Heliades makes UPF50+ sun protection clothing and accessories with stylish street appeal. Our clothing, arm sleeves, gloves, neck, chest and face mask accessories are designed to wear with your outfit of the day. We combine fashionable design with stylish prints and colors with functional sun protection for a look that’s beyond the beach, resort and active wear. We are committed to creating safe for your skin + sea, environmentally friendly, UPF50+ sun protective products that are attractive, comfortable and useful to wear every day to help keep your skin and body healthy.

The Makers and Their Production Spaces
All our sun protective designs are original and exclusively designed by our Founder, Sharone, in her studio. We approach design with a solutions based perspective that combines usefulness with sun protective functionality that must also be aesthetically interesting and feel good for the wearer. All our textiles are hand sewn in small batches or made to order in her studio or by our partners in the San Francisco/Bay Area manufacturing community.

The Making Process
The entire process from idea, sample making, pattern making, fabric and color selection is
managed in-house. We have a select group of partners within the SF/Bay Area who are very
supportive of slow fashion indie brands and have helped us at various steps of the production and manufacturing process. All our sun protection designs are hand cut and sewn, and finished with hand-stitched details. The apparel manufacturing community here in the Bay Area is extraordinarily patient, supportive and wiling to provide advice to small brands.

The Production
Everything we make is small-batch, made to order, and sometimes one-of-a-kind because typically our prints are limited edition. This slow fashion and limited production approach enables thoughtful designs full of details and features that look different and unexpectedly sun protective than what you typically see in stores. When you make local and in small batch, you have tight control of the quality of your products because you can inspect every step of your sampling and manufacturing process and pivot as needed. You can manage your inventory easier and generate less waste, which is smarter for your business and a better choice for our planet. When you choose to manufacture local (and buy local), you are literally keeping our manufacturing community here in the Bay Area alive, supporting these families, and doing your part to build and maintain our local economy. From idea to finished product
it’s important to us to keep these values at the forefront of everything we do.

The Materials
We are committed to making clean products that are safe for your body and provide long lasting, hard core sun protection for your skin by blocking over 98% of UV rays while also doing our part to be environmentally conscious and respect our planet for future generations to enjoy. Everything from the heat transfer labels, logos, thread and fabric is independently tested and certified to be free of harmful chemicals and heavy metals, including substances not yet regulated in the U.S., and rated safe for prolonged contact on skin. This means nothing nefarious absorbs into your skin and enters your bloodstream. This clean, OEKO-TEX certified sun protection fabric, is also certified UPF50+ with permanent, chemical free sun protection inherent to the fabric so that our finished products are durable and provide long lasting sun protection that does not wash out or wear off over time. Our partners are REACH certified and meet the Global Recycling Standards by utilizing sustainable manufacturing practices that reduce the carbon, water and energy footprint using renewable resources such as recycled water and solar energy. Many of our clients have sensitive skin or are immuno-compromised, and the ability to provide UPF50+ apparel that is safe, protective and attractive to wear every day helps to keep them healthy. Our vision is to create functional sun protection designs that are aesthetically interesting, well made, safe and clean for skin, and better for our environment and global waterways so that others will stay healthy.