If you type in #sustainablefashion on Instagram, you get 1.9 million hits at the time this article is written. A couple of years ago, a hashtag containing ‘sustainable’ wouldn’t have been so popular. But people are getting more and more aware of the impact the fashion industry has on our beautiful planet and its inhabitants.
The second largest polluter
The regular fashion industry uses harmful chemicals, it’s even the second largest polluter in the world because of the use of harmful pesticides. Many of the clothes in stores is made from genetically modified cotton that is treated with multiple pesticides that can cause harm to the body and also to the farmers.
Who made my clothes?
Many factories have their employees work ridiculous hours under terrible circumstances and for a little amount of money. They can’t afford housing or food and struggle to get through the day. Industry estimates suggest that 20 to 60 percent of garment production is sewn at home by informal workers, according author Lucy Siegle in her book, To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World?. Informal workers, you say? Children, maybe?
There’s too much
Consumerism has gone bazurk. The world consumes 80 billion pieces of clothing each year. 80 billion! A year! Don’t those pieces get recycled or donated to charity? Yeah sure, but only 10% of that. The rest end up in landfills or flooding markets in developing countries like Haiti where they are bought by the box and actually kill the local industry.
You get the point: the fast fashion industry is harmful, inhumane and polluting. So what’s the solution?
Invest in pieces you can wear for a long time. You don’t need 12 black bags, one or two is enough. And if you do love trends, add them to your style in accessories like a scarf, hat or jewelry.
Shop fair trade, eco-conscious and sustainable items
There are more and more brands and shops out there selling the most beautiful fair trade, eco-conscious and sustainable items. They use eco-friendly fabrics, produce in Europe, track the proces, pay their workers fair amounts and work without harmful chemicals. My favorite sustainable fashion brands?
- The Reformation: beautiful, flowy dresses.
- Christy Dawn: dreamy dresses and playsuits.
- Filippa K: Scandinavian design.
- Rains: recycled Rain-wear.
- Wolf and Storm: one of my fav webshops with cruelty free & sustainable items.
- Armed Angels: beautiful basics, all the way from Germany.
- Goat Organic Apparel: basic shirts.
- Take It Slow: beautiful sustainable items.
- Sophie Stone: pretty sustainable fashion and accessories.
- Denise Roobol: vegan hand bags.
- Matt & Nat: amazing vegan leather backpacks and hand bags.
- The Green Labels: fresh sustainable fashion.
- Dick Moby: sustainable sunglasses.
- Kerbholz: sustainable sunglasses and watches.
- A Beautiful Story: sustainable, hand made jewelry.
- Röhnisch, a sustainable sports wear brand.
- Dastoon: sustainable designer wear.
- The Blind Spot: everything but boring sustainable wear.