3 affordable and ethical clothing brands you need to know right now

If you love fashion AND care about the environment at the same time, you know the fast fashion system goes completely against nature, with a crazy number of collections each year, use of synthetic (plastic made) fibers in their fabrics, bad work conditions and the list goes on and on. I don't know about you but the fashion industry makes me very anxious and when I need to buy a simple shirt I get nervous thinking about supporting big brands that are bad for the environment but also I don't have money to be able to afford spending $200 on one shirt because it's sustainable. It's pretty much a dead-end alley. With that in mind I decided to search brands that could easily replace fast fashion giants and aren't too expensive so I don't get that nervous when I need something new to wear. While searching, it was a nice surprise to find so many ethical brands that are trying to change the fashion landscape! This is the kind of business we should support to show big brands that we are sick and tired of their environmentally poor processes. I selected the 3 most interesting (in my opinion) ethical fashion brands that ship worldwide: Boyish Jeans, Reformation and People Tree.

Boyish Jeans

New in business and already causing a commotion

Based in Los Angeles, California, BOYISH JEANS, is a line of womenswear centered around vintage silhouettes with a modern update. Founded this year (yes, this year!!) by Jordan Nodarse, BOYISH is committed to using ethical and sustainable practices in the development and manufacturing of all of their products. The jeans are produced with sustainable fabrics through an environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free process.

They also plant 1 tree for every purchase made in partnership with One Tree Planted.

BOYISH JEANS work with factories that have fair, safe, and healthy working conditions (according to their website). They ensure that suppliers meet their standards for social responsibility as well as safe, non-toxic, and better materials by auditing our factories with third party auditing companies. They also have a zero waste goal by recycling water, cotton and the cutting waste, and to make everything even better, all of their hang tags are made with recycled paper and all of the buttons and rivets are made from recycled metal!

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As if all of these things weren't enough, 20% of their products are made with reused dead stock from many fabrics, saving lots of CO2 emissions. Also their woven labels (size tab and main label) are made from recycled bottles and they wash their jeans in cold water to save energy. You can read about their sustainable processes in detail here and it's totally worth it.

I tried to find information about the countries they ship their products but couldn't find it (so I assume they ship worldwide).

To understand more about the brand and the founder, have a look at this interview with Jordan Nodarse.

- Price range (in Australian Dollars): $40 - 200 (cheaper than Zara!!)

- Deliver worldwide

Reformation

America's sweetheart

Before BOYISH, Jordan Nodarse worked at Reformation for several years. Reformation is also an LA based company, founded in 2009 by Yael Aflalo and their mission is to make effortless silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure with the most sustainable practices possible. Reformation is popular among celebrities: Kendall Jenner, Mhegan Markle, Emma Watson and many others have been spotted wearing their clothes! Yael opened the path for eco-friendly brands that came after Reformation in America. The brand source electricity offsets from 100% wind power suppliers, they recycle, compost organic wastes, and recycle or donate textile scraps. They reduce their carbon footprint by manufacturing close to its main retail outlets and sourcing many textiles from the same region it manufactures in. Work conditions are very important to an ethical brand and Reformation is committed to minimizing the environmental impact and achieving fair, safe and healthy working conditions throughout the supply chain by seeking to partner with suppliers who share a common vision of sustainability, accountability and transparency. They say that they currently require suppliers to meet their standards for: social responsibility, safe & non-toxic, and better materials.

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One thing I really loved is the packaging: all packages are plastic-free and made from 100% recycled paper products and compostable bio-based films, plus the tapes and hangers use bio-based, non-toxic adhesives. You can find all of their sustainable processes and practices in their website here

They ship worldwide what is pretty cool and they have free express shipping and free return to Australia! You can check an interview with Aflaio here

- Price range (in Australian Dollars): $50 - 400

- Deliver worldwide

People Tree

Pioneer in ethical fashion

People Tree was founded by Safia Minney in 1991 in Japan. It started from a volunteer group of green consumers and has now become one of the highest profile Fair Trade companies in the UK (fair trade is about stable prices, decent working conditions and the empowerment of farmers and workers). People tree has pioneered the first Fair Trade and organic cotton supply chain, being the first company to have a Soil Association certification for a product brought from the field through manufacture that is completely organic. The brand was launched in the UK in 2001 and every product is made to the highest ethical and environmental standards from start to finish. They collaborated with Emma Watson in 2010 to launch a collection and the brand is very popular in the UK. Their producers use traditional skills and combine them with new innovative technologies to support and grow their businesses. By using skills such as hand weaving, hand knitting or hand embroidery they work with economically disadvantaged farmers and producers to promote fairer trading conditions and empower farmers and workers, creating employment in rural areas.

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All of their clothes are dyed using low impact dyes, free from harmful chemicals which are frequently used in clothing manufacture. They also use natural materials where possible, avoiding plastic and toxic substances. One thing that really matters is the non-use of synthetic fibres. People Tree use Lenzing certified TENCEL™, a sustainable fibre which transforms wood pulp into cellulosic fibres with high resource efficiency and low environmental impact. You can have a look at their processes in detail here

You can read an interview with Safia Minney here

- Price range (in Australian Dollars): $45 - 250

- Deliver to: Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (WHYYY??)

Now you know that it is possible to buy ethically without spending a million bucks!

#ecofriendlyfashion #ethicalfashion #fashion