Top Ethical Clothing Brands For Eco-Friendly Shoppers

This is a Movement, not a Moment

By Yashasharee Samant

Marc Jacobs famously said that clothing is part of self-expression and that there are hints about who you are based on what you wear. More recently, in the scope of our changing world, the “make” of the apparel is as important as the collars and colors. No one has the intention of parading around in a garment that was made by someone’s suffering or dragging out a garbage bag full of last season’s clothes wondering the kind of environmental damage the cycle of “fast fashion” is causing.

Ethical and sustainable fashion have been in conversation for some years now. Yet, as a practice, we don’t see it blowing up as much as it should be. One of the reasons behind this could be a lack of public awareness. While retail stores have racks of cheap clothes and big fashion brands are constantly bombarding the public with heavy advertising along with discounts, the smaller more indigenous brands that have been consistently making ethical and sustainable efforts towards bringing great apparel are sidelined.

First, everyone needs to understand the meaning of ethical clothes shopping. Without diving into a history or ethics lesson, allow us to simply help you navigate the field on this one. Ethical fashion is when everything from the design, manufacturing, and distribution of the garment or accessory was done in an honest and sensitive way. The material was sourced responsibly, the conditions and wages paid to the manufacturers were fair, and the final product is the least harmful to the environment or the purchaser.

Here are three US-based ethical clothing brands that are doing some great work. They’re fairly affordable, are based in different regions and also have online stores.

D.O.B is committed to helping us all become more ethical clothing shoppers. Understanding the history, defining the terms of sustainability and identifying and offering brands who are leading the cause is our passion and purpose.