Planet Earth Swim Shorts

The material we’ve used was originally designed for compression gear so it’s incredibly strong. We’ve simply laser-cut it into the shape of non-compression gear. The strength of the material remains identical, but you have none of the pressure on your muscles. Every inch of fabric has been knitted by 40 needles, so unlike normal knitted fabrics it’s incredibly dense. This means that on abrasion tests, which show you how fast you could destroy something on coral reefs or a dirt track, it scores 5 out of 5 for toughness.

Whether you’re a kitesurfer or a yogi, there’s literally no move you can pull where these shorts will restrict you. If you were holding a metre of this fabric, you’d be able to stretch it to 1.5 metres in any direction, and as soon as you let go it would instantly return to its normal shape thanks to the huge amount of elastane we’ve used. Stronger and more durable than rubber, the more elastane you blend with another material the stretchier it becomes. These shorts are 34% elastane making them unbelievably stretchy.

While we set out to build the best shorts on earth for the water, everything that makes them amazing for the oceans makes them phenomenal back on land too. They’re so light and stretchy you can run an ultra-marathon in them. They’re strong and resilient enough to cope with any mountain biking, climbing or hiking trip. They’re as soft and comfortable as a pair of sweatpants if you just want to kick back. While the cut and simplicity means you can wear them to the office.

The Planet Earth Swim Shorts come with two side pockets large enough to hold your phone, cards and keys on land, or a GPS in the water. Both pockets are lined with the same super soft, stretchy Italian mesh so they don’t rub. The pockets are fastened with concealed zippers with a rubberised and lockable zip pull, so once they’re done up they won’t come undone. Integrated into the mesh of the right pocket there’s a small hidden pocket, for securely storing a key. There’s also a zipped back pocket on the right hand side. 

Just like sunblock, fabric can be rated for its ability to reduce your exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light. The Ultraviolet Protection Factor, or UPF, determines how much more protection your skin would have while wearing that piece of clothing. A UPF rating of 15 for example would give your skin 15x more protection than it would have if it was unprotected. These shorts are so densely knitted that the fabric scores a UPF of 50+ which is the highest possible rating, giving you the highest possible protection.