The Woolmark Company and Italian swimwear brand creating wool-rich beachwear
Harnessing the unmatched performance of Merino wooI, iconic Italian swimwear brand Arena launched its inaugural collection of wool-rich beachwear for men and women in May, in partnership with The Woolmark Company. One of the collection’s two ambassadors, Nicolò Martinenghi, won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the Paris Olympics in July.
With a presence in more than 100 countries across the world, arena is a huge international swimwear company with growing sales. The company was created in 1973 by sports visionary Horst Dassler (son of the Adidas founder Adi Dassler and nephew of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler), and has been famous throughout its history for its performance swimwear and sponsoring elite athletes from Mark Spitz to Shane Gould.
This year, arena has added to its core swimwear offering the company’s first lifestyle collection, the Spring/Summer 2024 Beachwear Collection, which includes Merino wool swimwear for men and, for the first time, women. The two products for men and three products for women feature sophisticated and contemporary styles combined with elegant colour choices. All the products all designed in Italy.
The products, named by arena as Tech Wool, have been developed using innovative Woolmark-certified wool blend fabrics made with Australian Merino wool yarns (30-54%) and cutting-edge technological fibres. The ultralight and compact fabric guarantees the highest level of performance in terms of breathability, comfort, resistance to saltwater and chlorine, and UV protection.
Olympic swimmers Nicolò Martinenghi from Italy and Zsuzsanna Jakabos from Hungary are featured wearing the new Wool Tech beachwear in arena’s advertising.
Reflecting arena’s skill at picking the most talented athletes with which to partner, Nicolò Martinenghi went on to win the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“When arena informed me that there were wool swimsuits in the new Beachwear Premium Spring-Summer 2024 collection, I didn’t know what to expect. I immediately thought of sweaters or winter clothes, not summer,” Nicolò said. “Then, when I tried it on, I was impressed by the comfort and elasticity of the fabric that fits perfectly to the body.”
WI’s Regional Manager for Central & Eastern Europe, 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.
“To have arena ambassador Nicolò Martinenghi win at the Olympics shows calibre of sportspeople associated with the brand.”
Source: AWI