AS COOL AS THEY ARE CONSCIOUS

ETHICAL & SUSTAINABLE BRANDS

When it comes to the fashion industry these days, things aren’t always as ethical and good for the environment as we’d like them to be. With the rise of fast fashion, many garments today are made with materials and dyes that produce harmful waste and pollution, all for the profit of mass-producing products at a cheaper cost. On top of this, because these factories are overseas, it’s much harder to ensure that they follow ethical practices.

Despite this practice, there are plenty of independent designers out there today that heavily focus on maintaining the good of the Earth. Whether using recycled materials or making sure the materials they do use are ethically sourced, they strive to keep their carbon footprint low, for the greater good of the planet. It’s all about sustainability.

AUrate

Sophie Kahn and Bouchra Elzahraoui are the creators of AUrate, a reasonably priced jewellery brand where all gold and diamonds are ethically sourced and then manufactured in New York. In addition to being ethical, the brand is also direct to consumer, allowing them to offer prices without the markup you would find at traditional department stores.

A Peace Treaty

Dana Arbib is founder and designer of a jewellery, accessories and knitwear brand what strives on delivering high-fashion sustainable products. The brand works with artisans from places such as Pakistan, Peru and Bolivia and focuses on reviving jewellery and textile businesses at risk of extinction. The brand sees itself as, "the champions of slow fashion and preservationists of centurys-old techniques".

Svilu

The designers behind Svilu are Britt Cosgrove and Marina Polo, they offer sustainable socially conscious staple pieces that have a masculine style with a feminist touch. All materials used are mindfully sourced and locally produced, ensuring both fabrics and practises are environmentally sympathetic.

Reformation

Reformation uses three sustainable fabric sources to produce their clothing; eco-friendly and recycled fibres, repurposed vintage clothing and excess fabrics produced by other companies. Their factory in Los Angeles was the first sustainable sewing factory in America, they use 100% renewable electricity sources and everything from their cleaning products to stationary is eco-friendly.

Elise Ballegeer

New York City based designer Elise Ballegeer uses organic and sustainable fabrics to create wardrobe essentials that have an architectural and minimalistic edge, suitable as workwear for the modern girl. It is a contemporary clothing label that consists of eco-friendly desirable pieces.

Freedom Of Animals

Freedom Of Animals is a cruelty-free and sustainable luxury hand-bag brand who strictly follow EPA guidelines when producing their pieces. They use organic cottons, recycled materials and recycled vegatable based dyes, this is to actively lower their carbon footprint. 

After conducting this research I come to learn that most eco-friendly and sustainable brands have a relaxed/casual aesthetic and yet they are moderately expensive compared to you average high street brands. It makes me question why are there not luxurious evening wear brands who care about our planet as much as the brands mentioned above. Is it not possible to achieve eco-friendly, luxury garments? Or is it that they think man-made fabrics are more sustainable than natural fibres? More research is needed for me to make that decision..