Sustainable Fashion Brands: Balancing Style and Ethical Practices
Sustainable fashion brands are hard to find. The words “sustainable” and “fashion” are actually quite opposite. Fashion implies that clothes are either in or out of style. Over-consuming clothing to stay in fashion is not sustainable.
If it is sustainable, a fashion brand does not exploit its workers or the planet. Truly sustainable fashion brands make high-quality products that last a long time. Being sustainable includes being ethical. Ethical brands do things like offer size-inclusive product lines. They price their lines fairly instead of first inflating, then deeply discounting items. Sustainable fashion brands of the future also share profits with their employees. Brands that meet most of these criteria cannot afford large marketing budgets, therefore they are harder to find. Here are a few to consider.
Mountain Star Printed Dress from Reemami
Designer
Creative and colorful in their high-end collections, Reemami also focuses on supply chain transparency and seasonless fashion. They repurpose deadstock fabrics, do not use animal products, and pay their workers a living wage. Collections are made-to-order.
Ocean Reef Trouser from Debrah
Hand-Embroidery
Deerah aims to preserve and shed light on the art of traditional Palestinian embroidery or tatreez. All pieces they produce (machine & custom hand-embroidered clothing) revolve around sustainability. All of their products are made in Jordan in order to support small businesses and low-income families in Arab countries. The origins of their fabrics, threads, designs are transparently traced, and their design & production teams are fairly paid. They partner with different charities in Jordan that support refugees, women in need and low-income families.
“For as long as we know, we have been subconsciously taught to believe that wearing ‘Western-style’ clothing was the only way to look fashionable and modern. We wanted to challenge that idea by retailing timeless pieces that can be worn everyday but also that hold our unique identity.” — Owners Sara Jayyusi and Omarr Daylaq, first-generation Jordanian immigrants to Canada, with roots in Palestine and Lebanon.
Jackie Blazer-Pants Set from Why So Blue
Cotton Separates
Customisable
WhySoBlue is a women-led business started by mother-daughter duo Jaya and Shweta in 2015. Their elevated dresses and separates for the conscious, modern woman follow ethical employment and zero waste production. Their soft, breathable fabrics are sourced from various parts of India, and all items are made to order. They even donate leftover to NGOs that employ women in making small fabric products from scraps.
Nieuwland 2e Yulex® Long Sleeve Swimsuit from Finisterre
Sportswear, Outerwear, Swimwear
B Corp Finisterre designs functional and sustainable products for those that share a love of the sea. They make innovative products to last, focusing on circular sourcing. Finisterre donates products and money to their foundation that removes physical barriers to access so more people can experience the transformative power of the ocean.
Leather sandal Mia handmade on-demand from kkerelé
Shoes
Lagos-based kkerelé departs from largely gendered notions of symmetry in footwear design. kkerelé doesn’t believe in waste. Continuity and circularity are crucial to their business, with the belief that everything can be redistributed.
If you would like to learn about truly sustainable fashion brands on a regular basis, follow Aja Barber on Patreon. She highlights sustainable fashion brands based in the global South. Since that is where the majority of the world’s clothing is made, it is fair to keep profits there as well.
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