The rashie, essentially a UV protectant T-shirt that’s so named because it prevents surfboard rash and sunburn, has long been one of the less glamorous garments worn on the beach. Functional? Absolutely. Fashionable? No way. It was the zip-up layer your surf instructor wore, and in hotter climates – including Australia, where the rash vest was invented in the 1970s – the piece forced upon children to protect their skin from the sun. Now, we’ve entered a new era of the rashie thanks to a fresh collaboration between Australian label Rashi World and British designer Alex Eagle.
Rashi World was founded by model and entrepreneur Anna Feller, who grew up in Canada before moving to Australia. Living between Bondi and Byron Bay, and finding herself almost entirely outdoors, she wanted a wardrobe that reflected her lifestyle: pieces that moved seamlessly between the beach, the street and everyday life. Italian-made UPF 50+ fabric was the starting point, and unisex cuts and mix-and-match separates made the collection feel more like everyday wear than swimwear. The silhouettes of its eponymous rashies are clean and close to the body, borrowing as much from Calvin Klein minimalism as they do from Blue Crush. “I’ve always been obsessed with ’90s surf culture, vintage bodysuits, colour blocking and really clean lines, and I wanted to bring those worlds together,” Feller tells Broadsheet.
This new collaboration with Alex Eagle Sporting Club solidifies the rashie’s position in wardrobes – it’s as much for Pilates, long lunches and weekends in the countryside as it is for surf schools and family holidays.
Eagle immediately recognised the rashie’s potential. Her namesake concept store has built a loyal following by collapsing the boundaries between fashion, interiors, vintage and lifestyle, while Alex Eagle Sporting Club extends that philosophy into clothing designed around movement. “I’ve always believed that good design should make life easier,” Eagle tells Broadsheet. “Alex Eagle has never been about occasion dressing, it’s about creating a thoughtful wardrobe that supports how people really live. Whether that’s tailoring, vintage, homeware or now swimwear, everything has to earn its place”.
Rather than reinventing the product, Eagle leaned into it. The resulting collection equally suits relaxed tailoring as it does paired with a string bikini on a beach. As well as the rash vest – which is fitted close to the body, with a contrasting rib neck detail and cropped cut – the collection includes triangle bikini tops, string bikini bottoms, one-piece swimsuits and long-sleeve body suits.
Crucially, it provides sun protection – a concern that’s become more pertinent as the UK experiences ever-hotter summers and has seen a surge in melanoma skin cancer, with record-high cases reported. Australians have understood the realities of ultraviolet exposure for decades, making sun protection part of everyday life rather than an afterthought. What Rashi World has done is make that pragmatism desirable.
“What first caught my eye was how effortlessly cool it felt,” Eagle says. “It took something incredibly classic and gave it a really chic, slightly tomboy edge.”
