IMAGERY

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E.MACBEAN is a high-end, UK swimwear brand launched at LFW in

Spring/Summer 2020. Responsibly designed and utilising regenerated

(Econyl) fabrications, the brand is a creative collaboration between

Andrew and Eleanor Ibi, and is designed and produced in the UK.

The E Macbean ethos is one of slow, considered, sustainable swimwear;

the target market are a diverse, fearless and culturally-aware

community. E Macbean’s aim is crucially to claw back the traditional

swimwear narrative from the male gaze.

Bored of the anodyne, careful, traditionally pretty/sexy swimwear

imagery that has dominated the market for so long, Andrew and Eleanor

created their first swimwear collection, inspired by and named after

characters from female-written literature. These include the eponymous

Sula, from the Toni Morrison novel, Zenia from Margaret Attwood’s The

Robber Bride, and the flawed heroine Peyton, (from Tama Janowitz’s

Peyton Amberg). Future collections will take references from music,

film and the arts, all female-driven.

Think Patti Smith by the sea; Simone de Beauvoir in an oversized punk

beach sweat; Angela Davis in a carefully designed structural one

piece.

E.MACBEAN have collaborated with a number of likeminded brands,

including: Huit Denim, Norwegian Rain, S.Bahar, J.Smith Esq,

Illesteva, Blackeyewear, Uptown Yardie, Le Tings, and Western Affair.

Stylist and art director Masha Mombelli worked on the launch show,

along with a life-drawing class by RCA students. Future collaborations

include: Claire Payne (leather), Alexander Groover, and Lucy Barlow

(millenary).