The fashion industry is one of the biggest drivers of pollution globally, causing air, ground, and water pollution. Thankfully, there are many sustainable fashion brands that are changing the world for the better, purchase by purchase.
Think about your closet for a moment.
Do you have some clothing in there that you don’t necessarily love? That you purchased it because it was cheap but you’ve only worn a couple of times?
Do you know what materials your clothing was made with and how it affects the environment?
I encourage you to take a look through your wardrobe and investigate the materials that your clothes are made of and reconsider the brands you buy from.
You might be surprised to find that you do in fact have clothing made from a conscious brand with eco-materials like organic cotton, hemp, wool, or recycled polyester!
But then you might even find that a brand you cherished uses more harmful materials like polyester or nylon.
Why Should We Buy Slow Fashion?
Did you know that only about 1% of clothing is actually recycled? And that 85% of clothes end up in landfills?
If clothing that’s made with polyester, for example, winds up in a landfill, these plastic microfibers will make their way into the ground and into our waterways, causing pollution and risk being consumed by wildlife and marine life.
That’s where these sustainable fashion brands come in.
They are helping us say goodbye to fast fashion – cheap clothing, both in quality and in price, that we throw away without a second thought.
Instead, these companies are all about slow fashion and creating garments with earth-friendly and innovative materials, with fair labor practices and less greenhouse emissions.
Supporting sustainable fashion brands is a great way to show the world that eco-friendly clothing is what we want, and it will encourage other clothing manufacturers to follow their lead.
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Here are 10 sustainable fashion brands that are helping the planet.
1. Girlfriend Collective
The sustainable brand called Girlfriend Collective is doing some pretty amazing things in the fashion industry like making clothing from plastic water bottles and leftover fabric scraps, ethically and sustainably, all while at an affordable price.
Girlfriend is fair trade which means fair wages and ethical factories, with the certifications to back up their claims, which is something fast fashion companies like Shein and H&M cannot do.
Girlfriend believes in 100% transparency and provide so much information on their site to answer any questions you may have.
2. Nudie Jeans Co
If you’re looking for high-quality jeans that will last you a lifetime, then you need a pair of jeans by Nudie Jeans Co. This Swedish denim company practices sustainability in so many different ways, making them what I like to call a sustainability guru.
Their denim is only made with organic cotton, (which means no synthetic chemicals are used, and efficient water usage in the farming process), and they are incredibly transparent about their manufacturing process.
The best part is if anything happens to your jeans, you can get them repaired for free!
3. WAMA
If you’re looking for your next pair of underwear, check out WAMA for hemp underwear for both men and women.
Hemp is one of the most eco-friendly fabrics with minimal impact on the environment. It’s biodegradable, requires less water, and hemp crops even return nutrients back to the soil.
Also, what’s great about hemp clothing is that the fabric gets softer with every wash. Hemp is also naturally anti-bacterial and has anti-odor properties.
WAMA is an awesome brand, not only for creating underwear out of this sustainable material but also because they promote ethical and green business practices with the certifications to back them up.
4. Organic Basics
Organic Basics is a slow fashion underwear and active-wear brand that uses sustainable materials and who also supports ethical practices.
This is one of the best sustainable clothing brands that also offsets their carbon footprint, which is always such a great thing!
This means that for the carbon emissions they create, they ensure that they find ways to reduce carbon emissions to make up for it, like investing in projects to bring solar and wind power to developing countries.
5. Reformation
Reformation is a slow fashion brand that creates clothing using a wide range of eco-friendly materials.
About 15% of their clothing is made from old vintage clothing that they buy from wholesalers and repurpose into new pieces of clothing, making them even more of an incredible sustainable fashion brand.
One of their most interesting fabrics that Reformation uses is Recover®. The fabric is made from old garments and fabric waste that is cut, shredded, and spun into new yarn. This ensures that these clothes don’t simply end up in landfills, which reduces textile waste.
6. Thought
This slow fashion brand is the whole shebang. From the materials they use for their sustainable clothing to the way they make and ship them, Thought has thought of it all.
They’re ethical, cruelty-free, and promote sustainability in all aspects of their business.
The fabrics for their garments include hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, wool, recycled polyester, rayon (recycled tree pulp) and TENCEL. Their dyes are also eco-friendly.
All their suppliers and their supply chains must comply with their environmental standards.
7. Valani
Another ethical fashion brand that’s creating a ton of positive impact is VALANI.
Although their selection is limited, all of their clothing fabric is made with hemp, tencel, or banana stems, which means it’s all biodegradable.
Additionally, every garment purchases plants a tree, and they also donate 10% of their profits to causes like women’s empowerment programs, animal charities, and environmental initiatives.
8. Mother Erth
Mother Erth is a slow fashion brand that creates amazing handwoven bags made from plastic that’s intercepted before it reaches the ocean.
Their zero-waste bags are handmade by artisans and each handbag, purse or tote is individually unique.
Repurposing plastic waste into fashionable masterpieces is a pretty amazing thing to do for the environment.
9. BUHO
BUHO is a sustainable company that carries a wide range of clothing brands to fit your personal ethics. Whether you want something that’s handmade, vegan, ethically made or made locally, you’ll find something that you will love.
They also have a recycling program, where they will gladly take your gently worn garments.
How it works is when you purchase one of their products, BUHO will send you a return stamp for you to send them any of your unwanted clothes.
These clothes go to new homes or BUHO upcycles them into new pieces of clothing, and you get store credit. That means that you’re basically getting paid to get rid of your unwanted clothes.
10. United by Blue
This eco-friendly brand is doing all sorts of wonders. United by Blue creates clothing using fabrics that are sustainable and eco-conscious.
They use fabrics like recycled polyester made from discarded water bottles, organic cotton (which means no pesticides), and bison (re-purposed materials from the ranching industry.)
United by Blue are also creating a positive impact, removing one pound of trash for every product sold from the world’s oceans and waterways.
The company organizes and hosts these events themselves, and they’ve removed 1.7 million pounds of trash so far.
11. tentree
This list of sustainable fashion brands wouldn’t be complete without tentree. tentree is easily an industry leader in the sustainable fashion movement and for good reason. tentree plants – you guessed it – ten trees per product sold which helps create positive change by repopulating forests.
Another amazing thing about this ethical brand is that their clothing is made with natural fibers such as organic cotton and hemp, and they also use recycled polyester made from plastic bottles.
They are a certified B corporation and also climate neutral certified.
12. Amour Vert
This sustainable fashion brand uses sustainable fabrics like organic cotton, TENCEL from eucalyptus trees, Mulberry silk, and beechwood fibres. You can find sustainable clothing for both men and women.
Amour Vert, French for Green Love, also plants trees for every t-shirt sold in partnership with American Forest. They’ve planted over 220,000 trees so far.
Sign up to their newsletter and get 15% off your first purchase.
Final thoughts on these slow fashion brands
Focusing on buying less, but better-made clothing is so important when it comes to building a more ethical wardrobe through sustainable practices and fighting against the fast fashion industry.
It’s almost a no-brainer to make the switch to slow fashion since clothing made with eco-materials is typically high quality and of course has a positive environmental impact. They will last longer and in turn, save you money.
Additionally, it’s a great feeling knowing that the brand you’re representing is fighting climate change and pollution and that you’re not contributing to the support of fast fashion brands.
Hopefully, over time, more and more companies will start incorporating sustainable measures as these brands have done in order to create an even bigger impact. As we all know, this planet sure needs all the help it can get!
This article is part of a series of blog posts on sustainable fashion. Feel free to check them out to continue learning how you can slow down in regards to your clothing!
- 13 Almost-Effortless Ways to Make Clothes Last Longer
- 8 Slow Fashion Tips to Create a Sustainable Wardrobe
- How Secondhand Clothing Benefits the Environment
- 9 Reasons Why you Should Buy Secondhand Clothing
- The Ultimate Guide to Shopping Secondhand Clothes
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