Sustainability and ethical clothing is the thing that is most talked about in recent months. Reason? There are many, from increasing pollution to the population. However, do we need a reason to go sustainable? Or get ethical? I don’t think so!
However, there’s a misconception about it being harmful to the pocket. There are many affordable ethical clothing brands that you can opt for! Before we get to the brands let’s study something about sustainable and ethical clothing.
This is something that has been conveyed from the 1960s. Yes! You heard it right. Rachel Carson was the first person to describe the importance of sustainable fashion in her book Silent Spring in the year 1962.
The following years were spent on the investigation and noticing the impact of industrial activities on the environment. In the early 1990s, green issues made their way into the fashion and textile industry.
At the G7 fashion summit, a fashion pact was passed – that focused more on sustainable factors. Why is it so?
According to Wikipedia, the fashion industry stands out to be the second-largest water-consuming industry with the usage of around 79 billion cubic meters of water per year.
According to Eco Experts: The fashion industry is the 3rd most polluting industry.
One hundred fifty brands came together and accepted sustainable fashion as a permanent thing and not a fast fashion trend. We have gathered a few of the best sustainable and ethical clothing brands to help you move forward.
11 Affordable Ethical Clothing Brands
Here is the list of the top 11 brands known for their hard work in providing sustainable and ethical fashion to today’s generation. With all the listed brands, we mention their perspective and aims. They have adapted affordable, honest, and sustainable fashion.
Main Aim: One of the finest Fashion brands that have women workers to empower them and take a great initiative in reducing poverty. ABLE has thoroughly devoted itself to providing quality in both products (including manufacturing & designing) and the quality of life they aim to deliver to the consumers.
2. Pact
Origin: Colorado, USA
For: Women, Men, and Kids
Categories: Clothing, Bedding, and Bath
Main Aim: Pact ensures for both the planet and the people. They provide and serve safe working conditions, protect the environment, and empower & uplift local communities. Pact ensures all the products and clothes they are producing give complete satisfaction and sustainability.
3. People Tree Ltd.
Origin: United Kingdom
For: Women
Categories: Clothes and Essentials
Main Aim: To provide support to the producer partner, economic independence efforts are taken control over the environmental imbalance. They use all the natural and infinite resources that are eco-friendly plus can be reused and redesigned.
Supplying customers and consumers with perfect quality products with affordable ethical clothing and friendly services helps build awareness for empowering consumers and producers to participate in fair trading and sustainable solutions.
4. Made Trade
Origin: United States of America
For: Women and Men
Categories: Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Gifts, Home Decor, and Bedding & Bath
Main Aim: Made Trade is one such brand that has achieved the best fashion services. They aim to provide their consumers with vegan and sustainable fashion clothes. They have women workers altogether so that they can give their best in women empowerment and employment both.
Thus, they have their primary focus on women’s empowerment, sustainable and affordable ethical clothing, and saving the environment in the maximum way possible.
5. Threads 4 Thought
Origin: New York
For: Women, Men, and Kids
Categories: Clothing
Main aim: The main objective of Threads 4 Thoughts is to provide consumers with sustainable, ethical, and impactful clothing. They believe the dress is a trend that needs to be sustainable. They are giving their best in serving their consumers with the best eco-friendly clothes.
Main Aim: Ten Thousand Villages has many worthy investing aims. Right from ensuring their workers are getting fair wages to caring for the earth, from investing in partnership to empowering communities to celebrate the craft and culture.
This brand makes sure that consumers get organic products without harming the environment. All their workers are happy and earn fair wages that will help reduce unemployment and poverty.
7. Amour Vert
Origin: Sans Francisco, California
For: Men and Women
Categories: Clothes and Accessories
Main Aim: Amour Vert believes in showcasing fashion with a sustainable and ethical style of service. They use vegan products respect the environment and try their level best not to damage it in any way. They make sure that their
8. Encircled
Origin: Canada
For: Women
Categories: Clothing and Accessories.
Main Aim: The most prominent factor about the brand is that it produces fast fashion with the concept of slow fashion. The production is made from materials that can be reusable and redesigned so that the trend is maintained and the environment, and the workers are respected.
They make sure all the clothes and accessories they are producing will result in affordable, sustainable, and ethical fashion clothing.
9. Tonle
Origin: Cambodia, ASIA
For: Women
Categories: Clothing, Accessories and Home Decor
Main Aim: Tonle aims to use every single scrap of fashion to give the best and make sure all the fabrics and materials they are utilizing in producing are entirely environmentally friendly. No animal or environment should be harmed in the production of the products. The workers are given fair wages.
10. MATE the Label
Origin: Los Angeles
For: Women
Categories: Clothing and Accessories
Main Aim: The best factor about this brand is, it focus on Carbon Footprint and how it damages the environment. Thus all the products they are manufacturing are completely environment friendly, and this is the aim of the brand. The brand even aims to provide all its workers a fair wage to lead a good life without poverty.
11. Organic Basics
Origin: Australia
For: Men and Women both
Categories: Clothes and Gifts
Main Aim: The aim is to choose fabrics that care for the environment. They make sure all the fashion they are producing is reusable and redesigned. If the trend is faded, the brand can still manage to stay in the direction. They make sure both their consumers and workers are respected and satisfied with their specific products and wages.
Why Is Ethical and Sustainable Fashion Important?
What is one of the highest common discussions in our generation after this COVID-19 topic? It is an environmental problem. Our Mother Earth is suffering and many other people. We must make some necessary changes in our surroundings. One of them can be a significant change in our fashion industry.
We know there is hardly any chance that people will take fashion as a problem, but it is (and I have already discussed that in the above sections). So, if we try to adopt sustainable and ethical fashion in our lives, it is sure that this will help somewhere in solving nature and other environmental issues.
If you are thinking about why is Ethical fashion necessary, here are some of the main reasons and considerations :
Trust, respect, and transparency.
Good terms and long-term employment
Wages are fair.
Healthy and safe.
Easily and free delivery of the speech.
Prejudice is not allowed, and you feel safe.
Time off and health care.
Skills are improved.
Financial help is assisted.
Value of opinions.
Workers are always happy and satisfied.
How Fast and Slow Fashion Impacts the Fashion Industry?
Fast fashion and Slow fashion are the two sides of the coin that have co-existed for years. Both of these fashion trends are affecting both; the environment and people.
And now, it is time that we realize what these fashion styles are and which of them is the right style we need to adopt in our lives.
What Is Fast Fashion?
Fast fashion is used to describe the highly profitable model business, which is showcased as high-fashion designs and catwalk trends produced in a whole lot at a lower price.
The term “fast fashion” is used to define the products with a particular duration of the trend. Later, the craze fades away as the new trend comes in.
For example, you can say brands and companies like Zara and H&M are one of those who are not considered sustainable clothing, as fashion keeps on changing.
What Is Slow Fashion?
Slow fashion is highly required in today’s fashion world. Slow fashion defines the clothing produced concerning the environment, people, and animals. This type of style is seen in practice by local designers and artisans. They use environmentally friendly materials and products.
Slow fashion’s goal is to preserve the environment, crafting, and providing respect, value, and satisfaction to both consumers and their producers.
Comparison Table About Fashion Industry’s Impact on Environment
Here is a brief comparison table between Slow and Fast fashion that will clear doubts about the right fashion style for both consumers and the environment.
Fast Fashion
Slow fashion
Material and Products
Synthetic Fibers: elastane, nylon, polyester, etc.
Natural fibers are used mostly, for example; recycled fabrics, silk, cotton, etc.
Production
Mostly seen in countries where standard is not considered. Workers are not given proper wages and salary.
Western countries adapt this style a lot, to respect standards, animals, environment and human rights.
CO2
Materials are used which release 9 to 10kgs of CO2 during the production.
Materials are used which release 2kg of CO2 during production.
Water wastage and pollution
Fast fashion results in being responsible for a lot of water wastage and pollution. They use microplastics and chemicals that pollute the water.
Water is continuously recycled and filtered, and filtered water is released. No microplastics are used to pollute the water.
Consumption
Lot of the products are sold out to the consumers, but not worn a lot of time as the fashion keeps changing continuously.
Focus is on sustainable and environmental friendly production, thus the trends have lasted for a long time.
Wastage
75 to 80% of the clothing is thrown away out of which hardly 1% of the clothes can be and are recycled.
Slow fashioned clothes can be restyled, recycled, donated, repaired, and circulated in the society.
FAQs
What Is Sustainable or Ethical Fashion?
In compressed words: ethics and sustainability is a step toward producing, designing, and providing clothes that maximize the plus points and mainly benefit the environment and society at large. The other way you can define is to save the environment and sustain the life of animals and the environment.
What Are the Reasons Making the Fashion Industry More Polluting?
The main factor for the rapid release of pollution is the fast and cheap production of clothes due to the consumers’ quick computations. The other factor is replacing the textile clothing and increment in the landfills of the chemicals on the clothing.
Which Are the Sustainable Fabrics?
Sustainable Fabric is a concept where materials are produced on account of habitats and conditions of nature. In short, manufacturing fabrics is done where the production does not using any of the toxic pesticides or fertilizers that can be harmful to the environment and even the entire production team or members.
Is Ethical and Sustainable Fashion Affordable?
Sustainable and ethical fashion is comparatively more expensive than fast fashion. This will nurture the entire production and supply chain, right from the non-chemical dyes to eco-friendly and sensitive materials and products.
How Can You Go Sustainable with Fashion?
To maintain sustainability in fashion, you can choose the following procedure. Reuse the old clothes instead of recycling them. If you want to go with sustainable fashion, go for redesigning, upcycling, and repairing fashion products.
Conclusion:
With this, we have come to the end of the blog. We are sure that by now you know why it is essential to choose affordable ethical clothing. This is high time we realize that our environment needs to be taken care of. Along with that, we must provide the fashion industry with a new identity of being useful to everyone, including the environment.
