Six sustainable brands to know in an era of the conscious fashion

Home / Articles / Fashion / Six sustainable brands to know in an era of the conscious fashion

Fashion

Read min

19.07.2020

The last decade has brought, perhaps, one of the most valuable and long-relevant for our planet fashion mainstreams - the trend on sustainability. This broad concept includes being eco-friendly, using natural materials, and providing just social conditions for the workers. While some labels establish themselves as fully conscious from the very beginning, some are re-thinking their missions and commitments throughout their journey. We want to share with you 6 of such brands, which you may have heard before but, perhaps, didn't consider its sustainable side.

The world of Haute Couture has been making a sharp and conscious turn towards eco-friendliness. Its moves range from creating a line of a few sustainable products and introducing season ethical collections to a total transformation of the core values and the materials used. Standing out from other luxury brands, Stella McCartney has been the ethical-fashion advocate from its early days. The designer immersed such innovations in her collections as vegetarian leather - and in 2019 introduced fully vegan Stan Smith sneakers. Virgin cashmere, animal-free wool, Peace Silk, and regenerated nylon are only some among many other brand's leading initiatives. Battling the deforestation and ocean-pollution issues, McCartney makes sure that their viscose comes only from sustainably certified forests. In 2017, she even launched a marine-friendly collection.

Vivienne Westwood, the founder of the eponymous British brand, started promoting ethical values long before it became mainstream. "Buy less, choose well, make it last" - by these moto Westwood integrated the principles of animal welfare, Quality VS Quantity, and responsibility for waste elimination into her business. The designer's collections reflect the way she treats the Mother Earth, Gaia. Vivienne Westwood combines organic, certified materials such as cotton and bamboo with the demonstrative fashion shows, which "always use their voice to mobilize people around Climate Change and Human Rights."

As the very first step, famously check-patterned Burberry has recently launched its SS2020 26-piece capsule from recycled and bio-based fabrics. Called "ReBurberry edit," the collection celebrates the World Earth Day and features outerwear and bags made from ECONYL recycled nylon.

Raucous self-isolation diaries of Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele marked the new era for Gucci. The brand committed to total re-thinking of its mission towards greater sustainability and has already introduced its first "Gucci Off the Grid" capsule made from organic and recycled materials.

Nevertheless, more mass-market brands are not falling behind the high fashion. A London-based minimalistic COS (H&M Group), has been changing its approach towards using "100% recycled, repurposed, or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030." Being a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, the brand achieved all its cotton to be recycled and sustainably sourced. COS has also launched two sustainable collections: "COS Restore," which gives damaged pieces a new life, and "COS Active" - activewear, made from recycled nylon, polyester, and cotton fabrics.

Scandinavian brands are the pioneers of a sustainable lifestyle. Swedish brand Filippa K is among them. With its simple and trendy designs, Filippa K has taken a "Circular Fashion' framework, which aims to minimize the environmental impact and resource consumption. Additionally, the Swedish brand is transparent about its production cycle, with the commitment to publish annual "Sustainability Reports."

Sustainable fashion is already becoming not only a personal choice - but rather an urgent responsibility and necessity, dictated by nature.