Our story

My name is Kim and I live in Brisbane with my husband and our three children who love being outdoors.

At the age of 36, I was diagnosed with Melanoma after a routine check up at my GP. As the primary carer for two 18 month olds and a 5 year old, this was a pretty scary time. I was very lucky to have caught it early, as well as another subsequent Melanoma, but this experience made me very aware of the permanent damage that the sun does to our skin, especially in children as their dermis is much thinner. In fact Melanoma is now the most common type of cancer in 20-39 year olds, so effective sun protection in children is more vital than ever!

With three active kids who love beach holidays and nippers, I was finding it really difficult to protect my children's skin from the sun. I was noticing that no matter how much sunscreen I applied (and despite the kids never actually having visible sunburn), I could still notice a big difference between the colour of their skin protected by their swimmers and the skin that was protected by sunscreen.  This meant that despite my best efforts, their skin was still being damaged by the sun. I set out to find some long swim shorts for my girl's to protect their legs, but was frustrated to discover that there was a real lack of products on the market. Long sleeved rashies and bikini briefs was the best I could find!

On a beach holiday in 2021, I decided to start making my own sun-safe swimwear and Elasam was born! Australian-made children's swimwear, made from the highest quality UPF50+ Italian fabrics recycled from plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets, that covers as much of their skin from the sun as possible ... and in designs they will love!! We would love to welcome you to the Elasam family!