Sustainable Clothing Brands
October 17, 2025 | Maggie Darbyshire
Introduction
The fashion industry is synonymous with many things, artistic expression and cultural identity to name a few. But in recent years, the industry has begun to grow affiliations with trends and fast-paced consumerism. As consumers become more aware of the environmental and humanitarian impacts of the industry, more and more people are beginning to seek alternatives. While the fast fashion industry has advertised its affordability and availability, it has been very careful not to promote the detrimental effects it has had on the environment and its workers, which should not be ignored. Despite this, many brands are rising above and beyond to provide sustainable and ethical selections for consumers. In this blog, we will explore the impacts of fast fashion, what exactly makes a clothing brand ‘sustainable’, and put some spotlight on brands that have risen to the challenge to provide ethical and environmentally conscious clothing.
‘Fast Fashion’ and Its Impacts
Fast Fashion has revolutionized the way we shop for our clothes by offering trendy and inexpensive items, making fashion “trends” more accessible. However, this financial accessibility comes with a larger price tag, as the industry has been observed to produce massive waste and exploit vulnerable workers. This sector of the fashion industry hosts a variety of environmental and humanitarian concerns.‘Fast Fashion’ describes inexpensive clothing produced readily by mass-market retailers to respond to the latest fashion trends. The main goal of these companies is to make products quickly and cheaply available to consumers. Because these brands are focusing on rising and current microtrends, they result in a large amount of waste due to the cyclical nature of what is trendy in the fashion industry. One study concluded that the fashion industry had produced over 92 million tons of waste per year, while also consuming 79 trillion liters of water. The fashion industry has also been attributed to producing almost 10% of global CO2 emissions, in addition to contributing to microplastic pollution and textile waste (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Fast fashion however does not only negatively impact the environment, but has also been observed to have negative humanitarian impacts as well. In order to ensure that the produced clothing can remain low-cost, these fast fashion companies often use exploitative labor practices. These exploitative labor practices include offshoring manufacturing– the manufacturing of clothes in other countries with either low wages and/or little regulations on labor. They also may give their workers insufficient wages in domestic factories, or use a strategy called the “piece rate system.” The piece rate system is a form of wage compensation where employees are paid per unit of clothing completed. While this incentivizes and motivates workers, it also encourages rushed work, leading to not only poor quality items but unsafe working conditions, longer hours, and more often than not– underpayment. All of these mechanisms play a part in wage theft. In this industry, these low wages mainly affect women, as women make up 80$ of garment workers worldwide. Women of color, most notably Latina and Asian women, are disproportionately affected by this system (Bernard, 2023). Although fast fashion offers affordability and convenience to its consumers, it results in devastating costs for both the environment and the workers within the industry.
What Makes a Clothing Brand Sustainable?
Fast fashion is not the only way to buy clothes however, and there are many brands that are paving the path in producing high quality and sustainable clothing. Unlike fast fashion, these brands prioritize the customer, the worker, and the environment. A clothing brand is considered sustainable through ethical labor practices, the use of environmentally friendly material, minimal environmental impact, and commitments to transparency and continued improvement. Some examples of these practices would be the use of organic cotton, recycled materials, reduction of water use, providing fair wages, and the seeking of certifications from reputable organizations to verify their sustainability. In a recent study, researchers explored consumer understanding of sustainable practices in the fashion industry and how sustainability may impact their decision to purchase. After receiving responses from over 150 consumers, they found that consumers do value products made sustainably, and that as long as the price is not significantly more, they are mostly willing to pay for the more sustainable option. However, many respondents also conveyed a sense of confusion as to what sustainability really meant in terms of the fashion industry. The researchers suggest that moving forward there needs to be a standard sustainability logo or ranking system to help buyers easily recognize and understand what the products they are purchasing actually stand for, as well as protect against green-washing (Weiss et al., 2014). Green washing describes the apparent appearance of a brand or product to be more eco-friendly than they actually are. This usually occurs through over-exaggerated or misleading titles to deceive customers. While sustainable fashion offers a promising alternative to fast fashion, this section of the industry is still in need of clearer communication and transparency to ensure consumers are well informed when making their spending decisions.
Leading Sustainable Clothing Brands
So what are some of these brands that are paving the way in sustainable clothing? One of the largest and most recognizable brands that has committed to transparency and sustainability is the brand Patagonia. Patagonia was founded in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard and has become a leader in the sustainable fashion movement in addition to being globally recognized for its activism and ethical business practices. The brand has a multitude of environmental and animal welfare programs that are openly accessible for the public to review. Some of their key figures environmentally include; 100% of their down material is responsibly sourced, 100% of their virgin cotton is grown using organic practices, and they have also implemented recycled materials such as nylon, spandex, cotton, cashmere, and polyester. In addition to this, Patagonia has twelve environmental and social programs and has full transparency into their manufacturing process. Beyond these things Patagonia also has a WornWear section, where customers can trade in used Patagonia gear for credit, and other buyers can have the opportunity to give these pieces a new life. This is all part of their repair and responsible recycling program. Patagonia is not only focusing on making high quality outdoor gear, but also on protecting the environment.
Another brand leading the way in sustainability is the brand Pact. Pact is a sustainability certified brand and has “proudly” partnered with Fair Trade USA, the Global Organic Textile Standard, and SimpliZero to ensure their products and processes are not having negative humanitarian or environmental impacts. In addition to these efforts Pact has claimed to have saved 877 million gallons of water and less energy by using organic farming methods. On top of that the brand has now measured the impact of every individual product they produce and offset that impact through reforestation, renewable energy, and community projects, in order to achieve a zero net carbon business.
Shifting away from apparel to footwear, another brand that is making great strides in its sustainability is Allbirds. In 2021, Allbirds released their ‘Allbirds Flight Plan’ where they made a commitment to cutting their carbon footprint in half by 2025, and continuing to reduce until near-zero by 2030. So far, the company has stayed on track with its commitment, and in 2023 they had a 22% decrease in their average product carbon footprint. Some of the changes that have helped them achieve this goal include switching back to using natural materials like wool, sugar, and trino, which is their engineered combination of tree and merino wool. The company has also attributed their success to sustainability to their three step approach. The first step is ‘Measure’ which as indicated involves the measuring of everything that contributes to their carbon footprint. The second step is ‘Reduce’ where the company works to decrease their impact through regenerative agriculture, the use of renewable materials, and responsible energy consumption. Their final step, ‘Remove’ involves supporting nature based carbon removal projects to help them further achieve their goals. In addition to this, the company provides transparency on all their figures.
These brands are not only leading the way in making sustainability central to their business operation, but they are also setting a new standard for what it means to be environmentally and socially responsible within the fashion industry. Though we have only highlighted these three brands, there are so many more that are also taking charge in supporting both the planet and people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while fast fashion practices offer cheap price tags and near-instant availability, the growing awareness of its environmental and ethical repercussions has begun to promote a shift toward more sustainable practices within the fashion industry. Brands like Patagonia, Pact, and Allbirds are only some of the brands that are leading this movement, through demonstrating that creating high-quality, eco-friendly, and ethically sourced products is not only possible, but can be integrated into an already existing business model. However, in order for brands like these that are participating in the sustainability movement, clearer communication and transparency are needed. Consumers need to have clear and accurate information in order to ensure their power in choice. By choosing to support brands that prioritize both the environment and people, the consumer holds the future to the fashion industry as well as our planet.
For more information check out the resources below!
References:
- Allbirds. (n.d.). Sustainability Guide & Practices. https://www.allbirds.com/pages/sustainable-practices#commitments
- Bernard, A. L. (2023, June). The hidden costs behind cheap clothing: Addressing fast fashion’s environmental and humanitarian impact. Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol25/iss3/3/
- Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T., & Gwilt, A. (2020). The environmental price of Fast Fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0039-9
- Pact. (n.d.). Sustainability, certified. Wear PACT. https://wearpact.com/sustainability
- Patagonia. (n.d.). Environmental Responsibility. https://www.patagonia.com/environmental-responsibility-materials/
- Weiss, C., Trevenen, A., & White, T. (2014). The branding of Sustainable Fashion. Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, 1(2), 231–258. https://doi.org/10.1386/fspc.1.2.231_1
