Image: Uye Surana

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliated; we may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. We only ever add brands & products we truly believe in. Thank you for supporting the brands who are making the fashion industry a better place!

The Best Sustainable Size-Inclusive Bras

These brands are doing a much better job at being size inclusive than other underwear brands - and I’m sure every woman has struggled with finding the perfect fitting bra sometime in their life. A few of these lines are all about support, some about comfort and active lifestyles, and all are ethically made. While we don’t agree with all of the fibers used, it’s nearly impossible to find a supportive bra made without any synthetics. So we think it’s important to have more brands on here that are doing the work to make ethical clothing more accessible to everyone!

A side note: the first two brands offer underwire bras while the others do not. If the underwire is MUST for you, and you have found a sustainably-minded brand offering them, please let us know in a comment below :) We would love to add more!

use code SUSTAINABLYCHIC for 10% off your purchase

1) Cosabella

Sizes | Curvy (DD-H), Standard (A-D), Extended (C-F), Petite (A-D), Maternity

Price | $28-200

Materials | Lace Polyamide, Cotton, Polyester, Silk

From petites to plus sizes, this ethical brand is making gorgeous, sexy bras for all types of bodies. They have wireless or wired, strap or strapless, solid colors and prints, and all are made in Italy. Cosabella means "beautiful thing" in Italian and was founded by husband and wife Valeria and Ugo Campello.

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2) JulieMay

Sizes | 32B-40G

Price | $81-92

Materials | Organic Pima Cotton/100% Pure Silk

Made from certified Organic Pima Cotton and 100% Pure Silk, this is one of the softest collections of eco-friendly bras available! In addition to their briefs, JulieMay carries a wide variety of bra styles: supportive underwired, back support, sport, front fastening, and non-wired bralette. Plus, their designs are made for sensitive skins and are certified Allergy Free UK.

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3) Girlfriend

Sizes | XXS-6XL

Price | $38

Materials | Recycled Plastic Bottles

If you are looking for a sports bra, this is the place to go! They have many different colors, styles, and sizes to find the perfect one for your workout routine and those days you don’t feel like wearing a bra-bra. Girlfriend Collective uses recycled plastic bottles for their collections, and they have a true cult following because things sell out quickly!!

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4) Uye Surana

Sizes | XS-3XL

Price | $28-87

Materials | Nylon, Poly Lace, Bamboo

This brand makes so many gorgeous bras it’s hard to choose a favorite! Uye Surana, an NYC-based brand, is known for their beautiful designs that have been extensively fit-tested to optimize comfort and offer support across our inclusive size range. Not only are the designs lovely to look at, but they are also comfortable to wear!

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5) Knickey

Sizes | XXS-XXXL

Price | $48

Materials | Organic Cotton, Recycled Nylon, Tencel, Spandex, Elastane

All of Knickey's pieces are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton, which means they are super soft and breathable. Their products are all Fair Trade and OEKO-TEX certified, so you know they are both ethically made and free of harmful substances like carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.

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6) WAMA Underwear

Sizes | XS-4XL

Price | $38

Materials | Hemp, Organic Cotton

WAMA is known for its hemp undies but has since come out with two styles of bras - a triangle and a racerback (pictured). We think hemp is such a fantastic fiber, and we published a post about the cost of hemp and how supporting brands like this can help make it more accessible in the future!

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7) Smartglamour

Sizes | XXS-15X

Price | $25-50

Material | Cottons, Polys

This is one of the most inclusive brands regarding sizing. SmartGlamour makes all of its clothing in NYC, and they purchase all its fabric in town to save on its carbon footprint. You can even customize your garments, which more brands need to offer. The prices are also more affordable than other sustainable brands.

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Image: Girlfriend Collective 

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliated; we may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. We only ever add brands & products we truly believe in. Thank you for supporting the brands who are making the fashion industry a better place!

THE BEST SUSTAINABLE, SIZE-INCLUSIVE & Plus Size CLOTHING BRANDS

Nowadays, 68% of American women wear a size 14 or above, the average being a size 16 or 18. Yet, most fashion brands still top out at sizes 12 to 14! 

Fortunately, things are slowly changing, and brands are starting to understand that they need to extend their size range to represent all body shapes and sizes.  

They have realized that it makes more sense from an ethical and economic standpoint to stop excluding such a large part of the population. 

However, there is still a lot of room for improvement! When we are a size 12 or above, it is still difficult to find clothes that properly fit and flatter us. 

But what if we also want to live according to our values and make more sustainable choices? 

Thankfully, many ethical clothing brands have made size inclusivity their priority! In this article, we have selected 15 of the best sustainable, size-inclusive clothing brands, so that you can buy clothes that you love and that love your body and the planet in return. 

No matter our size, we deserve to have clothes that fit and flatter our bodies, clothes that make us feel confident and beautiful! 

WHAT IS A SIZE-INCLUSIVE BRAND?

A size-inclusive brand sells clothes that fit and complement a wide variety of body sizes and shapes. 

It means that a size-inclusive brand does not only make clothing for people with “straight sizes” (sizes 0 to 12) as most fashion brands do. It also offers many larger sizes! 

There are many definitions of a size-inclusive brand, and there is no unanimous answer to how far the brand should go in terms of size offerings. 

In an ideal world, it should offer clothes for ALL sizes. 

The brands we’ve selected in this article are not perfect (no brand can be perfect!), but they create clothing in a very wide range of sizes. They at least have sizes XS to 3XL, but many go much further (some to 6XL!).

WHAT MAKES A CLOTHING BRAND SUSTAINABLE?

In addition to being size-inclusive, the clothing brands we picked for this article are sustainable. It means that they have taken steps to minimize their environmental footprint. 

For instance, they use eco-friendly materials such as organic cotton, recycled polyester, linen, or TENCEL lyocell. They also color their clothes using low-impact, non-toxic dyes. 

Sustainable clothing brands produce their clothes using sustainable manufacturing processes, and they try to minimize their water consumption and textile waste. They also ensure their products are built to last so that we can wear them year after year. 

What’s more, sustainable brands are usually ethical and transparent about their supply chain and how they make their clothes. They make sure all their workers are paid fair wages and work under safe and healthy conditions.

Generally, look for brands that received third-party certifications, such as GOTS, B Corp, Fairtrade, OEKO-TEX, or Climate-Neutral.   

NOW, OUR TOP PICKS FOR SUSTAINABLE, SIZE-INCLUSIVE CLOTHING BRANDS

1) Girlfriend Collective 

Size range: XXS-6XL

Committed to creating activewear in all sizes, Girlfriend Collective has an unbelievably large size range!

From supportive sports bras to squat-proof leggings, all its pieces are available in sizes XXS up to 6XL.

The brand produces its clothing using high-quality recycled materials, like post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, fishing nets saved from the ocean, and fabric scraps. 

The fabrics are also dyed with eco-friendly dyes and certified Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX, meaning that they are entirely free of toxic substances. 

Girlfriend Collective makes sure everything is produced ethically and works with factories that received the WRAP or SA8000 certifications. 

The company even donates the dye mud created during the dyeing process to a pavement facility to upcycle it into new roads!

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2) Printfresh

Size range: XXS to 6X

Printfresh is a sustainable sleepwear brand making unique pajamas and loungewear in sizes XXS to 6X for women who love bold prints and patterns. 

Its designs are inspired by plants and animals, and they will all brighten your day, or shall I say night! You get to choose from many whimsical prints, including adorable snoozing sloths, fun mushrooms, stunning leopards, beautiful flowers, and stars. 

Printfresh’s sleepwear is made of organic cotton and designed for ultimate comfort. The brand offers cute styles ranging from stylish robes to short sets. 

The company also upcycles its scrap materials, and it works with a Sedex-approved factory that makes sure to recycle and reuse its wastewater. 

Printfresh ships its pajamas in 100% recycled mailers, and it even joined Pledge 1% to support different non-profit organizations.

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3) Altar

Size range: XS-6XL

Altar is a sustainable lifestyle brand that creates high-quality clothing pieces using deadstock materials. The company is incredibly size-inclusive as its sizes range from XS to 6XL. 

You can even send your body measurements before ordering so that Altar can make the pieces according to them (if your size is not available on the website). Plus, the brand can do custom alterations if the clothes you buy don’t fit you perfectly! 

Altar’s clothes are handmade in the United States using ethical and sustainable manufacturing practices. 

Since they are made with deadstock fabrics, they are produced in small runs, which limits overproduction and waste. The brand also reuses its scrap materials to create accessories, and it recycles any unusable scraps.

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4) Unspun

Size range: Custom

Unspun creates custom-fit jeans and denim shorts for women and men who want to have a perfect-fitting pair of jeans that is also sustainably made. From waist to stitch, you choose your fit and customize the details, and then, the brand crafts it according to your body shape and measurements. 

Since the jeans are made-to-order, they are very comfy to wear and flattering, and you are more likely to love and wear them for a long time!

It also means that Unspun has no inventory, which prevents overproduction and eliminates the risk of having unsold pieces. 

The company is also a B Corp, and it works with partners who use OEKO-TEX or Bluesign-certified chemicals, recycle the water they consume, and use energy- and water-saving technology. 

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5) The Standard Stitch

Size range: XS-5X

The Standard Stitch is on a mission to craft clothing basics that are gentle for the planet and our bodies. Its t-shirts and loungewear feature timeless silhouettes and are very versatile thanks to their seasonless styles. You will love that all the brand’s styles and colors are sold in sizes XS to 5X! 

From its fabrics down to its labels and drawcords, The Standard Stitch makes everything using only recycled or organic materials, like organic and recycled cotton.

The fabrics are also colored using low-impact, non-toxic dyes, so you can safely wear them. 

The company has a hyper-localized supply chain: all its pieces are made around Los Angeles, and it works with vendors certified by GOTS, OEKO-TEX, Bluesign, FSC, and GRS. 

The Standard Stitch also offsets its entire carbon footprint, and it collects its fabric scraps to turn them into new materials!

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6) Universal Standard

Size range: 4XS-4XL

Striving to be one of the most size-inclusive fashion brands, Universal Standard creates all kinds of clothing pieces for women in sizes 00 to 40. The company ensures each one of its styles fits every body shape and size. 

Although not all the fabrics Universal Standard uses are eco-friendly, many pieces contain sustainable materials. For instance, you can choose pieces made of linen, recycled cotton, or recycled polyester. 

The brand also focuses on making high-quality clothes designed to last season after season. 

Plus, if your size changes (within one year), Universal Standard will replace your pieces and send your new size for free! Any returned clothing is donated to charities so it does not go to waste.

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7) Known Supply

Size range: XS-4XL

From tops and bottoms to dresses and accessories, Known Supply crafts Fair Trade-certified apparel for women and men in sizes XS up to 4XL. 

The brand makes using sustainable materials its priority. For instance, the majority of its clothing is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, but you can also find pieces made of recycled polyester. It even has some winter accessories made from Polylana fiber, which is an eco-friendly wool-like alternative to acrylic! 

Each of Known Supply’s pieces is signed by the maker who crafted it, and you get to learn more about them on the brand’s website, which is really cool! 

Plus, the company is a certified B Corporation, meaning that it meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance.

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8) MATE the Label

Size range: XS-3X

MATE the Label is a female-founded, sustainable brand creating everyday clothing essentials for women, men, and kids in sizes XS to 3X. It makes all its clothing and underwear using non-toxic dyes and organic, natural fabrics like TENCEL, linen, and organic cotton. The pieces are safe to wear as they are free of harmful substances such as endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. MATE the Label also produces all clothing within a 17-mile radius of its Los Angeles headquarters, which drastically reduces its carbon footprint! 

The brand is Climate-Neutral certified and a member of 1% For The Planet, and it takes back worn-out pieces to recycle them. It even collects fabric scraps from its factories and incorporates them into new products!

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9) Knickey

Size range: XXS-XXXL

Knickey is one of the most sustainable and size-inclusive underwear brands you can find!

It sells beautiful underwear, bralettes, socks, and even maternity briefs, available in various colors and in sizes XXS to XXXL. 

All the pieces are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton, which means that they are super soft and breathable.

The perfect combination when it comes to undies! 

Knickey’s products are all Fair Trade and OEKO-TEX certified, so you know they are both ethically made and free of harmful substances like carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. 

The company is also Climate-Neutral certified, and it ships everything 100% plastic-free. It even has a recycling program, so you can send your worn-out undies back to recycle them!

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10) Christy Dawn

Size range: XS-3X

Christy Dawn creates beautiful, timeless dresses and wardrobe staples using eco-friendly fabrics. Many pieces feature stunning floral patterns, and most have very feminine cuts and silhouettes. If you love the cottagecore style, this brand is made for you! 

Christy Dawn crafts its pieces using sustainable materials, including organic or regenerative cotton, and colors them using natural, organic dyes. 

The brand also has an entire collection of clothes made from deadstock fabric that would have otherwise been discarded in a landfill! 

It even launched an initiative that promotes regenerative agriculture and traditional, organic farming techniques. The unique pieces created through it are designed using block printing and colored with vegetable dyes. 

With sizes ranging from XS to 3X, the company’s pieces complement every body!

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11) Outland Denim

Size range: XXS-XXXL (22-34)

Founded as an avenue for victims of sexual exploitation to find a safe, dignified job, Outland Denim has become one of the most ethical clothing brands you can buy denim from! 

Its mission is to clean up denim’s dirty reputation by bringing to the world sustainable denim pieces for both men and women. You can choose between various styles of jeans, shirts, hoodies, dresses, and many more, all available in sizes XXS up to XXXL. 

Outland Denim’s pieces are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton or recycled cotton, and they are dyed using natural indigo, as well as organic and non-toxic dyes. 

The brand is also a B Corp, and if you pick one of its pairs of jeans, you will find a special message printed on the pocket lining from the seamstress who made it!

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12) Warp + Weft

Size range: XS-3XL (00-24)

Warp + Weft is a family-owned company creating sustainable jeans and other denim pieces including shorts, jackets, and overalls.

It even has a maternity line!

The brand designs its pieces in sizes XS to 3XL using a combination of certified cotton and recycled or regenerative fibers, like TENCEL.

Its cotton is sourced locally from the United States to minimize its carbon footprint. 

What sets Warp + Weft apart is that its pairs of jeans only take less than 10 gallons of water to be made, compared to 1,500 gallons for a traditional pair of jeans. The difference is huge! 

The company also recycles 98% of the water it consumes, and it skips the harmful bleaching process by using cutting-edge technology to make its pieces.

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13) Threads 4 Thought

Size range: XXS-3X

Threads 4 Thought crafts incredibly comfortable loungewear and activewear for each member of the family. 

Available in sizes XXS to 3X, its pieces are very soft and made with sustainable fabrics, such as GOTS-certified organic cotton, recycled polyester, recycled nylon, and TENCEL modal produced from regenerated beech trees. Threads 4 Thought uses an innovative dyeing technology that eliminates all toxic chemicals and reduces water consumption in the dying process by 95%!

Its main factory also recycles 80% of all its industrial water, which is very high. 

What’s more, the brand offsets the carbon emissions from all its products, so they are completely carbon-neutral.

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14) Able

Size range: XXS-3X

Able is on a mission to create beautiful wardrobe staples that empower women, both those who made them and those who wear them. It was initially founded to provide dignified jobs to women in Ethiopia who were coming out of the commercial sex industry. 

The brand has a very large selection of clothing in sizes XXS to 3X, shoes, and handmade jewelry. Note that it plans to extend its size offerings to 5X by the end of the year. Able even allows you to swap sizes on select styles if your size changes! 

All the pieces are thoughtfully designed with sustainability, versatility, and high quality in mind, so you will be able to wear them for a very long time!

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15) Madewell

Size range: XXS-6X

Madewell is probably the least sustainable brand on this list, but its impressive size offerings and the steps it has taken to be more eco-friendly made it worth including in this article. 

Many of its clothes are designed in sizes XXS to 6X (not all of them though). The great thing about this brand is that you can find it in many malls across the United States, so you can try on its pieces there instead of ordering online and shipping them back if they don’t fit! 

More than half of Madewell’s denim is Fair Trade certified, and 60% of the materials it uses are sustainably sourced. It has many pieces made from recycled cotton, BCI cotton, recycled plastic, and TENCEL lyocell. 

Madewell’s clothing is also of good quality, and you can buy and sell pre-loved pieces on the brand’s second-hand marketplace!

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About the Author

Eva Astoul is a French freelance writer, specializing in content related to sustainability, simple living, and a growth-focused healthy lifestyle. She runs her own blog, Green With Less, to inspire people to live a more minimalist and sustainable life.

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Myths of Sustainable Fashion; What IT is & What It isn’t

There are a lot of myths floating around the internet and the in-person world about sustainable fashion. Is sustainable fashion all $100 plain white t-shirts and bland, unflattering designs? Is buying from sustainable brands all there is to sustainable fashion? Is sustainable fashion only for people who have a lot of disposable income? 

With all these misconceptions going around, people can easily get discouraged from learning more about sustainable fashion, building slow fashion habits, or giving some earth-friendly and fair-minded designers a try. After all, who would want to spend a ton on clothes they don't even like? But luckily, that is not something people have to do to get involved in sustainable fashion.

This article will debunk some of the most pervasive sustainable fashion myths to shed light on what sustainable fashion is all about and how sustainable fashion brands operate.  

Sustainable fashion is boring, and the clothes all look the same

While sustainable and ethical brands share a desire to create fashion as responsibly as possible and operate following similar environmental and social principles, the way the clothes they make look varies way more than some might think. That's because sustainable fashion is not a set aesthetic but a mind-set. 

Sustainable brands are not as popular or well-known as the big fast-fashion or luxury fashion companies. Still, there are countless of them out there, and all have different aesthetics and designs.  

Some brands offer colorful, fun clothes that are perfect for all the dopamine dressers out there, while others stick to neutral color palettes and sleek silhouettes that scream minimalism. You can find sustainable workwear, cottage-core-looking dresses, fancy lingerie, and the everyday basics that most of us wear daily, like a good pair of jeans. 

By supporting sustainable indie brands, chances are your wardrobe might be enriched by more creative, unique, fresher designs that are harder to come across when out and about compared to the mass-produced ones of fast fashion brands.  

Luxury brands are more sustainable than fast-fashion brands 

Luxury brands might come with quite the price tag and have a lot of prestige, but that doesn't mean they invest in eco-friendly fabrics or pay their workers a living wage. 

Many luxury brands use synthetic fabrics to make their garments, and like fast fashion brands, several luxury fashion brands have been involved in sweatshop scandals.  

Let's look at Fashion Revolution's "Fashion Transparency Index 2022," which analyzed what information the world's largest fashion brands and retailers disclose about their social and environmental practices and policies. We can see that the highest ranking among the luxury fashion brands, the Italian high-end fashion house Gucci, scored just 59% percent. 

Similarly, labels such as "made in the US" or "made in France" bank on the customers' perception that exploitation is unlikely to happen in the Global North. But even brands whose supply chain is mostly, if not entirely, based in Europe or the US are not automatically exempt from workers' exploitation as low or non-existent national minimum wages still allow brands to underpay workers and keep them in poverty.  

Sustainable clothes are super expensive 

Using eco-friendly materials, paying workers fair wages, and other similar ethical business practices inevitably raise the production cost of a piece of clothing; that's why you will never find an ethical and sustainable brand charging as little as $5 or even less for a t-shirt.  

That said, clothes from different sustainable brands will have different prices, as some brands still manage to offer relatively affordable pieces while conducting business responsibility as factors such as the complexity of the garment, the type and amount of fabric used to make it, and the production location can influence the piece's final price.

If the price of the sustainable clothes you like and make you feel good is out of budget, do not let that discourage you from getting involved in sustainable fashion. There is so much more to that than just buying clothes from more responsible fashion brands.    

I'd need to throw away my clothes and get a whole new wardrobe 

On that note, let's address the oddly pervasive myth that you must buy a bunch of new clothes from sustainable brands and ditch the old ones to make your wardrobe sustainable. If we think of sustainability more as a mind-set and less as a different way to shop, it's clear why there are better ways to start a sustainable fashion journey than buying a whole new wardrobe worth of clothes. 

On the contrary, cherishing, re-wearing, and maintaining the clothes we already own in good shape are some of the most sustainable actions anyone can do when it comes to fashion, and that applies regardless of whether you purchased your clothes from a fast fashion brand or an ethical and sustainable one. 

That's why sustainable fashion is something that people on any budget can get involved with: it's all about the opposite of overconsumption and overbuying. Purchasing only clothes you will wear and take care of for a long time is the best, easiest, and most budget-friendly way to have a green closet. 

Sustainable clothes and brands are hard to find 

People in big cities might have easier access to in-person stores selling clothes from sustainable and ethical fashion brands. But thanks to the internet, it's much easier for people to find sustainable fashion brands regardless of their area. 

You can buy directly through your favorite sustainable fashion brands' websites, from retailers offering pieces from various fashion companies, and even from the e-shops of in-person clothing stores. You can also find fashion artisans that are local to you through a little internet search, and via Etsy, you support smaller indie fashion designers from all over the world. 

The same goes for thrift stores. While they are easier to find in large urban areas, people can thrift online on websites and apps like Depop, Vinted, and Vestiaire Collective and even rent clothes online for special occasions.

Following sustainable-minded fashion content creators on social media can also be a fantastic way to find new sustainable fashion brands and get some non-overconsumption-centric fashion inspo and tips.

If a piece of clothing is made with an eco-friendly fabric, then it's fully sustainable 

Using eco-friendly fabric is part of what makes a garment sustainable. Still, it shouldn't be the only item on the checklist of a fashion brand that wants to do business responsibly. 

Too often, we see fast fashion brands trying to greenwash their business practices by highlighting the use of sustainable fabrics in part of their production or specific collections to distract potential customers from their history of workers' rights violations. 

Given this, it's easy to see why some might forget that the social aspect of the production is just as crucial as the environmental one to define whether or not a fashion brand is sustainable. Genuinely sustainable fashion brands value transparency, trace their supply chain, and ensure safe working conditions and fair wages to the workers making the clothes they sell, in addition to choosing more Earth-friendly materials such as organic cotton or Tencel. 

Another aspect to consider is how many clothes and collections a fashion brand produces and sells. Brands that constantly push out new collections are hardly sustainable even if they follow strict environmental and social criteria, as overproduction is a massive part of what makes much of the fashion industry unsustainable in the first place.

There is no way of knowing if a brand is actually sustainable 

It's true that so far, brands of all kinds can define their products as "sustainable," "green," or "eco-friendly" without having to follow specific criteria or rules or providing any evidence of their alleged sustainable practices to a regulatory body. Fortunately, there are still plenty of ways to tell if a brand is committed to sustainability or if it's just greenwashing. 

We can easily browse a brand's website for more information and check if they talk explicitly about their current sustainable practices and policies. While there is no such thing as a 100% sustainable and ethical fashion brand, some companies are more committed than others to sustainability. We can easily spot them if we learn which actions are signs of a genuine commitment to sustainability and fair business practices.  

As ethical and sustainable brands value and practice transparency, they share details about the production of their clothes. They tell their customers where their clothes are made, who makes them, how much they are paid, and what fabrics and dyes they use to create them. They might also talk about the sustainable goals they are currently working on, as well as the sustainable milestones they have reached so far. 

Certifications are also a good sign that a brand is trying to be as sustainable as possible, and it's an easy way to verify some of the brands' claims. There are plenty of certifications out there, but among the most common and reputable ones you can find the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and OEKO-TEX®, which certify fabrics, the Fairtrade International certification, and B-Corp, which certify compliance with a set of economic, environmental and social standards. 

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About the Author:

Roberta Fabbrocino is a journalist specialized in climate change and sustainability-related topics. Her articles have been published in several international eco-publications. Roberta also works as a content writer for sustainable companies.

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There are plenty of good reasons for wanting to steer clear of fast fashion: the environmental impact of its synthetic fabrics, the exploitation of textile workers, and designs from indie designers popping on an ultra-fast-fashion brand's website.   

While your sustainable fashion journey is an exciting one to go on, starting might feel daunting. If you'd like to get involved with sustainable fashion but have more questions than answers, then you're in the right place. 

With this little guide to transitioning to sustainable fashion, we will help you switch to a "slow fashion mind-set," learn how to move your first steps in the world of fashion activism, and embark on a sustainable fashion journey catered to you because sustainable fashion is not a one-size-fits-all.  

What is Slow Fashion?

The slow fashion movement was created to counteract the fast fashion industry's harmful environmental and ethical impacts. Instead of impulse, needless spending, slow fashion insists on consumers taking their time before purchasing a new piece of clothing. It's about buying less and buying better, so your closet is built with intention and meant to last.

Your sustainable fashion journey should work for you 

While there is no universally accepted definition of sustainable fashion, a handy description might be fashion that does as little harm as possible to the planet and its inhabitants.  

This quite broad definition is fitting as people's ideas of sustainable fashion vary greatly. So what does that mean for you and your sustainable fashion journey? 

It means that rather than replicating someone else's journey, it might be more fulfilling and more effective to look at your lifestyle, habits, and financial situation to understand how you can personally make more conscious choices. 

Start from your shopping habits  

A helpful way to kick off this process can be to make an inventory of your closet. Unsurprisingly, taking a good look at it might tell you a lot about your shopping habits, what's missing in your wardrobe, and what you might have plenty of already.   

If you have been on a tight budget for a while, you might notice that you have just what you need or need a few key pieces. If you're someone with more disposable income who enjoys retail therapy regularly, you might have plenty of clothes you have barely worn.   

For those who already have all the clothes they need or more, buying less and focusing on maintaining and caring for the pieces you already have are the best goals for now. If you need to purchase new garments instead, consider looking at more sustainable alternatives to fast-fashion brands. 

Eliminate or reduce your fast-fashion purchases 

Fast-fashion brands are ubiquitous these days. You probably find them all over your social media feed, and their website immediately pops out when you look for a specific item of clothing like "high-waisted jeans" or "black t-shirt" online. No wonder you and most people you know have likely purchased something from these brands at some point. 

For many people, fast fashion is the only accessible option when purchasing new clothes; if that sounds like you, reducing your purchases if you aren't already being frugal for financial reasons might be the most viable path to cut fast-fashion purchases. 

If you instead shop quite a bit and have access to better, fairer alternatives to fast fashion brands, then a detox "out-of-sight, out of mind" treatment could be what you need. Unsubscribe from fast-fashion newsletters and unfollow them on social media to avoid FOMO-induced impulse purchases. You can also unfollow influencers that heavily promote these brands if you know their content pushes you to shop.  

By being more conscious of what you consume online, your social media feeds and inbox feed won't be inundating you with content about sales and new collections whose ultimate goal is to get you to shop. You will also enjoy a more curated, intentional online experience aligned with your values.   

Fast fashion alternatives 

Regardless of how much you shop now, you may need to purchase something new from time to time in the future. When the time comes, you can choose to support sustainable fashion brands whose ethics and style align with your own if you can invest more in your new pieces. 

Thrifting, too, is a great sustainable option. It can be a fantastic way to support local businesses and find unique pieces, and tends to be more budget-friendly. If you have more disposable income and want to give thrifting a go, avoid shopping from very affordable thrift stores in low-income areas to ensure that the members of local communities who shop there can find what they need. 

Finding sustainable fashion brands

Most sustainable fashion brands do not have the massive budgets of fast fashion brands, so their reach is much smaller. That's why at the beginning of your sustainable fashion journey, finding sustainable brands you can trust might seem like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

In this situation, though, the internet comes to your aid with plenty of content creators and companies showcasing sustainable fashion brands, like the app "Good on you," which rates fashion brands, making it easy for you to see which ones are seriously committed to sustainability and which ones still have a long way to go. Here at Sustainably Chic, we have found and shared sustainable brands offering specific clothing items and catering to distinct aesthetics.  

You can also find local, sustainable brands you might want to support through the internet. Try looking for "sustainable fashion" plus the name of your city or country to see what your town and region offer in terms of sustainable fashion. Another great option is looking for the "Find a Store" section of your favorite sustainable brands' website and seeing if any stores are selling their pieces in your area. 

Learning to love your clothes

Supporting sustainable brands is a way of engaging with sustainable fashion, but having a sustainable closet is not about focusing solely on what kind of company makes the clothes you buy. It's essential to take a more holistic approach and switch to a sustainable fashion mind-set, in addition to making more conscious purchasing choices. 

That's because, when fast-fashion brands push us to see clothes as disposable items to purchase and then discard as soon as the latest TikTok-fuelled micro-trend inevitably fizzles out, it's easy to separate them from the labor that goes into making them and the impact they can have if we don't take care of them properly.  

While this view of clothing is certainly not universal, it's easy to see how the shortening of the trend cycle and the meager prices have made it more pervasive in the past few years. By viewing your clothes as investment pieces to maintain and keep in good condition for as long as possible, we can reverse this trend, at least in our own lives. So shop your closet and have fun re-falling in love with your clothes. 

Building slow fashion habits

A great way to cherish the value of clothing is to learn and rediscover skills and past-times that are not as common as they used to be but can help us keep our clothes in excellent condition for longer and also allow us to refresh the pieces that we don't reach for as much anymore. 

Mending is the perfect example, as it is a great skill to learn to save money and extend your clothes' life cycle. So try looking up some mending tutorials online if you have time, or even ask an elderly family member to teach you. Even learning to perform basic emergency mending, like sewing back a button, could help keep some of your clothes in your closet for longer. 

Since we're talking about needle and thread, embroidery could also be a fun past-time to try out that can help you hide signs of use in your clothes and give them a second chance. 

But what to do when your clothes have reached the end of the line? You can wear clothes past their prime as home wear or PJs, and if they are too worn out even for that, you can use them as rags. If you want to give upcycling a try and reuse the fabric instead of throwing the whole piece away, check out Pinterest for fun upcycling projects. 

How to engage in fashion activism 

People decide to avoid fast fashion and engage with slow fashion instead because, unfortunately, there is a lot wrong with how fast fashion brands conduct business. 

While it is fantastic to shop better and take better care of your clothes, we should remember that by engaging with the people that are already trying to change the way much of the fashion industry operates, you can help make fair fashion practices the norm. So support sustainable brands and designers if you can, but let's go beyond that to make sustainable fashion the standard instead of the exemption. 

There are a lot of amazing campaigns and organizations pushing for change in the industry and beyond for a safer, fairer textile and fashion industry. For example, you can check out Clean Clothes Campaign, a grassroots global network of over 235 organizations working for an equitable garment and textile industry. You can support these kinds of organizations by donating if you can afford to, following them on social media, sharing their work there and with your loved ones, and learning more through their resources. You can also sign and share petitions like the one organized by the Good Clothes, Fair Pay campaign, which urges for living wage legislation across the garment, textile, and footwear industries. You can also email brands and ask them to do better and get involved at a local level by writing to your local representative to ask them what they're doing for a better fashion industry using the template created by Fashion Revolution. 

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About the Author:

Roberta Fabbrocino is a journalist specialized in climate change and sustainability-related topics. Her articles have been published in several international eco-publications. Roberta also works as a content writer for sustainable companies.

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Transparency & Sustainable Brands

Sustainable fashion has officially become mainstream, much to my delight. Unfortunately, the increased demand for sustainable brands also increases greenwashing and differing levels of sustainability. Not all brands are sustainable, and not all sustainable brands are equally sustainable. So how do we, as consumers, really know if a brand can be trusted? By brands prioritizing transparency and education. In this article, I highlight five sustainable brands that make transparency easy for consumers to understand and set new sustainability standards.

Why is Transparency in the Fashion Industry Important? 

In order to know if a brand is sustainable or ethical, there needs to be transparency. Anyone can say they are sustainable but if they aren’t transparent about how, consumers can’t validate their claims. 

When brands publicly disclose crucial details like how and where they make their products, and the materials they use, we can begin to understand what makes this brand sustainable. There are also a variety of third party certifications and audits that help bring more transparency to the specific business practices and methods used. 

As consumers, we only know what we are told. So when brands decide to be transparent and tell us exactly who they are, we can then build real trust with that company. 

Why Is Consumer Education on Sustainability Important? 

While it’s important for a business to be transparent, transparency doesn’t mean as much if we don’t understand what they are talking about. In order to know if a business is using sustainable materials, ethical production methods, or making a positive impact, we need to have basic sustainability knowledge. 

Great sustainable brands are the ones that are not only transparent, but provide clear, easy to understand information and education to their consumers. Once we understand why something is sustainable or ethical, we as consumers can make informed choices.

What to Look For From Sustainable Brands:

A truly transparent sustainable brand should make the following clear: 

• Who owns the company? 

• What materials do they use and why?

• Where do they source their materials?

• Where do they manufacture?

• How much do they pay their workers? 

• How are the workers treated? 

• What production methods do they use? 

• Do they offset their carbon emissions? How? 

• Do they give back to any organizations? 

• What are they working to improve on? Do they have future sustainability goals?

The five brands below are great examples of what to look for in a sustainable brand. I chose these brands because they are taking it one step further than most. Each of these businesses have found new ways to be as transparent as possible. They also provide clear, easy to understand information so consumers can make educated choices. 

Now, Our Top Picks for Sustainable Brands Setting New Standards for Transparency and Education:

1) Nisolo

Nisolo is another great sustainable brand that is focused on continually improving. They are a certified B Corp and Carbon Neutral company known for making ethical shoes. 

Nisolo has been leading the way when it comes to paying living wages and creating an ethical work environment. They publish their wages and are very transparent about who makes their products and where. 

Lately, they’ve made huge strides in both sustainability and transparency. At the end of 2021, they launched their sustainability facts label. They want to bring a new level of transparency to the fashion industry. They worked with sustainability experts, certifications, and organizations over the last few years to create a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand label. The label is meant to make it easier for brands to evaluate their products and for consumers to make sustainable choices. 

Their sustainability facts label is the first of its kind. It takes into account the impact of each product on people and the planet. Every Nisolo product now has this sustainability label available. 

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2) Cocokind

Cocokind is a sustainable skincare brand that has made considerable strides in sustainability and transparency since it launched five years ago. They are passionate about helping consumers understand what they are buying and creating more transparency within the beauty industry. 

Cocokind uses Instagram to showcase real, unfiltered skin from their team and customers. However, where Cocokind truly shines is in making it easy for consumers to understand exactly what they are using and why they should use it. 

On social media, you can expect to see Cocokind regularly break down what trendy ingredients, like retinol and hyaluronic acid, really are and how or why to use them. They also show sample beauty routines, making it easy to understand what products you should use for each skin type.

They take transparency one step further on their packaging and website. Each product has its own label, which includes the formulation and sustainability facts. These labels explain what’s in the product and why, its carbon footprint, and recycling instructions. In addition, their website states the PH level, smell, feel, use instructions and consumer experience stats for each product. 

While Cocokind is way ahead of most “clean” beauty brands, they clearly state that they are working toward much more. Cocokind states that they are only in Phase 1 out of 3 of their sustainability goals.

3) Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective’s goal is to be as transparent as possible, and they are on the right path. Girlfriend Collective has created a popular line of sustainable activewear made primarily from recycled polyester (RPET), ECONYL, and cupro. 

Within seconds of being on their website, you’ll learn what materials they use in their products and why. They have an extensive FAQ page, but they also provide the answers to most of these questions on their About page. 

They also provide a comprehensive overview of how the fashion industry operates as a whole, including how products are made and what common certifications and labor codes mean.

One of the great things Girlfriend Collective does is making it easy for consumers to understand exactly what they are buying. Underneath each product is a comprehensive description of what it’s made of. They also clearly and boldly list how many plastic bottles were used to make it, as well as the CO2 and water it saved. 

4) Able

ABLE is a sustainable fashion brand that is passionate about empowering women and providing ethical employment globally. ABLE works with women artisans around the world to create their products. ABLE provides extensive information on how the fashion industry operates as a whole and especially its exploitation of women. 

They published a living wage calculator to explain to consumers how they determine their wages. They were one of the first fashion brands to publish their lowest wages. 

Over the last few years, they’ve created their own evaluation tool called ACCOUNTABLE. It measures the safety, equality and wages of their manufacturers. This has made it possible for them, and others, to ensure transparency in their supply chain. 

ABLE is not just transparent when it comes to their employment and production. On their website, they’ve taken the time to break down each product they sell and explain the materials used, why they chose them and where and how they are sourced. 

5) Organic Basics

Organic Basics is a sustainable fashion brand focused on creating ethical intimates & everyday basic clothing. In addition, they are incredibly passionate about consumer education and transparency. 

One unique thing about Organic Basics is their low-impact website option. You can choose to shop on their standard website or their low-impact one. The low-impact version calculates the CO2 emissions you are reducing when you use it. 

Additionally, they have a very comprehensive and user-friendly breakdown of why the fashion industry is “dirty” and how they are working to change that. Organic Basics publishes each factory they manufacture it with a rating. They include details like where it’s located, if it’s family-run, what materials it produces, who works there and what type of wages and benefits they receive.

When it comes to their products, they provide an Impact Index that states the CO2, chemicals and waste prevented by each product.

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About the Author

Alicia Briggs is a writer & editor specializing in slow travel & sustainable living. She has been a full-time traveler since 2018 and runs her own blog, Learning the Local Way, where she covers responsible travel tips and guides.

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