Once upon a time, I believed that sustainable fashion was a choice between:
A. The unattainable dream of having a closet full of expensive clothes from sustainable fashion, resulting in a minimalist style of flowy shapes and a basic color palette full of whites and beiges (don’t ask me why I used to equal sustainable = monastic)
B. Hand-me-downs, second-hand clothing, repurposed and self-made all everything. All things circular and cheap so as not to feed the Capitalist Monster ™.
Admitting this is as embarrassing as uploading my 2008 MySpace photos. But thankfully, in both cases, I have evolved.
Now we live in this wonderful time for sustainable fashion. It is more accessible than ever, and not only in the form of ethical and eco-friendly brands but also in the number of thrift stores, businesses specialising in repurposing your clothes, etc.
This post will focus on sustainable brands for every budget, but if you want to learn more about the best places to buy second-hand fashion, check this post.
Oh, and one more thing before we get started! By affordable, we don’t mean fast-fashion-price affordable! If you want too read more about what really comes into the price of sustainable brands, this is the post for you.
Sustainable fashion for every budget
Chnge | $
Chnge is the definition of fashion as a statement and I love them for that.
They use all organic cotton and create carbon-neutral clothing. They also donate 50% of their net profits to amazing charitable organizations in fields like LGBTQ youth, girl empowerment, climate change,… They’re awesome.
Fullalove | $
I found Fullalove by chance on Instagram at the beginning of the year and I instantly fell in love with everything they had to offer.
They work with organic cotton and all their clothes are made ethically in the UK.
If you’ve been here for a minute, you have seen this dress that I’ve been wearing all summer long and I’ve adapted for the fall weather.
People Tree | $$
I’ve been a fan of People Tree even since before I was into sustainable fashion. They create these gorgeous stylish staples for the modern woman that we all need in our closet and they do it with high quality, long-lasting materials.
They’re completely transparent about their production partners and their sustainable materials (Tencel, organic cotton,…). They also disclose information about the factories where they produce their clothing, which is a plus of transparency I truly appreciate as a consumer.
Oh Seven Days | $$
They create everyday clothes with a lot of personality made from dead stock fabrics in Turkey.
They believe in circularity, slow fashion and in reducing the textile waste issue that the fashion industry is currently facing. They’re also transparent about their factories and material sourcing.
Basics and loungewear
Honest Basics | $
They have all your staple needs covered.
They use eco-friendly materials like Tencel and organic cotton, they are GOTS certified and their production is ethical and transparent.
They work closely with their partner factories in order to make sure that the working conditions of their employees are perfectly ethical and that the factories comply with all the necessary regulations.
Boody Eco Wear | $
They use responsibly-sourced bamboo and have a series of certifications, like Eco-Cert (environmentally-friendly agriculture), Oeko-Tex (skin-safe products) and PETA Vegan Approved.
Organic Basics | $$
If you’ve been in my newsletter, you know I absolutely love Organic Basics – their bras are the most comfortable thing I’ve ever put on my body.
They focus on design and craftsmanship to create long-lasting quality clothes and they use organic cotton, recycled cashmere, Tencel and SilverTech, which is basically textile covered in silver that allows us to wear the clothes more times before washes.
Girlfriend Collective | $$
They take plastic waste like plastic bottles and fishing nets and they turn them into your new favorite leggings and bras and tops, and oh-so-comfy sweatpants.
Using this material, they not only clean our environment (they’ve already saved more than 5 million bottles), but they also preserve *wild* amounts of CO2 and water.
Another thing I love about Girlfriend Collective? It has one of the most body-positive communities out there.
Pangaia | $$
From seaweed fibre to botanical dyes, it seems that everything Pangaia does is some kind of sciencey witchcraft.
Pangaia offers the most aesthetically pleasing loungewear combinations I’ve ever seen. Is it about the colors? The fit? I don’t know, but every person I’ve seen wearing Pangaia just looks so effortlessly cool.