Swim Week on South Beach in Miami is mostly about glitz, glamour and impossibly leggy models traipsing about celebrity-lined runways.

But at one show at The Setai, it also was about trying to save the planet – one itty-bitty bikini at a time.

A group of “eco-couture” designers unveiled lines that eschew synthetic textiles like polyester. Instead, they’re crafting “sustainable” swimwear out of fabrics made from wood pulp, hemp and bamboo or from recycled plastic bottles, “upcycled” factory scraps of cotton and nylon and “repurposed” material like military parachutes.

Designer Linda Loudermilk debuted what she billed as the world’s first fully compostable bathing suit.

It’s fashioned from a plant starch, she said, that has been turned into a fabric so new she just got her hands on it four days earlier. She said the suit won’t dissolve on a woman’s body, but bury it under dirt, and it would break down within 180 days – leaving not a single spandex strap, blot of chemical dye or foam bra cup behind.

“You can use it again or you can throw it away,” said Loudermilk, a pioneer of the eco-fashion movement. “It’s very inexpensive so it’s something you can give to your guests but it has a fashion forward look.”

The show, dubbed “Haute Natured,” featured Loudermilk’s “Luxury Eco” line as well as environmentally friendly designs from Eco Swim by Aqua Green, Meadow and MAE Couture.

Eco-couture has been around for years but it’s new for women’s swim wear, typically constructed of man-made materials specifically designed to dry quickly or hold shape. That often means they contain chemicals and are nearly impervious to the forces of a compost heap. Polyester is actually made from the same stuff as many plastic bottles, polyethylene terephthalate.

Using sustainable materials poses a lot of challenges, said Jenni Saylor, the designer for Eco Swim By Aqua Green. In fact, she thinks it’s impossible to make a suit that will appeal to women without at least a little spandex, aka Lycra, which is the stuff that makes a suit cling in the right places.

“If it doesn’t look good, they’re not going to buy it just because it’s sustainable material,” Saylor said.

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