New sustainable fashion brands

Here are some of the sustainable fashion brands that are changing the game.

In a previous blog article we talked about some of the most ethical and sustainable fashion brands. On that occasion we mostly selected particularly popular or historical brands, such as Patagonia or Levi's. However, the market is populated by numerous new brands, born with the intention of being ethical and sustainable from the start. And today we want to tell you about some of these.

But before discovering the new sustainable fashion brands, let's define what ethics and sustainability are.

Ethics and sustainability in the fashion industry

Ethical fashion is a way of producing clothing, accessories and footwear that takes into account the welfare of people and animals involved in the manufacturing process. Unfortunately, child labor exploitation, poor working conditions, excessive work, poor security, extremely low wages are not uncommon in the fashion industry. This is particularly true for Fast Fashion companies, which, in order to keep prices low, relocate production to countries with poor labor protection, such as Bangladesh, which rose to prominence due to the collapse of the Rana Plaza building which housed thousands of textile workers.

On the other hand, sustainable fashion is when companies pay attention to their environmental impact. The textile & fashion industry is the planet's third-largest polluter but sustainable brands choose recycled materials, new fibers and textile innovations that have a low impact on the environment.

Sustainable brands make this possible without sacrificing style and quality.

4 new sustainable fashion brands

This British brand started in 2001, choosing sustainability and organic fashion.

People Tree works with small scale producers, mainly women in developing countries. In this way they manage to improve the lives of these women and their families.

The company prefers natural fibers such as cotton, wool or bamboo. They also use Tencel, which is an environmentally friendly fabric made of cellulose. In addition, all garments have a Fair Trade certification.

Furthermore, this brand tries to raise awareness among consumers about sustainability and ethics. For this reason, they include a Care-Label in each of their garments, with information on the composition of the fabrics and the working conditions of the people who have made the garment.

This brand started selling vintage clothes from a small Los Angeles shop in 2009. Then, they decided to produce their own garments, with a focus on sustainability. And today they are a reference point of sustainable (but stylish) fashion.

They use sustainable fabrics such as Tencel, linen or recycled polyester. In addition, they use a lot of vintage fabrics and deadstock fabric.

But Reformation is committed to sustainability in all aspects of their business. They have their own factory in Los Angeles, where they produce most of their garments. Moreover, the brand has been certified as carbon neutral by Climate Neutral, and is going even further, with the objective of becoming Climate Positive by 2025.

Lastly, they share environmental impact reports so consumers can learn more about the company’s progresses.

Cotopaxi started producing outdoor clothing and accessories in 2014. The brand is attentive to both sustainability and working conditions.

First of all, 94% of their products contain repurposed, recycled, or responsible materials, and they want to reach 100% by 2025.

Then, they want to ensure respect for human rights, which is why they collaborate with factories around the globe that agree to a rigorous code of conduct.

Finally, the brand is a Certified B Corporation and 1% of their revenues go to the Cotopaxi Foundation, which distributes grants to several humanitarian organizations.

This new Danish sustainable fashion brand not only is personally committed to having a low environmental impact, but chooses to work with producers who have the same vision.

The entire supply chain includes trusted, certified factory partners continuously reducing their environmental footprint. Moreover, the factories don’t rely on child labor and forced labor, they take care of working condition, and guarantee a decent wage.

Organic Basics design products to last, handpicking fabrics based on their environmental footprint and lifetime durability. They use natural, renewable, recycled, biodegradable and low-impact textiles such as recycled nylon, Tencel, recycled wool, recycled cashmere and more.