Australian swim brand bond-eye has partnered with long-term collaborator MAXXAM® and Woolmark to develop the world-first MAXXAM® Wool Crinkle, a wool-blend swim fabric built to bring Australian Merino's natural performance properties into premium swimwear.
The 26-piece collection is the product of a collaboration led by bond-eye, built on its decade-long partnership with MAXXAM® founder Rosemary Moore, who pioneered the original crinkle fabric over 40 years ago. For this project, bond-eye brought in Woolmark, the global authority on wool for sourcing, technical expertise and performance testing. Together, the three explored how Merino wool - a fibre with proven natural elasticity and recovery, moisture management and temperature regulation - could be reinterpreted for a category that has relied almost entirely on fossil-derived synthetics.
“Innovation has always been at the heart of bond-eye. Working with Woolmark and its technical team, Rosemary, the original inventor of our tubular crinkle fabric, and an exceptional knitting mill in Italy has allowed us to completely rethink our signature Crinkle. Bringing Australian Merino wool into swimwear takes the fabric into an entirely new space and represents an important step towards our ambition to reduce our reliance on conventional synthetic fibres by exploring high-performance natural and renewable alternatives,” says bond-eye founder and CEO Steve Philpott.
At the centre of the partnership is MAXXAM® Wool Crinkle, which combines Australian Merino wool with bond-eye's signature stretch crinkle construction. The fabric is 45% Australian Merino wool and 45% TENCEL™, with just 10% elastane retained to deliver the stretch and recovery swimwear requires - eliminating nylon and polyester from the composition entirely. TENCEL™ contributes softness through a closed-loop, wood-derived production process.
The wool-blend fabric is knitted as a tube with four-way stretch and recovery, which allows it to stretch across different body sizes. As a result, the garments are largely unsized, fitting from an extra-small through to a large.
MAXXAM® Wool Crinkle was created to address the particular demands of swimwear while retaining the tactile and aesthetic qualities associated with luxury natural fibres. Testing undertaken by Woolmark included colourfastness to chlorinated water and colourfastness to seawater. For bond-eye, the project extends its fabrication and manufacturing expertise into a new material category.
“I have always been passionate about exploring how crinkle and seamless technology can work with natural fibres, so developing MAXXAM® Wool Crinkle has been an incredibly exciting project and, in many ways, feels like coming full circle.
This has been a genuine collaboration from the outset. Working with bond-eye and with the introductions and support of Woolmark, I was able to work closely with a specialist knitting mill in Italy to develop the fabric over the course of almost two years. There were many different trials along the way as we experimented with yarns, blends, dyeing and finishing before arriving at the Merino wool and TENCEL™ combination we have today,” says Rosemary Moore, inventor of MAXXAM® and founder of MAXXAM® Textiles.
Plain knit wool-blend fabrications unfold into a hybrid beach-lifestyle capsule with layering pieces that could adapt through swim, training and then meet friends for drinks without changing. Wool cover-up pieces layer over the swimwear, rounding out a wardrobe that can carry someone through each of those moments.
“What's special about this collection is that it's one of the first swimwear collections to feature wool as a key fibre,” says bond-eye designer Mim Goode. “It's exciting to use wool because of its natural elasticity and recovery, as well as its moisture-wicking and temperature-regulating properties - we wanted to explore how those qualities could translate into swimwear. We also wanted the collection to reflect the way people live today, so the pieces move between swim, athleisure and beach-to-bar without asking anyone to compromise.”
The collaboration marks an evolution in bond-eye's design and manufacturing, in MAXXAM®'s pioneering fabric development, and in Woolmark's work to expand the commercial potential of Australian Merino wool beyond its traditional applications.
“The challenge was not simply to introduce wool into swimwear, but to develop a fabrication that could meet the category's technical demands without compromising the qualities that make Merino wool distinctive,” says Woolmark Managing Director Bryan Fry.
“Wool Crinkle brings together give, recovery and sculpting support with the softness, breathability and material character of Merino wool. It demonstrates the potential to create a new premium proposition for swim and resortwear, while opening a broader commercial pathway for Australian wool.”
MAXXAM® Wool Crinkle will form part of a broader collection of wool-blend swim and resortwear fabrications. Further details of the collection will be revealed in early 2027.
About bond-eye swim
Born in Bondi Beach, Sydney, bond-eye swim is made to be seen, capturing the spirit of Australian summer, from sun-soaked days to electric nights. Rooted in nostalgia and driven by innovation, the brand is known for bold, flattering cuts, confident silhouettes and an effortless beach-to-bar approach to dressing. At its heart is bond-eye’s iconic Authentic Crinkle™, handmade in Australia and engineered with four-way stretch designed to flex and adapt to the body, alongside new-generation fabrics including Bare™, luxe mesh and natural fibres. Each collection brings together innovative, considered design with a more conscious approach to how pieces are made, creating swim and resortwear that is distinctly Australian, modern and made for summer, travel and life.
Instagram: @bondeyeswim
Website: www.bond-eye.com
About Maxxam®
Maxxam® is the original seamless elastic crinkle fabric, created by textile designer Rosemary Moore in the early 1980s following more than six years of research and development. A pioneering textile concept, its unique stretch, texture and one-size construction revolutionised the way fabric could be used to create clothing, offering a cost-effective and virtually waste-free approach to manufacturing. Originally used across bodycon fashion, Maxxam became particularly synonymous with swimwear from the late 1980s onwards and has been used by brands around the world for more than 40 years. Today, Rosemary continues to lead Maxxam Textiles, developing the fabric for new applications while exploring sustainable fibres, innovative technologies and the next generation of seamless textiles. Manufactured in the UK, Maxxam remains recognised for its comfort, versatility, durability and ability to fit and flatter a wide range of body shapes.
www.maxxamtextiles.com | Instagram: @maxxamtextiles
About Woolmark
Woolmark stands as the global authority on wool. Through extensive industry relationships, it promotes wool as the ultimate natural fibre and premier ingredient in premium textile products. The Woolmark logo is one of the most recognised and respected brands, representing quality and pioneering excellence from farm to finished product.
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