We’re not going to lie, we’ve shed more than a few tears reminiscing about the last 15 years. It’s such a milestone for a slow fashion brand like ours, especially with so many others going out of business, succumbing to rising costs and the daily headaches that come with doing things ethically.
Looking back now, we’ve made our fair share of mistakes, but we’ve also had some incredible wins along the way, to the benefit of people and planet. This is a trip down memory lane, a look back at a decade and a half of protecting what we love most: our ocean.
Where it All Began
It is crazy to think that it has been 15 years since my wife and I decided to launch TWOTHIRDS. The brand name came to me in my sleep and jolted me awake. From that moment on, there’s really been no looking back.
We actually founded the brand in the Basque city of Bilbao. We loved the waves there, but quickly realised that the brand we wanted to build would be better suited to Barcelona. With little more than a hope and a prayer, we packed the few bags we owned and headed for the Costa Brava.
Finding Our Style
The original vision for TWOTHIRDS was to bring sophistication and sustainability to surf attire. At the time, the scene was dominated by brands that were selling their soul, and creating garish designs that looked good on teenagers, but not on mature ocean lovers. Like many other brands, we started producing clothing in China. However, we quickly decided we wanted to make our clothing locally in Portugal to be closer to our suppliers, build relationships with them, and not have to worry so much about whether garment workers were being treated ethically.
Despite these ambitions, we didn’t want to lose that playful, mischievous nature inherent in surf culture. Emil, our long-serving Danish Art Director, became famous for his fun-filled graphic t-shirts. Together, we developed a unique style that was a mix of Scandinavian and Mediterranean aesthetics, one that still endures to this day.
Much of our video and photo content came from surf trips we all made together as friends and family. Life was good, but it became clear that men’s fashion could only take us so far.
That’s when we hired Pilar, who is still our head of fashion design. She is Barcelona through and through, her family the proud owners of a small haberdashery called MinaMina. The shop is still where we send any stained or damaged clothing to be cleaned, repaired and resold – ensuring nothing ever goes to waste.
The story goes that when we moved to Barcelona, Pilar was our upstairs neighbour. One day, she introduced herself to Loreto and remarked that she had designed the shirt Loreto was wearing. Taken aback, Loreto said it was her favourite shirt. That was in 2014. The rest is history!
From that day on, TWOTHIRDS transitioned quickly into an ocean lifestyle brand for women and men, as women who connected with our style and vision flocked to the brand. Then, in 2016 everything changed…
Slowing Down was the way Forward
Initially, we started life in Barcelona as a physical store in the Born district, which we then moved to another district called Gracia. Both locations were beautiful. We felt part of the local community, but there was always a nagging feeling that we were turning into “just another fashion brand”.
There was also a big sustainability awakening going on amongst our surf friends. Loreto was becoming more and more inspired by slow life principles. And so, we took a leap of faith and tried something daring…
On a night in the lead-up to Christmas, the shopfront window was smashed while Lutz was out of town and Loreto was heavily pregnant. That was the night we decided that the personal demands and high environmental costs of running physical stores were not worth it. We became an online-only brand and vowed to eliminate all overproduction waste with a trailblazing PRE-ORDER system.
We worried our community wouldn’t understand the sustainability benefits of waiting weeks for their clothes to arrive, but thankfully, they supported us and told their friends about us, too.
Covid, Lockdown, a Desire to Reconnect
You can plan for many things in business, but nothing can prepare you for a global pandemic. When Covid hit, we thought it could be the end for TWOTHIRDS, but instead, quite the opposite happened.
The decision to double down on our sustainability and slow fashion values resonated with people. Suddenly, having to wait a few weeks for lovingly crafted, locally produced, sustainable clothing to arrive wasn’t a problem any more. With the high street closed, our online store prospered. People wanted to support local European brands. People craved new ways of doing business that averted the planetary breakdown that fast fashion had undoubtedly played a part in causing. While other brands scrambled to make sales, we benefited from remaining loyal to our values.
Return to a New Normal
Four children, a chocolate labrador, and countless stories later, TWOTHIRDS and our family were riding high on a wave of success. But life is never such plain sailing. The post-pandemic period was difficult. We thought lockdown would be a wake-up call for consumers and that shopping habits would alter accordingly. Instead, things largely went back to normal.
We’re not going to lie, we lost our way for a time. There are so many pressures on a sustainable business to ditch its values in pursuit of survival. You never think you will lose sight of why you started a company in the first place, but then you’re forced to let good people go, pressure rises, and your perspective gets skewed.
Renewed Dedication to Slow Fashion Values
Maybe you noticed, but 2025 has been a major turning point at TWOTHIRDS. We’ve taken a step back, done some soul searching, and returned to our roots.
We’ve vowed to hold fewer sales and promo campaigns, and instead focus on the highest quality eco-design practices, as well as refining our PRE-ORDER system. We’re also reaching out to our fans around Europe, getting stocked in your favourite local stores, running more events and pop-ups, spreading ocean-lovin’ vibes wherever we go.
Caring for you and the Ocean
What we want to get back to is building our Blue Community while caring for each and every one of you, and what we all love most: our ocean.
That’s why we’re about to begin an exciting new relationship with a local marine conservation NGO, enabling our staff and customers to turn their passion for the ocean into action that makes a real difference. Stay tuned for more on that!
Blue Orders
Last but not least, we’re also launching our Blue Orders campaign, during which some lucky customers will be gifted their new TWOTHIRDS order 100% free! Just another way in which we’re looking to give back to you all on this, our 15th year anniversary. Thank you all for joining us on this incredible journey!
Sea you soon,
