Designed by women for women, WALLIEN is the Amsterdam-based waterwear brand creating wetsuits cut to fit the female form. Refusing to compromise on quality or style is what the brand stands for, and that goes for the environment, too. WALLIEN is an advocate of marine conservation, as seen in its partnership with non-profit, Blue Marine Foundation, with whom it has collaborated to create its stunning Horizonia line of wetsuits, launched in September 2023. In the words of brand ambassador, champion surfer, Nikki van Dijk:
"Like many others, I see the ocean as my second home.
It's an honour to work with a brand that really is trying to make a difference to our seas -
if we want to use the ocean, we have to take care of it."
Read more in SurfGirl magazine or listen via The Swell Season podcast.
Nikki van Dijk, WALLIEN ambassador (Third from left)
The same time saw the announcement of an independent documentary, 'The Big Sea,' which follows the lives of people living in so-called 'Cancer Alley' in the town of Reserve, Louisiana. The area is home to a synthetic rubber factory which sits alongside over 200 other petrochemical plants. Here, the cancer risk is a scandalous 50 times the national average. So for a consumer who chooses to buy a wetsuit made from synthetic rubber, the question is, "Can you live with the real cost of a Neoprene wetsuit?"
Ahead of the film's release, our team worked with the team at Goals House - a community of internationally renowned activists, thinkers, political figures, business leaders and entrepreneurs who come together at significant global moments throughout the year, united in the drive to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). Together, we organised a panel event to be held in Central Park during New York Climate Week. The panel included Madeleine Wallien, Nikki van Dyke, the film's director, Chris Nelson, and co-founder of Blue Marine Foundation, Chris Gorrell-Barnes. This was an opportunity for an influential audience to hear our experts discuss the prescient issues at play, and come together in the name of better health - for people and planet.
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We also helped get the story of WALLIEN's switch to Yulex natural rubber, away from Neoprene, onto the small screen via an interview for the brand's co-founder on BBC World News, wherein Madeleine discussed the need for all brands to follow suit and do the right thing.
Later that year, 'The Big Sea' won Best Campaign at the Plastic Free Awards 2023, and the Horizonia line of WALLIEN wetsuits became a best seller. All in all a good case study to show the power of 'purpose over profit' and of collaboration 'for the good'.
Nikki van Dijk, Australian Pro Surfer | Chris Gorrell-Barnes, Co-Founder, Blue Marine Foundation
Madeleine Wallien, Co-founder WALLIEN | Chris Nelson, Writer-Director 'The Big Sea'
Watch the TRAILER for The Big Sea (Surfing is Killing it)
