Of course it is near enough impossible for a clothing brand to be 100% sustainable with statistics such as it would take 13 years to drink as much water as it takes to make one t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
Thanks to the demands for brands to step up and become more sustainable to help with the current climate crisis, certain luxury fashion brands are beginning to do what they can to help.
- Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney is a well known fashion designer as well as an animal rights activist. Stella McCartney always had an interest in clothes and fashion and she began making her own clothes at just 13 years old. She launched her own fashion brand in 1995 and for the past two decades Stella McCartney has prided herself on being the founder of a very sustainable fashion brand which is actually a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. Stella McCartney have set some environmental standards in order to remain a sustainable brand such as using recycled polyester, organic cotton and regenerated cashmere and they have even set an approved science based target to try and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Stella McCartney have even set a 2020 deadline for the elimination of hazardous chemicals in the production line.
The well known brand has however also come under some criticism as it has been found that they do also sometimes use polyester in their clothing as well as nylon which of course are are derived from fossil fuels. Stella McCartney have also been heavily criticised for not guaranteeing that their workers are receiving a living wage.
2. Isabelle Fox
Isabelle Fox is a British luxury fashion brand founded by Isabelle Waring. The luxury brand guarantees that every one of the garments produced is made 100% ethically. Isabelle really wanted to make a brand that was luxurious whilst also being sustainable and affordable. She does this by trying to reduce as much waste as possible. The brand only ever produces in small runs and a lot of the fabric used by the company is out of season material that has been rescued from going to landfill. The designer has also stated that the fabric they have used for their clothing has even come from vintage fabric shops.
3. G-Star Raw
Embed from Getty ImagesG-Star Raw is a sustainable Dutch clothing brand which was founded by Jon van Tilburg in 1989. G-Star is a denim clothing brand that takes it’s influence from military clothing and has been made a well known brand from being modelled by famous actress Liv Tyler and collaborating with famous musician Pharrell Williams.
G-Star Raw prides itself on its sustainability by taking what they call a “circular approach” to producing denim. Because denim is made out of cotton, the brand try their hardest to only produce it as sustainable as possible.G-Star have actually set a deadline of 2020 to reduce their environmental footprint by using 100% sustainable cotton as well as other 90% sustainable materials.
4. Von Holzhausen
The luxurious fashion brand Von Holzhausen was launched in 2015 by Vicki von Holzhausen. Von Holzhausen are known for making luxurious bags and accessories using technik leather. Whilst many people claim that faux leather is just as bad to the real alternative due to the PVC required to make it being bad for the environment, Von Holzausen pride themselves on using a different material. The brand uses a material called polyurethane instead of PVC, this is made through a Green Guard LEED-certified sustainable process where 99% of solvents used are recaptured and recycled.
The fashion company are often praised for their technik leather bags and accessories which do not sacrifice the look or feel of actual leather and how they have minimal dependency on natural resources and toxic free solutions. Von Holzhausen are also an extremely ethical brand based on how they treat their workers, the brand states that all their products are made in the USA and all of their workers receive a fair wage.
5. Cos Clothing
Embed from Getty ImagesCos Clothing launched in 2007 as a member of the well known H&M group. Cos Clothing is a sustainable fashion brand which belongs to the Better Cotton Initiative. Whilst being a member of the Better Cotton Initiative this means the company offers a recycle program to help reduce waste and they report on the percentage of the production recovered.
By 2020, Cos Clothing wants to eliminate any hazardous chemicals that are used in production and they have also set a target to to use 100% renewable energy for its purchased electricity in its own operations by 2035. However, the company has been criticised for not setting any targets to reduce water usage despite reporting on it. The company are also said to be unethical with their use of exotic animal hair on their clothing.
6. One Vintage
Embed from Getty ImagesOne Vintage is a luxurious clothing store that was created by Marcella Symons in 2000. One Vintage prides itself on being a sustainable luxury brand by using vintage pieces from previous centuries and decades and transforming them into a piece of clothing which is a lot more modern. Whilst transforming the vintage piece into something more modern and contemporary, the brand makes sure to keep some of the initial design features such as Victorian embroidery.
As well as selling vintage clothing that has been transformed into something new and beautiful, One Vintage also offers another service. The clothing store offers a re-purposing service where if you have any clothes sitting in your wardrobe that you never wear anymore, you can hand it in to the store where it can be transformed into something more contemporary for you to wear therefore helping reduce waste. One Vintage also acts as a sustainable brand by making sure to use recycled and recyclable packaging for all their products.
7. RVDK
Embed from Getty ImagesRonald Van der Kemp launched his own demi-couture, sustainable fashion brand RVDK in 2014. Van der Kemp insists that his brand is about making real change towards the environment and he isn’t just trying to use sustainability as a marketing tool.
What makes RVDK a sustainable couture brand is how they use a mix of high quality existing materials, high end leftover stock and vintage couture fabrics. RVDK claim to make timeless and season-less clothes which you can wear again and again therefore helping reduce waste. In fact being an ethical, sustainable brand matters so much to Ronald Van der Kemp that recently he decided to stop working with huge retailers Net-a-Porter and Bergdof Goodman so they could try and work directly with private clients so they can to stick their principles.
RVDK may receive criticism for the amount of travelling they do which of course is no friend to the environment however Van der Kemp does take this criticism on board and he understands that being a couture brand travelling is unavoidable but yet he tries his hardest to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
8. Christopher Raeburn
Embed from Getty ImagesChristopher Raeburn is a fashion designer known trying to produce sustainable clothing.
At Raeburn design, Christopher Raeburn has implemented 4 R’s in an attempt to remain an environmentally friendly fashion brand. These R’s are: raemade, raeduced, raecycled and raeburn.
Raemade – Raeburn designs attempt to re-use surplus materials and transform older products into new designs. Raeburn designs pride themselves on being limited edition and they state that all their products are made in England.
Raeduced – They attempt to be as environmentally friendly as possible by reworking materials and minimising their carbon footprint with local manufacturing and producing smaller batches.
Raecycled – They recycle any existing materials whilst making their clothes and they try their hardest to use green technologies to be as sustainable as possible.
Sustainable and Ethical Fashion 