

Offering natural breathability, fast-drying capabilities, elasticity and UV protection, Merino wool is both an innovative performance fibre and a 100% natural, renewable and biodegradable choice for sportswear that does not contribute to microplastic pollution of the sea.

AWI’s Central & Eastern Europe Regional Manager, Francesco Magri, says Merino wool is the ideal choice for arena’s future direction, aligning with the growing demand for wearable performance with the environment in mind.

“The collaboration with arena once again underlines the versatility of wool, even in unexpected contexts such as beachwear. And it’s precisely the intrinsic characteristics of this extraordinary fabric, along with it being a natural fibre, that makes it a key ingredient that can offer technical performance as well as representing a responsible choice for the planet,” he said.

This article appeared in the September 2023 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.