My Top 5 Sustainable Clothing Brands

If this quarantine has taught us anything, it should be that 1. It is possible to take a small step towards ending climate change by hunkering down and emitting less emissions 2. Listen to Dr. Fauci and 3. Be conscious of your purchases, especially when it comes to clothing and fashion.

Our clothing is what defines us. It's our first impression and our last. I've talked a lot about the dark spots behind fashion, like fast fashion, its amount of waste and returns going straight to landfills and incinerators. For this, I want to focus on the lighter side by highlighting a few of the companies who are doing fashion right - the sustainable way. If you're looking to switch up your quarantine style and your local secondhand store hasn't opened its doors yet, here are my top five recommended sustainable clothing brands:

Patagonia

For the adventurer in my soul, this company is my definition of a dream place to work for. Not only have they always been for the environment and fair trade but they are taking steps each day to support what happens to their clothing after-the-fact. Also, who doesn't like a cozy fleece for those cold weather nights and day hiking trips?

Alternative Apparel

As someone who is working to build a minimalist capsule wardrobe, Alternative Apparel has it all with over 80 percent of sustainable materials to choose from, like recycled cotton to recycled polyester and more. Their tees and athleisure are the perfect "Work From Home" style during these pandemic times.

Pact

If you're looking to cotton up your wardrobe, look no further than Pact's great selection of non-GMO tees, dresses, pants and more. I would HIGHLY recommend their underwear and plain tees as they are more than comfortable and their "pact" with B Corps demonstrates that they also focus on building a better and more sustainable supply chain.

Wolfpack

Thanks to the wonderful sustainable community on Instagram, I was able to come across a small clothing shop called Wolfpack - a company from Ohio who sells both sustainable and ethical clothing made from small labels, natural fibers, conscious shipping supplies and their storied collection of vintage and secondhand materials. They have a variety of different styles that are what some might think as just minimalist sustainable and i've definitely caught myself on multiple occasions heading to the checkout with some of their adorable jumpsuits, tanks and dresses.

Girlfriend Collective

As we're still transitioning to work-from-home either as a temporary or permanent basis, why not have a cute athletic outfit to be comfortable in during the day that's perfect for you at-home Youtube video workout at night? Girlfriend Collective truly believes in manufacturing ethically and using recycled materials. Even its compression leggings are made with recycled water bottles from all over the world. Their About section gets very honest on where their factories are in Vietnam and what they are doing to combat the plastic pollutions in the ocean. If you're lucky enough to score one of their new sets, it's a little pricey but definitely worth the $$ to shop this athletic sustainable brand unlike its sweatshops competitors.

This is only some of the many sustainable companies out there, not to mention how many startups and kickstarter programs have these up-and-coming companies who will make a name in the sustainability department. If you're looking for more companies to potentially shop at, The Good Trade has a great article on over 30 of them if you want to check it out here.

What are your thoughts on these sustainable brands? Would you change up your fashion habit and buy from one of these companies? Love them? Hate them? Let me know what you think!