Sustainable Summer: Clothing Essentials
Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels
As the weather heats up, you might be looking for clothing that is light and breathable. Choosing a brand that offers you these benefits--while also being sustainably made, earth friendly and ethical--is the best choice you can make for your summer wardrobe. Fast fashion is a major problem in the fashion industry--in fact, the fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world. Despite offering low prices, the end result of fast fashion is cheaply-made products that promote the progressive destruction of our planet and the exploitation of our workers. Through supporting sustainable brands and foundations that advocate for transparent fashion supply chains, you can be the change that contributes to the shift toward slow fashion. Below are five brands that are putting in the work to ensure the smallest footprint in creating the clothes they bring to you.
1. Outerknown
Created by legendary surfer Kelly Slater to provide sustainable clothing for both men and women, this brand offers organic, surf-inspired clothing for people like you to feel good about the clothing they buy. Outerknown ensures that 90% of the fibers they source are organic, regenerated or recycled and invest in the workers that bring their clothing to life through Fair Trade USA. In addition to being accredited by the Fair Labor Association before ever shipping a product, the brand’s jeans are guaranteed for life--they help keep their S.E.A. Jeans out of landfills by repairing or replacing them if you ever have a problem. This brand is changing the planet and the lives of workers through each article of clothing.
2. Christy Dawn
For those looking for the perfect summer dress, Christy Dawn has you covered. This brand’s materials are made from deadstock fabric, AKA leftover scraps of fabric from a larger design house. Along with making sure all workers are paid fair wages, they have partnered with their cotton farm in Erode, India to replenish the soil they use through ancient indigenous practices of regenerative agriculture for their Farm-to-Closet collections. After the cotton is farmed, it is vegetable-dyed and free of harsh chemicals. Are you ready to support another brand driven to transforming the fashion industry?
3. Kotn
Kotn is not only a champion of fair labor practices, safe working conditions and using family-run natural cotton farms, but they also fund a number of social impact projects throughout the world with the revenue from their clothing and home products. These projects range from private subsidies to rural farms in impoverished communities, building and operating seven new schools in Egypt without the access to education and launching campaigns to advocate for environmental practices. If you choose Kotn, you’re choosing equity.
Outland Denim can assist you with all your denim needs this summer while fulfilling your wish for a conscious denim brand. They use organic cotton and can attest to using 57-86% less water, energy and chemicals in their Cambodian wash and finishing facilities. You can also trace 94% of their supply chain for business transparency. Apart from their sustainable business practices, Outland Denim is a champion for human empowerment; they were initially founded for training and employing survivors of sex trafficking and backgrounds of injustice, and have established stable career paths for over 750 employees in Cambodia.
5. Vitamin A
If you still haven’t found a solid bikini or bodysuit for the summer yet, Vitamin A is a sustainable option made in sunny California. With a lack of recycled fiber swimwear products in the market, this brand created the first premium swim fabric made from recycled nylon fibers. They’ve since expanded to include other eco-conscious textiles, like organic and recycled cotton and linen. If you’re not convinced, all packaging is 100% recycled, recyclable and biodegradable, and their distribution warehouses are transformed to reduce their environmental footprint with LED light bulbs, low-flow water fixtures, solar cooling fans and more.
Here’s to the brands working hard to ensure sustainability in their products from start to finish. Check them out!
