Why Rothy’s First Tennis Line Is Powered by Evian Bottles
Rothy’s is venturing into the tenniscore trend, partnering with Evian on a new tennis accessories capsule collection that recycles waste bottles into recreation.
It’s the San Francisco brand’s first foray into hats, made with its signature recycled polyester knit. In a color palette reminiscent of Evian’s branding, the line consists of a racket bag, duffel bag, sling bag, cap, visor, slip-on sneaker and Rothy’s RS01 sneaker. The limited-run collection retails for $75 to $495 and is available exclusively on rothys.com and in Rothy’s New York City store locations starting Tuesday. Comprising anywhere from four bottles (the visor) to 56 bottles (in the case of the duffel), the line is intended to showcase how waste is repurposed.
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“We’re doing a zero-waste certification at our factories so we’re always looking at how we can eliminate waste throughout the entire manufacturing process. This [collection] is a great testament to that — turning bottles back into thread is a great example of how you can eliminate waste,” Saskia van Gendt, head of sustainability at Rothy’s, told WWD at a press preview.
Mikaela Rascano, technical designer at Rothy’s, said even the blue plastic Evian bottle caps take centerstage in a detail seen on the sole of the shoes or blue striping to represent a “seamless” integration. As for how the capsule paves the way for future collections, she said: “In terms of sports lifestyle, I don’t know; we will see what other collabs come our way, but we are always trying to be in an active lifestyle space.”
Both brands look to increase their use of recycled feedstocks across products and packaging on the road to circularity. Today, all Rothy’s shoe uppers are knit with 100 percent recycled material, while the water brand has select mailers and bottles made with fully recycled plastic.
Evian has been a sponsor of the U.S. Open for 30 years and counts players such as Emma Raducanu, the British player who won the 2021 U.S. Open, as one of its prime brand ambassadors. At last year’s U.S. Open event, Evian collected a total of 72,000 bottles from the Arthur Ashe stadium for the making of this collection — or what the brand bottles in a single hour on its high-efficiency production line. After collection, bottles were sent to be chipped, melted and spun into thread. From there, that thread was shipped to Rothy’s factory where it was 3D knitted into the collection using Rothy’s low-waste manufacturing method.
The water brand acknowledged the significance of the plastic pollution problem and said it is continuously researching and developing innovative ways to bring its product to consumers.
“As a water brand, it is exciting for us to be able to repurpose our product and create it into a wearable line like this,” commented Leeni H?m?l?inen, marketing director at Evian North America, reiterating that the waste reduction mission is shared by both brands. “At Evian, we are always looking to innovate and evolve — especially as it relates to sustainability and recycling — and are thrilled to expand into the fashion world in an impactful way.”
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