Have you been looking for ethical and sustainable clothing brands but have struggled because you know you’d have to spend hours upon hours doing the research yourself? We feel your pain

Posted by admin on

This is how this wonderful post came about.

A few years ago we shared an insightful Q & A with Joshua Katcher from The Discerning Brute. He shared his views and research on human rights and animal cruelty as it relates to the fashion industry. Since that post, TMV readers were keen to take action and find ethical fashion stores that they could support.

Having awareness of what’s really going on behind the scenes is always a good first step. However, we know when we first discovered the truth, we felt overwhelmed with what to do next.
Here are some of the questions we’ve asked
Where do we shop? How can we trust the brands? Do the clothes perform and match our style? What does a sustainable textile look like? 

When you start asking these questions, you quickly realise just how hard it is to find stores and brands that you can trust. You might find a great fair-trade fashion store that sells gorgeous garments, but all of their items are leather.

Conversely, you may come across an amazing vegan store but their products aren’t fair-trade or just plain daggy.

So are you ready for a highly-curated list of ethical and sustainable clothing brands you can trust?

Well, we can say with 100% confidence that you’re in the right place!

Why are we so confident?
This is the 3rd iteration of this post over the last three years. Each time we update it, we find better brands. This version is a complete revamp. In a past life, we ran an online store where it was our job to source products that ticked all our ethical boxes, including sustainability, cruelty-free/vegan, fair-trade, and organic where possible. Historically, we desperately wanted to find brands that met our criteria, regardless of style. Even though fashion is subjective, we’ve done our best to focus more on performance and quality. For example, we’d want you to be happy with the vegan leather boots you just bought. Not only accepting something that is comparatively less quality than the alternatives because you’re trying to be a mindful consumer. We know this feeling of disappointment all too well. Although we’re vegan, not every brand listed is 100% vegan
As we’re prioritising performance at the same level as the sustainability and ethics, it means some brands we recommend may not have a product line that is 100% vegan.

This was a tough decision for us, but we recognise that when you’re shopping for ethical and sustainable clothing, you’re generally focused on one item at a time.

For example, we found some AMAZING brands that tick all of the boxes for organic sweaters. However, they also have sweaters made of wool.

If we were shopping for ourselves, we would still buy their vegan-friendly products despite them not ticking all of the boxes across their whole product line. So it’s only fair that we create the same experience for you.



This post may contain affiliate links, for which we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read our full disclosure here.
An easy-to-use list of ethical and sustainable clothing brands
What you’ll find for each brand is a list of three different categories. They will fall either under clothing, shoes or accessories. Some will overlap with a combination of all three depending on what they sell. 

Our vision for this post is to help you find go-to brands you can trust. And maybe we can start pushing conventional retailers to consider reaching out to these brands to stock their products, bringing them to the masses.

The global fashion market is valued at over 3 trillion dollars. How we choose to spend money on fashion can have an incredibly massive impact on this market.

Without further ado, here’s our updated list of ethical and sustainable fashion brands to help you live more consciously.
MUD Jeans
MUD Jeans is not just another jeans brand. They're on a mission to create a circular economy within their supply chain.

This is why they also offer the option of Lease a Jeans to make sure that they stay the owners of the raw materials and customers give them back after use for recycling and being created into a brand new pair!

They're very transparent about their factories and how the jeans are made, giving their customer more of a reason to support them. They do sell brand new jeans as well as some other basics that are made from recycled materials.

Product range: Women and men's denim jeans and a small range of jackets.

Where products are made: Tunisia.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in the Netherlands and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Thought
Thought is an ethical clothing line based in the UK that uses organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, recycled polyester and sometimes wool*. They proudly support slow fashion, so naturally, their pieces are designed and made to last.

Their mantra is “Wear me, love me, mend me, pass me on.”

Product range: Women and men's clothing, socks and accessories.

Where products are made: China.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the UK and ship worldwide.

*Products containing wool are not vegan-friendly
Visit Website Bhumi
We love everything about this company. A couple of years ago we got gifted a bedding set from them and it’s the softest, most comfortable bedding we have ever owned!

Bhumi really cares about fair trade practices and using only the best and least harmful materials available.

Product range: Women's, men's, kids clothing, activewear and bedding.

Where products are made: India.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website VAUTE
VAUTE was recommended by one of our readers and we can clearly see why! This high-end luxury brand is creating beautiful, stylish coats, gowns and sweaters that are made to last.

Designed in New York where they are made (as well as Toronto), working with the best high-tech mills around the world using organic and recycled fibres to create textiles that are innovative and made to keep you warm on the coldest day.

Product range: Women's and men's winter jackets.

Where products are made: US.

Price: Premium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Beyond Skin
Beyond Skin is a UK based vegan shoe brand that wanted to create stylish and cruelty-free shoes but not at the expense of animals and the planet. They opened back in 2001 and have grown year to year since. We love the fact that they try to use sustainable fabrics where possible, as well as recycled materials such as cardboard, PET plastics and resin. They have a great business philosophy, a wonderful small team and beautiful, stylish shoes.

Range: Female dressy and casual shoes.

Where products are made: Spain.

Price: Premium.

Ordering: Based in the UK and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Linenfox
Linenfox makes gorgeous womenswear made from sustainably sourced linen.

They run their company according to fair trade principles and pay honest wages. They apply “no waste’’ principles, as they sell their fabrics scraps, use scrawls for packing etc.

The best part is that they can do so many alterations to the garment style that you pick including adding length to the garment, making the garment shorter, adding length to the sleeves, making the sleeves shorter, raising or lower the neckline and changing the place of the waist seam.

So, if you love the basic style and design, but want to make it perfect for yourself, it’s possible! They also have a range of colours you can choose from and fabric blends. Each piece is made to order. Note: Not all garments and products are vegan. They sell beeswax candles and use wool in some of their garment options.

Product range: Women's clothing, bedding, kitchen, bathroom and accessories.

Where products are made: Lithuania.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in Lithuania and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Etiko
Etiko is very transparent and voices strongly that they are an ethical, vegan and sustainable company. They focus on everyday items like underwear, footwear, and clothing basics. It’s a family-owned and operated business that has had the respect and promotion of human rights at its core for a decade. We’re excited to share a 10% discount code off your total purchase by using the code: THEMINIMALISTVEGAN at checkout!

Product range: Men and woman's shoes, clothing, and underwear.

Where products are made: India.

Price: Low to medium.

Ordering: Based in Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Tree Tribe
Tree Tribe is an outdoor lifestyle brand that plants ten trees for every sale. So far, they’ve planted over 150,000 trees! Talk about positive change 🙂 Their handcrafted products are made from leaf leather, a new innovative plant-based leather.

What we love most about their products is that the leaves are sustainably harvested Teak leaves which are collected from fallen leaves. No trees are harmed in the process.

The people that make the product are a small family business of Thai artisans and skilled seamstresses that share eco-friendly values and have a passion for quality crafting. If you’re looking for something with that ‘earthy’ look and feel, their bags, journals and wallets are perfect. They’ve also kindly offered a 10% discount to all our readers when you use the codeword MINIMALIST10 at checkout!

Product range: Women and Men's basic clothing, accessories and stationery.

Where products are made: Some things made in Thailand.

Price: Low to medium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Tasi Travels
Tasi combines minimalism, practicality and style. The material that they use for their pieces is Tencel. They create timeless styles, shapes and colours that will last a lifetime of travels and don’t harm the environment in their production.

One tree is planted for every garment that is sold.

Product range: Women and men's clothing.

Where products are made: Australia.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Samara
Samara is a minimalist, eco-friendly vegan bags and accessories. They have a simple, yet elegant line up of products. What we love about them is that they have looked long and hard to find a microfibre that was excellent quality, felt as smooth as leather, and that could be finely crafted into the shapes and forms they needed.

Every purchase through Samara covers the cost of a Soular Backpack for a child in need in East Africa.

Product range: Women's bags.

Where products are made: Couldn't find.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Corkor
Corkor is PETA approved and they only use cork leather is FSC® certified. This accreditation ensures the protection and adequate harvesting of the cork oak forest. Their cork is obtained by removing the outer bark of the tree, without cutting or harming it. As the bark replenishes, cork can be harvested again and again.

Product range: Women and men's bags and accessories.

Where products are made: Portugal (in-house).

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Portugal and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Noah
What I love about this brand is that they create simple, elegant and long-lasting shoes, bags and accessories. They have been making shoes since 2009 and to celebrate their 10 year anniversary they launched an organic, biodegradable shoe line. How amazing is that? They are pioneers in the field of sustainable and ethical footwear, combining ethical values with high-quality design research.

Product range: Women and men's shoes, bags and accessories.

Where products are made: Italy.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Italy and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Insecta Shoes
Insecta is a Brazilian based shoes and accessories brand that is big on making sure that they upcycle and recycle as much material as possible; things such as recycled PET bottles, recycled cotton, recycled rubber, upcycled vintage clothing, reusable fabrics, and waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

Their mission is to make shoes and accessories that have a meaningful visual, social and environmental impact. 100% vegan and transparent about their supply chain, they have in just the last year recycled 6,640.16 plastic bottles, 391.69m² of clothing and fabrics and 2120,70kg of rubber! Pretty incredible for just one business.

Product range: Unisex shoes and accessories.

Where products are made: Brazil.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Brazil and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Eve Cork
Eve Cork was recommended to us by a reader and we couldn’t help but include them in our updated post. They make wonderful accessories made of sustainable materials and have a transparent ethical working standard for their range.

Product range: Unisex shoes and accessories.

Where products are made: Portugal.

Price: High to premium.

Ordering: Based in Canada and currently only ship to US and Canada.
Visit Website LÉ BUNS
LÉ BUNS is a vegan, cruelty-free and a slow fashion brand specialising in swimwear and intimates. They use plant-based fabrics, organic cotton, and regenerated nylon. We love how they say “Don’t worry, we’re minimalists.” in the footer where they are the email sign-up.

Product range: Women's swimwear and intimates.

Where products are made: Indonesia.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Ecoalf
Ecoalf is a European founded premium sustainable fashion label stocking stylish clothing, streetwear shoes and accessories. It was hard to leave these guys off the list despite them having a few products made with wool and down*. However, it's worth the trade-off as their vegan-friendly range looks incredible!

We have quite a few items saved in our cart from Ecoalf, but it may take some time for us to purchase anything because they are on the more expensive side.

Product range: Men and women's streetwear, shoes and accessories.

Where products are made: Spain.

Price: High to premium.

Ordering: Based in Spain and ship worldwide.

*Products containing wool and down are not vegan-friendly.
Visit Website ARMEDANGELS
ARMEDANGELS have an impressive range of sustainable jeans, clothing and accessories for women and men. Their online store is a pleasure to use, with clearly displayed materials for each garment. This is particularly important if you're vegan as this brand have some products which are made from wool. Luckily, it's super easy to spot their wool products* so you can navigate around them.

Product range: Jeans, clothing and accessories for women and men.

Where products are made: Various countries.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Germany and ship worldwide.

*Products containing wool are not vegan-friendly.
Visit Website People Tree
People Tree is a well-established women's sustainable clothing brand based in the UK. They tick all of the boxes when it comes to treating people and the environment. They do pretty well when it comes to animals, however, they do unfortunately have some products made from wool*.

People Tree was one of the first brands recommended to us when we were new to a minimalist vegan lifestyle—and we can understand why. Their range is quite varied from staples to seasonal collaborations to keep things fresh. The other big feature of People Tree is their price. For what it's worth they're affordable making ethical sustainable shopping more accessible to all of us.

Product range: Women's clothing.

Where products are made: Bangladesh.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in the UK and ship worldwide.

*Products containing wool are not vegan-friendly.
Visit Website Bleed
Bleed are based in Germany and are a family operated business. The materials used in their clothing is organic cotton, cork, Tencel (made from eucalyptus trees), hemp, linen, and recycled polyester.

The meaning behind the name bleed in their words is “Nature has already bled enough and it has to stop. Therefore not only the name but also our slogan was born: ‘We bleed for nature!'”

Product range: Clothing, shoes, swimwear for both men and women.

Where products are made: Couldn't find.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Germany and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Proof Eyewear
Proof eyewear produces high-quality glasses handcrafted from sustainable wood, skateboard decks and plant-based acetate. Having been founded in Boise Idaho, their brand reflects outdoors, relaxed vibe and adventure. Get $20 off your purchase by using the link below 🙂

Product range: Eyewear and accessories.

Where products are made: China.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Will's Vegan Shoes
We first discovered Wills Vegan Shoes when we were travelling through Europe in 2015. They sell classy shoes for men and women that are both vegan and fair-trade. Not only that, considering what you get, they are quite reasonably priced.

Product range: Shoes, knitwear and accessories for men, women and kids.

Where products are made: Italy and Portugal.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in the UK and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Brave Gentleman
Brave Gentleman is a premium menswear brand that is 100% vegan and cruelty-free. The founder, Joshua Katcher is extremely well researched and has a ton of information on the Brave Gentleman about page.

If you’re a conscious man looking for stylish professional attire, definitely check out this store.

Product range: Men's dress shoes, clothing and accessories.

Where products are made: US.

Price: High to premium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Ahimsa
Founded in 2013, Ahimsa is a vegan brand that prioritizes love. Makers of quality vegan shoes and accessories, they are one of the only 100% vegan shoe factory in the world.

“We were born to make a difference in the life of animals, nature, and our fellow human beings. Through our products, we aim to share the vegan lifestyle. Our goal is to have a more conscious society, one day completely free of cruelty.”

With a statement like this, you want to be supporting businesses like this one which is transparent and passionate about creating positive change through stylish ethical fashion.

Product range: Shoes for men and women.

Where products are made: Brazil.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Brazil and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Synergy Organic Clothing
Synergy Organic Clothing was founded in 1993 by Kate Fisher after she travelled to Nepal and India. Her husband later joined the company as they embarked on a journey of building a sustainable clothing line with both Eastern and Western influences.

All of their garments including dresses, tops and yoga attire are made for compassionate women all around the globe. Unfortunately, their Eco Luxe collection is made of wool.*

Product range: Clothing and activewear for women and men.

Where products are made: Nepal.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.

*Products containing wool are not vegan-friendly.
Visit Website DEDICATED
DEDICATED is a trendy sustainable street fashion brand. Michael has already added quite a few items to his wishlist thanks to these guys!

Beyond your typical streetwear styles, we were surprised to see that they also stock swimwear and kidswear.

They primarily use organic cotton and recycled polyester in their garments and have GOTS and fairtrade certifications.

Product range: Clothing and swimwear for women, men and kids.

Where products are made: India and China.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in Sweden and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Girlfriend Collective
Girlfriend Collective is an impressive sustainable women's activewear brand with passionate customers to validate it. Some of their items have thousands of reviews to help you feel confident with your purchasing decision.

Girlfriend is incredibly innovative with how they turn plastic bottles into high-performing activewear.

Product range: Women's intimates and activewear.

Where products are made: Vietnam.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the US and they offer to ship to the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Also available worldwide through nordstrom.com.
Visit Website Salt Gypsy
Salt Gypsy is a funky online boutique based out of Byron Bay focusing on sustainable women's swimwear and surfwear. Their tagline is "sustainable surf separates for discerning oceanwomen".

Even if you're not about that surfing life, their swimwear styles are flattering for any occasion on the water.

Product range: Women's swimwear and surfwear.

Where products are made: Australia.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website WORON
WORON is a high-quality sustainable women's lingerie brand based in Denmark. Their style of intimates is simple yet elegant.

WORON was founded by sisters Arina and Anya and their mission is to create everyday essentials that will be the first thing you want to put on and the last thing you take off!

Product range: Women's intimates.

Where products are made: Hungary, Portugal, Italy and India.

Price: Low to Medium.

Ordering: Based in Denmark and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Organic Basics
As the name suggests, Organic Basics use the most sustainably sourced materials to make a practical line of everyday basics for both men and women.

This is another brand on this list that is based out of Denmark. Organic Basics mostly focus on undergarments, t-shirts and some activewear.

Product range: Underwear, t-shirts and activewear.

Where products are made: Turkey, Portugal, Austria and Italy.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Denmark and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Indigo Luna
Indigo Luna makes sustainable swimwear, lingerie, activewear and some basics for women. Although, Michael did spot a very cool casual linen shirt for men. All of their clothing is ethically made in Australia and they deliver worldwide.

Like the rest of the swimwear on this list, Indigo Luna uses innovative practices to upcycle plastic bottles and nylon and turn it into quality garments.

Product range: Swimwear, intimates and activewear for women.

Where products are made: Indonesia.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in Australia and ship worldwide.
Visit Website CONSCIOUS CLOTHING
As of writing this post, a small group of five people in Michigan, handmake this range of beautiful sustainable female clothing and activewear. Though Rose and her team are based in the United States, they offer global shipping to anyone who wants to enjoy these handcrafted pieces.

Product range: Clothing and activewear for women.

Where products are made: United States (in-house).

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website By BLANCH
By Blanch make timeless sustainable shoes for the modern woman. They make their shoes in Spain using Ecocertified PU based leather materials. Their shoes are relatively affordable and they offer international shipping.

Product range: Women's shoes.

Where products are made: Spain.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Spain and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Miomojo
Miomojo makes elegant casual bags for women. While they are 100% vegan-friendly, they do use Ecocertified PU leather, with the plans of phasing out plastic-based leather by 2022.

Product range: Women's bags.

Where products are made: Asia.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in Italy and ship worldwide.
Visit Website grünBAG
grünBAG makes sustainable and waterproof bags from recycled materials (even from sails!). Their style of bags a polarizing as they just look unique. Denmark owned and made in Poland these eco-friendly bags are available worldwide.

Product range: Unisex waterproof bags.

Where products are made: Denmark and Poland.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Denmark and ship worldwide.
Visit Website Monkee Genes
Monkee Genes specialise in organic, ethical and sustainably made jeans for both men and women. They also make chinos, t-shirts, accessories amongst other garments.

They're a well-established brand with global distribution. In fact, it may be worth checking if your local retailer stocks Monkee Genes.

Product range: Jeans, clothing, accessories for men and women.

Where products are made: Turkey, Indonesia and India.

Price: Medium.

Ordering: Based in the UK and ship worldwide.
Visit Website MANIWALA
MANIWALA makes very cool bags made from plant-based fibres like hemp and pineapple. It's a relatively new brand, so they often run out of stock. It's best to subscribe to their newsletter or keep an eye on their items on Amazon.

We're really impressed with MANIWALA and we're eager to see what kind of products they add to their range in the future.

Product range: Plant-based and plastic-free vegan leather bags and accessories.

Where products are made: US.

Price: High to premium.

Ordering: Based in the US and ship worldwide.
Visit Website No Saints
No Saints makes sustainable casual shoes from a range of vegan-friendly materials including apple leather, pineapple leather, recycled polyester, PU amongst others.

Caroline, the founder, has a background in working in supply chain management and wanted to use her skills to make an ethical range of casual shoes everyone can enjoy.

This is a new brand, having launched in early 2019, but we love what we're seeing so far.

Product range: Unisex casual shoes.

Where products are made: Portugal.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Australia and offer international shipping to Europe, Canada, United States and New Zealand.
Visit Website MonkeyGlasses
MonkeyGlasses is a Danish company that makes fashionable sustainable eyewear. They've been established since 2009 and are showing no signs of slowing down with their range of glasses and sunglasses.

Product range: Eyewear and accessories.

Where products are made: Hong Kong.

Price: High.

Ordering: Based in Denmark and ship worldwide.
Visit Website TAMGA Designs
TAMGA Designs make colourful sustainable fashion for women but have a few pieces for men and children as well. If you're looking for vibrant patterned dresses without doing any harm to the planet, people or the environment, then check out TAMGA Designs.

TAMGA have been super generous to offer our readers 10% off by using the code MINIMALIST10 at checkout.

Product range: Clothing for women.

Where products are made: Indonesia.

Price: Medium to high.

Ordering: Based in Canada and deliver worldwide.
Visit Website What’s on your list of ethical and sustainable clothing brands?
Hopefully, the brands we’ve recommended helps you find what you need. We’d love your help to expand upon this list in the comments below so that everyone can benefit. Our world needs more businesses that are ethical, sustainable and good for people, planet and animals.


Other posts you’ll love: The Psychology of Appealing Brands The True Cost of a $10 Garment What’s Up With The Fashion Industry? Mindful Consumption: A 6-Step Guide To Consuming Better What Is Vegan Leather? Interested in more articles?
Want to get thought-provoking articles once a week? Click on the link below to get them straight to your inbox!
Learn More
The post 35+ Ethical and Sustainable Clothing Brands To Support in 2019 appeared first on The Minimalist Vegan.
#EthicalShopping
EthicalShopping


Related Posts


Share this post



← Older Post Newer Post →