里斯本初创公司变废为宝，废弃渔网化身奢华泳装
Every year, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of abandoned fishing gear drift through the world’s oceans, silently trapping marine life and shedding microplastics. While most of these so-called ghost nets end up in landfill or are incinerated, a small Lisbon-based company has found a way to give them a second life that few would expect: high-end swimwear. The start-up, named Maré, has spent the past two years building a supply chain that transforms nylon from recovered nets into buttery-soft fabric for bikinis, one-pieces, and rash guards that sell across Europe and North America.
The idea struck Maré’s founder, Rita Carvalho, during a weekend dive near the Algarve coast, where she saw a majestic octopus tangled in a cluster of old ropes. A former textile engineer, Carvalho began cold-calling fishing cooperatives and port authorities, pitching a collection programme that pays small sums for every kilogramme of nets handed in. Once collected, the nets are washed, shredded, and depolymerised into raw nylon pellets at a partner facility in Porto before being spun into a regenerated fibre ready for cutting and sewing in Maré’s Lisbon atelier.
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