It’s pretty incredible. What humans can do. We construct cities, come together in grief and sing songs. We create art that brings others to tears...But we also demolish whole forests, pregnant with unknown amounts of life. We make huge metal objects that fly through the sky, then use them to drop more huge metal objects that flatten entire cities.
We use our brains for good, mostly. “Most people strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism” (Desiderata). Yet, it’s easy to get caught in the storm of mental malaise, where it rarely feels like there’s a break in the clouds.
Then along comes someone like Emma, who’s integrity and skillset could've easily transcended into the world of corporate madness. Huge fashion houses of multifaceted exports. And yet, I met her in a small beach town. At the bottom of the world.
Emma. How do I even describe this woman? Born in the middle of nowhere, Waiuku, New Zealand. Raised… well, somehow. Got herself a fashion degree, did all the usual things—pattern-making, sewing, moodboards. I did a fashion elective at the same university once. The only thing I actually remember? The three weeks we spent learning about the environmental impact of the industry. Do I still think about it? Yep. Did I do anything about it? Nope.
But this legend came out of her education with a fucking vengeance. Asking: Why are we creating so much waste? Is it really necessary?
She took one look at the sheer amount of waste fashion generates and thought: This can’t be necessary. Then she went and figured out how to eliminate it—entirely. Zero-waste fashion design.
You’ve heard of it. Every small town has that one girl with that one dress labeled zero-waste. Just the one dress, though. And always a dress.
But Emma? She said, nah, f* that. Let’s do swimwear. A whole damn brand.
Emroce is the only fully zero-waste swimwear brand in the world. The WORLD. How?! Do you know how much fashion waste ends up in landfills every year? How much plastic flows into the ocean and, now, our own DNA? It’s madness that brands like hers aren’t at the forefront of design and technology.
It’s a huge achievement for a one-woman show, and it titillates the hidden rage of my inner child to think that in 2025—after so much research, funding, and environmental activism—this still isn’t the standard for retail.
But Emma isn’t just designing—she’s teaching. Passing on the craft. Her current intern, Freya, flew all the way from the London College of Fashion just to learn from her. People are watching, listening, absorbing. She also offers zero-waste pattern workshops for fashion labels, helping to reduce waste across larger manufacturing.
I spent two days in her space, watching her hands dance across fabric as she worked on some of SAUCEswim’s patterns (shoutout to government funding). And honestly? I was in awe.
In those two days, she reduced the waste (offcuts) of our Oyster triangle top from 33% to 5.7%. The new lay plan will be passed on to Judy, our seamstress, to implement in our next run.
I’m really excited for what’s to come—to integrate zero-waste practices into ALL of our patterns and eventually align with the principles Emma has set.
Take a look through the gallery of images from our time together, and stay tuned for more updates. This is a work in progress. An ode to the world. A debt to repay.
Learn more about Emroce here