The fashion industry’s carbon footprint is no joke: Its “long supply chains and energy intensive production” contribute to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes more energy than the shipping and airline industries combined, according to the United Nations. But, thankfully for Mother Nature and eco-conscious fashion enthusiasts, more and more slow, sustainable (and uber stylish!) fashion brands are popping up, proving that you don’t have to sacrifice style for the sake of the planet. Slow fashion is all about quality over quantity. Slow fashion is the movement of designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity. It encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints, and (ideally) zero waste. The most sustainable way to shop is to build your wardrobe with timeless staples you’ll wear season after season, rather than loading your cart with trendy pieces that are out of style (or disintegrate) before you wear them twice. 

Fast fashion corporations spit new collections onto sales floors almost every week. The Pulse of the Fashion Industry’s 2018 report states that less than one percent of all clothing materials are recycled into new garments. It summarizes that “much of today’s production is designed neither for longevity nor recycling, but rather for short life cycles to encourage consumers to buy anew.” Slow fashion flips this model on its head. With slower production schedules, small batch collections, and zero waste designs, slow fashion brands aim to reduce the textile waste clogging our landfills. Instead of chasing trends, these companies utilize enduring styles with layering options and create pieces that are classic and versatile. This gives customers the ability to keep garments for a lifetime.

The desire to do something good for your body and mind is nothing new, but what if you could be minimising your environmental footprint at the same time? Lucky for you, I found the best sustainable fashion brands currently on the market. Make you money go a step further by choosing brands that are making a conscious effort to reduce their footprints.

nu-in

nu-in’s design team is constantly learning and working closely with their factories on developing new ways in which they can create more sustainable materials for the production of our clothes. They currently use a variety of recycled, organic, and regenerated materials. Think of them as a way better one-stop shop for basics.

Re/Done

If you’re a vintage Levi’s enthusiast, you’ll love Re/Done. The Downtown Los Angeles-based brand deconstructs vintage denim and uses the fabric to make new jeans in all different cuts and colors. So, you get cool, brand-new jeans with all the benefits of the comfy, lived-in feel of vintage denim.

Sézane

The quintessential Parisian brand Sézane designs stunning apparel and footwear for the modern woman. The European label has forged strong partnerships in many countries, always focusing on where and how products are made. The team advocates for safe working conditions for artisans, uses mostly natural materials in production, and gives back to various philanthropic causes.

FRUITY BOOTY

Fruity Booty is a small London business co-founded by Minna Bunting and Hattie Tennant. The brand designs playful-meets-chic intimates that are made with sustainability in mind. With a goal to redefine the notion of sexy, Fruity Booty takes a modern and creative approach when designing lingerie for women. From the brand’s daisy-adorned satin setto its tiger print two-piece, these are stylish undergarments with personality. Produced in small batches to minimize waste, each design is limited-edition and more unique than the styles you’d find at traditional, mainstream underwear stores.

PANGAIA

PANGAIA is a materials science company on a mission to save our environment. Their clothing uses bio-based, recycled fibers and materials made from recycled plastic bottles. They combine natural botanical dyes made from natural sources such as plants, with innovative antibacterial peppermint to stay fresh for longer. They also use NFC technology for complete supply chain transparency.
With PANGAIA you can make sustainable choices without compromising on style.

Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective creatives activewear that is made from recycled plastic bottles. They turn materials that would otherwise clog landfills and pollute the earth into the comfiest sports bras and leggings.

OOKIOH

OOKIOH, pronounced o͞okēō, is a play on the Japanese word Ukiyo — the pleasure-seeking lifestyle of the Edo Japan period. The Ukiyo-e genre is all about traveling, female beauty, and living in the moment — could it get any better? OOKIOH creates ethically-crafted swimwear made with recycled nylon and plastic bottles. Their fabric is sourced from an Italian mill and made from 100% regenerated materials. Keeping the full supply chain sustainable, the line is packaged in 100-percent compostable polymail.

Veja

Veja is a leader in eco and ethical production for street shoes. The brand buys organic and ecologically friendly materials from fair trade family farms in Brazil and the Amazon and partners with a social charity that helps disadvantaged people reintegrate into society through work. No matter where you live, you can have a pair—the brand offers worldwide shipping in packaging made from recycled and recyclable cardboard.

Boyish

Boyish is a sustainable women’s denim line focused on quality, fit, and authentic washes. Boyish Jeans will remind you of your favorite pair, but the modern details and laid-back California aesthetic feel refreshingly new. The price point is unbelievably friendly. Try not buying them in multiples.

Parade

At the core of Parade is their belief that underwear is a powerful cultural force at the juncture of gender, sexuality, and self-expression. This collection honors the earliest moments you have with your underwear and focuses on sustainable fabric and packaging.

MORNING VIEW

Finding wardrobe basics like tank tops can be tough when considering issues as simple as fit and color, in addition to larger problems like sustainability. Enter Morning View, a new eco-conscious fashion label that focuses on minimal production to reduce waste. For its first-ever collection, the Los Angeles-based brand has released must-have staples for the summer.Aiming to reduce waste as much as possible, Morning View produces its collections in small batches, focusing on customer demand rather than following a seasonal calendar. The products, which are designed as wardrobe staples, are packaged in 100-percent recyclable bags.