Speedo Swimwear

ABOUT THE BRAND

Alexander MacRae, the founder of what is now known to be called Speedo, was a Scottish immigrant to Australia in 1910. MacRae set up an underwear manufacturing company under the name MacRae Hoisery manufacturers but as he recognized the population of beach goers rising, he decided to include the production of swimwear to the company while also renaming it to be MacRae Knitting Mills. The first Speedo was created in 1914, but was manufactured under the brand name Fortitude until 1928. The brand name Fortitude was a motto off of his family crest; it was renamed to be Speedo when MacRae, seeing the success in the sale of swimwear, decided it was time for a new name. The name was chosen through a contest held amongst his employees. The winner of the contest, an ex-sailor named Captain Parsonson, won with the slogan “speed on in your speedos.”

Speedos products have changed over the century due to changes in fashion ideals and the increasing pressure and demands for swimwear better fit for competition. The demand for swimwear boomed in the 1920s as attitudes toward swimming as a sport, as well as co-ed bathing, became socially acceptable. In 1928, MacRae Knitting Mills came out with a swimsuit style called their “Racerback”. The following year it was worn by swimmer Arne Borg, who with it, set a world record and thus helped popularize Speedo. In the 1940s, during the Second World War, much of MacRae’s factory resources were devoted to wartime production. Post-war, the demand for swimwear was just as high. In response to booming sales, MacRae opened a second factory to manage the demands. The two-piece swim suit, or better known as the bikini, was also gaining popularity at this time and contributed to the increase in demand for swimwear. However, as the 1940s was still a time of conservatism, women showing skin in a bikini were frowned upon and as a result, Speedo bikinis were banned from Australian beaches.From the 1950s to the present day, Speedo continues to expand worldwide. As more athletes choose to wear Speedo brand swimwear in competitions such as the Olympics continue to succeed, the popularity and demand for the brand continue to grow. Known for their successful swimwear designs aimed for serious competitors, Speedo continues to strive to be innovative in their designs and materials to help their customers succeed.

Speedo is a brand belonging to a company that has many values concerning the environment and people. In the manufacturing of their products, Speedo aims to reduce the amount of negative consequences which come from factory production. In addition, the company also uses environmentally-friendly packaging by using recycled card hangers rather than a regular cardboard box. Once outside the factory, Speedo continues to use environment-friendly methods to deliver its products by choosing transportation over water rather than in the air. Products which are not sold are donated, rather than kept as trash. The headquarters of Speedo has, in effect, a program to minimize waste output through a recycling program as well as a program to minimize energy consumption. Being a large, world-wide company, Speedo has factories and suppliers overseas. With a desire for their suppliers to share similar priorities, Speedo developed a Code of Employment Standards for Suppliers which outline labor standards such as wages and conditions that those who choose to supply for Speedo must comply. In terms of community involvement, Speedo is involved in supporting the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, World Swim Against Malaria, and introducing children in less fortunate areas to swimming. All of speedos community involvement projects relate back to either water in swimming, to match with the company’s products.

Australian swim team 1931

CONSUMERS

Swimwear first became desirable back in 1914 at the company’s inception as a knitting mill in Australia. Beach goers started to voice their demand in the early part of the 20th century for realistic and less cumbersome beachwear than wool which sparked the supply and demand the company provided. In about 1928, the Speedo name was given to the new nylon swimwear which then altered to include the racerback suit to assist competitive swimmers to swim faster. That year, Arne Blog set a new speed record in a Speedo suit which prompted the business to specifically target competitive swimming. Less than ten years later in 1936, Speedo swimwear was worn for the first time by the Australian men’s swim team at the Olympics in Berlin. In a turn away from the usual competitive swimming circles, Speedo ended up sending the majority of their swimming products to the armed forces towards the end of World War 2. Then, in 1956, the Australian swim team started a trend that has lasted until the present day when they were sponsored by Speedo. The team won an unprecedented 8 gold medals at the Olympics wearing Speedo swimwear. This moment transformed the brand into the go to company for competitive swimwear worldwide. By 1972, 21 out of the 22 world swim records at the Olympics were made by swimmers wearing Speedo swimwear. Later in 1976, swimmers on 52 out of the 54 countries competing at the Olympics were wearing the brand. In 2003, Speedo took on the fashion world in an attempt to attract consumers, and the company hired Melissa Odabash to design a limited edition anniversary collection. The swimsuits were modelled by the likes of Naomi Campbell and Jerry Hall. The next year, when Speedo introduced its Fastskin design, the suits were then seen on the famous swimmers Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett. This takes us up to our time, where Speedo has remained on the top of the pack for consistently producing faster and more efficient Olympic swimming suits. It still remains the brand to beat in this category as every Olympics sees the majority of the swim athletes wearing Speedo swimwear.

Because Speedo manufactures other products along with competitive swimsuits, you can see their products on a wide variety of people either at the local pool, or at the beach. They sell products ranging from kickboards, snorkels and masks all the way to buoyancy floats for babies and toys. Naturally, any sport that has to do with swimming is sponsored or endorsed either in full or in part by Speedo. From competitive race swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and even triathlon ,

SPEEDO IN THE NEWS

Not a company to be a wallflower, Speedo has definitely seen its fair share of both positive and controversial time in the news. In 2010, news headlines announced that the Speedo was making a comeback on the beaches after much time away. Whether this was good news or bad news remained with those who witnessed the countless men wearing the tiny, controversial Speedo bottoms. Shown in the article, ‘The Return of the Speedo’ from the Daily Mail online out of Britain are pictures of Rod Stewart, David Beckham, Simon Le Bon and Prince William all sporting Speedo swimwear. [ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1285143/The-return-Speedo.htmlm The Return of the Speedo] The very next year, the mixed martial arts sport of UFC decided to ban fighters from wearing Speedos after Dennis Hallman wore one during a fight. He did this on account of losing a bet and was chastised by fellow fighters as the Speedo reveals way too much skin and made them feel uncomfortable. Then, in a less controversial flair, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is photographed in Speedos in Hawaii and makes front page news headlines simply for wearing the swimwear.

The Evolution of Speedo Swimwear

As with other swimwear, Speedo's swimwear was made from heavy dark wool in order to protect the modesty of women. While assuring modesty, the heavy wool was often cumbersome and heavy when wet, and thus extremely uncomfortable to wear. Demand thus drove manufacturers to innovate for less restricting alternatives. By the 1920s, much of Speedo's competitive swimwear was produced with silk, which was much less heavy and far more comfortable to wear, although far more expensive.. This, coupled with the racerback suit design, allowed Speedo to gain reputation as a competitive brand. However growing tensions in the 1930s between the Western World and Japan, who's silk production comprised of 80% of the world's market, made it clear that silk made swimsuits would not be a viable long term option, thus companies were encouraged to find further alternatives. One alternative would be the fabric known as nylon, a type of 'artificial silk' discovered by chemist Wallace Carothers and introduced into the market in 1938 by Dupont, the organization sponsoring Carother's research. This more readily available resource was adapted by Speedo's in the 1950s, further propelling Speedo's onward as a world wide brand

THE FASTSKIN3 SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

In the 1950s, Speedo released their watershorts and first-ever swimsuit made from nylon. Nylon, a synthetic fabric, is made from polyamides, which are long chains of molecules. Heating a polymer solution to 260°C (500°F) creates the polyamides, the solution is then forced through a spinneret and cooled. The strands are woven together to create sheets of nylon fabric. However, through many years of innovation and collaborations—most notably with NASA to create the Speedo LZR in 2008 —Speedo has made swimwear from Elastane, nylon, polyester and now, as a result of the technological advances made since the 1950s, their breakthrough fabric: Fastskin™.

After the ban of polyurethane bodysuits as a result of its characteristic to make swimmers more buoyant, and therefore decreasing the overall drag of the swimmer. Speedo forwent their Aqualab, a top-secret development facility, and instead opted to meet academics, professional coaches and research consultants in various public locations to brainstorm new ideas for swimmers. Their meetings, however, often yielded fanciful ideas that resembled closely to superhero garb rather than swimwear worn by Olympic athletes. The new rules for Olympic swimwear required that male swimwear only extended from the navel to the kneecaps, and shoulder to kneecaps for females. These new swimsuits must also be made from air permeable fabrics (exactly 30L/m2/seconds) without fastening devices (ex. zippers, Velcro, drawstrings). These rules, coupled with the innovative minds of the Speedo team created a new “racing system,” which would not only include the swimsuit, but as well as the swimmers’ goggles and swim cap.

After four years and 55,000 hours, Speedo developed the Fastskin3 System. Fastskin3 includes the swimmers’ cap, goggles and swimsuit—innovated to ensure that the swimmer is molded into a perfect tube. To do so, Speedo consulted experts in kinesiology, biomechanics, fluid dynamics and sports psychologists, as well as 3D scans of athletes to determine where drag and turbulence were created by using computational fluid dynamics. The suit of the Fastskin3 System is created to constrict the stomach the least, and the chest (for females), buttocks and hips more, thus molding the swimmer into a perfect tube to reduce drag. The swim cap was developed after scanning the heads of athletes from all over the world. These scans created an average head shape, fitting 95% of the population. As a result of the Aqualab’s 3D printer, prototypes were printed within hours and altered accordingly without having to send them to a manufacturer.

Fastskin™ is a synthetic fabric made from a stretchy fabric consisting of polyester and Lycra® , and is what composes the Fastskin3 system wear. Like most synthetic fabric, Fastskin™ is made from coal, oil, or natural liquids forced out of a spinneret and cooled down to form fine threads that will be woven into the fabric. Taking one year to develop, Fastskin™ creates compression changes by knitting more Lycra® to specific places. Overall, the Fastskin3 System was found to reduce passive drag (resistance produced when the swimmer’s body is in a streamlined position) by 16.6%, as well as reducing active drag (resistance at the surface) by 5.2%. A research in Iowa State also found that the system created by Speedo improves oxygen economy by 11%.

Submitted by: Ayla Brown, Kelly Cook, Alexander Li, Amy Ma, Teresa McKinley, Josephine Gunapranata

HIST 104 99C January 2013: Topics in World History