As we get closer to a new school year and 2022, you may be wanting to refresh your wardrobe, without adding to fashion waste. Whether you’re hitting one of our thrift stores and upcycling vintage items, or shopping new, you can find excellent sustainable fashion designers who create clothing ethically.
What is Sustainable Fashion?
You might not realize it, but one of the most significant things in landfills is textiles. This is millions and millions of pounds of clothing and shoes that end up there. A lot of it is because the fashion industry mass-produced clothes to be in one season and out the next. Trends and the inexpensiveness of clothing only encouraged consumers to buy, and buy, and buy some more. But sustainable fashion aims to change that approach because it’s simply not sustainable for the planet.
Sustainable fashion is also called eco-fashion or re-fashion. That is the design and production of clothes with an eye toward the environment and social justice. In other words, sustainable fashion is all about ethics in manufacturing clothes. For instance, it means innovating and using recycled fabrics to produce new garments. And it also means ensuring that clothes don’t get produced in sweatshops in developing countries.
Okay, now that we know why it’s so important, let’s check out some of our favorite sustainable fashion designers disrupting the clothing industry.
1. Mara Hoffman Clothing and Ensuring American Production
Mara Hoffman’s one of the top sustainable fashion designers with roots in New York City. She produces knitwear, outerwear, and essential basics for fashion. Moreover, Hoffman designs with an eye toward luxury but fixed in sustainability. For instance, she creates swimwear from hemp and uses recycled materials for her designs. Also, her clothing gets manufactured in Los Angeles to help ensure American jobs.
2. Stella McCartney’s Sustainable Fashion from the Start
Many people think the top fashion designers don’t have an eye toward sustainability, and while it may be true of some, it isn’t of Stella McCartney. The brand is one of the leaders in sustainable fashion since its founding in 2001. McCartney has consistently moved to ensure her fashion designs and products rest on four pillars. Meaning, the brand seeks to respect nature, people, animals and innovate to create circular fashion.
3. Gabriela Hearst From Uruguay to New York City
The sustainable fashion designer Gabriela Hearst grew up in Uruguay. The experience of her earlier years on a farm inspired her sustainable fashion. Moreover, she stays close to her beloved country by employing hundreds of women in Uruguay to hand-make her clothing. She’s considered one of the top sustainable fashion designers, and many fashion-conscious women wear her look. Hearst is also known for having created the first carbon-neutral show during Fashion Week in New York.
4. Levi’s Secondhand Fashion Website
Not everything has to be luxury fashion. And as we know, nothing is more American than a pair of jeans. Levi’s, the inventors of jeans, continues to innovate. To support sustainable fashion, it created Secondhand. The purpose of Levi’s Secondhand site is to find the perfect pair of secondhand jeans. As we know, people don’t have a problem any longer using secondhand clothing and also renting them. (Check out the pros and cons of renting clothes).
5. Jungmaven Brings Hemp Clothing to the Forefront
As we noted, nothing is more American than a pair of jeans, well….perhaps a t-shirt. And if you want the sustainable fashion leader in this space, it has to go to Jungmaven. The clothing, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, and tie-dyes, gets made using hemp. Why hemp? As the site describes, it’s a “carbon sink.” For instance, one hectare of hemp absorbs more than 24 tons of CO2. Hemp is natural, non-toxic, and durable.
6. Carolina Kleinman Fashion Supporting Artisans
Aside from her great fashion, we have Carolina Kleinman on our list of sustainable fashion designers because she supports artisans. In other words, the designs she creates features details that are hand-embroidered by artists in remote locations of India, Peru, and Mexico. Kleinman strongly believes in supporting and promoting these artistic traditions. For her collections, Kleinman travels to the places where artisans live for inspiration and collaboration.
7. Spencer Phipps for the Modern Man
Founded in 2018, after a career at Marc Jabobs and Dries Van Noten, PHIPPS, by Spencer Phipps, believes in “a deep sense of respect and curiosity for the natural world.” The fashion designs by Phipps seek to integrate naturalistic beliefs with technology innovation to create sustainable fashion for men. Moreover, the fashion brand aims to redefine masculinity with a focus on compassion, mindfulness for life, and the celebration of nature.
We hope you enjoyed our list of the top 7 sustainable fashion designers. And we hope you join all of us looking to support sustainability. If you’re curious about more you can do, check out our resource for thrift store shopping.
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