My Favourite Slow Fashion Brands

16/01/2022

By Martyna Kisz

The fashion industry contributes significantly to carbon emissions, water use, and textile waste. Fast fashion, in particular, has the biggest environmental and social impact; clothing produced in this business are frequently poorly manufactured with poor quality materials.

The Rana Plaza accident in Bangladesh killed over 1,100 garment workers and injured over 2,200 others on April 24, 2013. Consumers all over the world are now wondering who creates the garments we wear every day and under what conditions.

We've become more mindful about our purchases as consumers, leveraging the power of our vocalized objections to make a positive change for the people who manufacture our clothes and products.

In this blog post I'm going to list my favourite slow fashion brands, that are sustainably conscious. Some will feature celebrities that have been promoting them, as well as wearing them outside. We have to ensure that we participate in making the fashion industry a better more equal place, where workers are paid a fair wage and we are not creating more waste in the landfills.

Most people justify buying fast fashion, with its affordability, but don't look at the big picture. The truth is approximately 85 percent of garment workers are paid a piece rate of between 2 and 6 cents per piece rather than the minimum wage. Most garment employees work 60-70 hour weeks for roughly $300 in take-home pay. Workers are not paid overtime and work in factories that are unsafe, cramped, unclean, and inadequately ventilated. That is just a part of the problem, we should realise our impact goes way beyond, therefore my suggestion is to look out for sales. Some slow fashion brands feature sales throughout the year, this is the time that you can buy clothes consciously at a price not much higher than fast fashion.

01 Set Active

Based in: Los Angeles, CA

Ethics: While the apparel industry isn’t technically sustainable, at SET we are constantly working to evolve our practices to ensure our brand operates as sustainably as possible. Here are our current practices:

LIMITED EDITION: Our limited-edition model ensures the least amount of apparel waste possible. We have never had to dump any leftover apparel after a drop – and we don’t plan to anytime soon.

SCULPTFLEX® FABRIC: Seamless technology is considered a more sustainable production method because it reduces labor and waste, and the elimination of most seams helps ensure that garments will last longer.

LUXFORM®, Basics, & Sweats: All produced locally in Los Angeles, CA using premium quality materials that are made to last.

PACKAGING: Our POLYMAILER packaging is made from 40-50% recycled materials - and with the EPI additive we use, it becomes biodegradable. Our MAILING BOX packaging is made from 100% recycled materials. Our SET STICKERS are made from 30-50% recycled materials.

02 Alo Yoga

Based in: Los Angeles, CA

Ethics: At Alo we’re all about keeping things kind and clean, from the way we make our clothes to the amount of daily waste we produce (our awesome office recycling program reduces it down to that of a household!). We’re 100% sweatshop free and we’ve worked hard to earn a globally-accredited platinum certification from WRAP, the largest independent watchdog organization, which verifies that our factories and offices operate in the most ethical and humane ways. Every one of our sewing facilities has an Alo employee overseeing day-to-day practices. We also use the best low-water dyes and power our headquarters and L.A. flagship with solar to reduce our eco-footprint, holding ourselves to the highest standards every step of the way.

03 With Jéan

Based in: Australia / Bali, Indonesia

Ethics: We've eliminated the use of plastic in our business and try to use mainly natural fiber fabrics, we also repurpose our waste fabric into items like hair scrunchies. Next on our action plan to a more sustainable future is implementing water, energy and chemical efficiency programs in processing stages. We not only want to make this an internal initiative but are aiming for collaboration at scale so we can make these changes widespread within the community.

With Jéan has employed Indonesian artisans who ethically handmake each garment with skillful dying and printing techniques. Evangeline, one half of the design duo still resides in Bali to oversee production and ensure each garment is made following their high ethical standards.

04 Djerf Avenue

Based in: Portugal

Ethics: All of our pieces are ethically produced and manufactured in Portugal. We have designed each piece to feel timeless and to work together. We want you to wear Djerf Avenue often. We want to be the basics in your wardrobe that you can always go to. We believe in timeless designs that will work for years to come.

All of our factories have been carefully chosen in order to guarantee high-quality standards. Portugal is known for quality workmanship, respecting working conditions, premium fabrics research, and to improve on knowledge and technology.

All of our factories have been carefully chosen in order to guarantee high-quality standards. Portugal is known for quality workmanship, respecting working conditions, premium fabrics research, and to improve on knowledge and technology.

Find out more: https://djerfavenue.com/eu/about-us/

05 Susamusa

Based in: London, United Kingdom

Ethics: I believe that we can be fashionable without harming the environment and to that end, I became active on Depop where I sourced and sold nearly 30,000 vintage or deadstock pieces alongside my undergraduate studies, where I studied Chemistry and focused my thesis on the harmful effects of fast fashion on the environment at Kings College London.

06 Miaou

Based in: Paris, France

Ethics: We not only expect our suppliers to operate in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, we also expect each supplier to go beyond legal compliance to strive to meet internationally recognised standards. In particular, we support the 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact which are incorporated within the expectations below.

We invest in sustainable fabrics. Our three core fabrics (denim, crepe, and mesh) are either made of biodegradable fibers or are deadstock fabrics we source locally. Deadstock fabrics are leftover fabrics from other fashion companies that were never used and would otherwise go to a landfill. We then repurpose this fabric and use it for our own.