Five Sustainable, Eco-Friendly, & Fair Trade Clothing Brands I Love

I dove into the world of sustainable, eco-friendly & fair trade fashion and came up with a few favorites. Here are my clothing recommendations to you all!

Earlier this year, I fell in love with the craft of sewing and crafting garments. As a self-taught drag seamstress, I have newfound respect for all of the labor that goes into clothing. I know how much rolls of fabric can cost, so the rise of fast fashion with shirts costing less than a yard of cotton has been disturbing to me.

Since I had a bit of pocket money and was low on gym clothes to work off the pandemic weight, I decided to only invest in sustainable and fair trade clothing from here on out. The eco-friendly & sustainable part, admittedly, was not immediately high on my radar until I started researching and learning more about it.

Unfortunately, not all clothing brands that advertise themselves as fair trade, eco-friendly, or sustainable actually walk the talk. Everlane has recently gone under fire for union-busting which makes me pretty bummed that I bought pants from them. I did some more research and came across this great site which helps you look up clothing brands that are sustainable, fair-trade, and cruelty-free. From there, I started learning more about fair trade clothing and carefully added new items to my closet.

Here are some sustainable fair trade clothing brands that put a smile on my face, and they’re better for people & the planet as well.

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Here’s a receipt showing some items I bought from Boody & Girlfriend Collective.

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In full transparency I’d like to note that this article is 100% non-sponsored. These brands do tell you to share the love for a friend-to-friend discount code which is similar to other “Tell a Friend” marketing campaigns. While I am sharing some promo codes I have for these companies, keep in mind that each purchase I made was from my own wallet over the course of my eco-friendly researching & fashion journey. I haven’t been compensated in any free products whatsoever, nor am I an ambassador for any of these brands.

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Girlfriend Collective

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• Specialty: Plus size-friendly & colorful workout bras & leggings for women
• Price: $$
• Referral Code: Yes, here, or use code REFHFTPMZEI for $10 off a purchase of $95 or more.
• Do They Have Sales: Yes & a 35% bundle and save.
• Rewards Program: Yes, an awesome one
• Plus Size Friendly?: Yes!
• Good On You rating: Great
• Items I own: Luxe leggings, Compression Leggings, Bike Shorts, FLOAT Cleo Bra, Juliette Bra, Ventana Bralette, FLOAT leggings, Summit track jacket, etc.
• Favorite Items: It would be easier to tell you which items I didn’t love, which include probably their compression socks and one ill-fitting sports bra I did return. Everything else has knocked it out of the park.

Girlfriend Collective is a favorite amongst the eco-friendly & sustainable community, and it’s easy to see why. They have bright & un-photoshopped pictures of models of all sizes in their gorgeous fitness clothing in vibrant colors & Earth tones. Admittedly, the first few times I heard about them, there was an air of “too good to be true,” or maybe since I found out about Everlane’s greenwashing, I’ve just been really wary of eco-friendly brands with vibrant and addicting marketing campaigns. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about polyester clothing, even if it was recycled. I cautiously tried their bundle & save package. Admittedly, their clothing was nice, and I went back for more. And the rest is history!

On their Instagram highlights, you can see videos explaining in depth, the process of turning rPET plastic bottles into clothing. They also have videos of how they dye clothing and stamp their seal with robots, as well as their factory workers in Vietnam cutting and sewing fabrics.

I love that they are owned by a Vietnamese-American couple in Seattle – it might even be their parents making a cute little guest appearance here.

Aside from their awesome loyalty program that gifts you $10-$15 off for points amassed, another reason why I really like Girlfriend Collective’s business model is that they will buy back your clothing to be recycled. You will receive store credit for sending your used GC clothes back. To me, this really shows the ethos of circularity within fashion, and I love that I’ll never have to toss any of their clothes in the trash. That said it would not happen for a long time – their leggings have already outlasted my first pair of non-fair trade Eddie Bauer leggings, which have begun to pill.

The last things I’ll say about Girlfriend Collective, is to also keep an eye on their expanding inclusive “for-all” line for men and people of all genders. Even though their namesake is gendered, it’s hard to find gender-neutral eco-friendly clothes, so I appreciate the expansion.

Tentree

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• Specialty: Eco-friendly apparel for men and women, including athletic/travel wear, jackets, cardigans & tees
• Price: $$
• Referral Code: Link here!
• Do They Have Sales: Yes
• Rewards Program?: Yes and they track your impact, which is cool!
• Plus Size Friendly?: No
• Good On You rating: Good
• Items I own: Pacific Joggers, Highline Cotton Sage Stitch Cardigan, Kayaker T-shirt
• Favorite Items: Everything mentioned above, plus men’s T-shirts I bought for my boyfriend

First of all, I’d like to say I’m glad Tentree has an awesome line of sustainable & fair trade clothing for men, which has been annoyingly hard to find in the fair-trade and eco-friendly world. What gives?

In short, Tentree plants trees for every item you buy. Based in Vancouver, they are a certified B-Corp company, showing that they’re committed in reducing carbon emissions. Another aspect that you can check out is their Carbon Emissions offsetting program where you can “buy” packages to offset your carbon emissions from driving, showering, etc. I don’t know how they’re able to track this and it sounds a little too much like buying indulgences from the Catholic Church, so I haven’t opted into that.

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True to their name, some of their clothing is very tree-huggy, and they even have a Lorax-themed line for men and women. It’s great if you want clothes announcing your love for trees and recycling, but if you’re more interested in neutral workout clothing, plain organic tees, and chic cardigans, they have that as well! Unlike some other favorite brands that are more specialized, Tentree has a fair bit of variety without sacrificing quality and ethics.

The Pacific Joggers I bought are great for casual wear and traveling, my highline cotton cardigan is perfect to throw on for a Zoom call, and I wear my Kayaker shirt every week for working out. I love that they use 100% organic cotton, bamboo, and Tencel, which is one of my favorite fabrics to wear. While they’re a little pricey, Tentree’s high-quality & fashion-friendly clothes are the reason why I always look forward to getting their emails in my inbox. Like Girlfriend Collective, and unlike other fair trade brands, I don’t feel like they are expensive for no reason. You are definitely getting quality in every item that you buy.

Metiseko

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• Specialty: Southeast Asian-inspired high-fashion for men and women.
• Price: $$-$$$
• Do They Have Sales: Yes
• Rewards Program?: Yes
• Plus Size Friendly?: No
• Good On You rating: Not rated yet
• Items I own: Kadai tank top, Neroli pants, Cameo necklace & the items below
• Favorite Items: Traveler’s Palm dress, Bamboo Whisper shirt, free Face Mask!

You could say Metiseko was my first love with fair trade and eco-friendly clothing. I first found out about it in my Sustainability group. This brand is the love child of a French Vietnamese man and a French designer. They are based in Vietnam and currently only have stores there, though they ship worldwide.

Their clothing is deeply Vietnamese inspired. As an East Asian person, it’s hard to describe the thrill of seeing their prints and silhouettes on my body. Their line focuses primarily on silk and 100% organic cotton. Upon receiving their clothing, you also get a free fashionable face mask.

While the brand does focus on a high fashion aspect, it’s clear that there is so much love for their culture, the craft of dressmaking & fashion, and their workers.

Each garment comes with a tag talking about the environmental values of the brand, for example explaining that their 100% cotton clothes are much more durable than blended clothes, and better for the environment. In addition, each garment has a tag where you can see the name of the seamstress written on the tag handwritten in pencil!

They also send lovely informative emails I like to read that highlights on stories of the ideation behind their clothing, the painstaking and deep tradition of Vietnamese silk-making, the day-to-day of their factory workers, as well as their Q&As with their models.

Unfortunately as a friend of mine noted, this brand isn’t plus-size friendly. Being based in Asia, the sizes are small to begin with. With a 37′ bust and a 28′ waist, my dress size comes to a large for shirts and dresses, and they only go up to an XXL.

This brand is also on the pricier side, although their sales and clearance section has helped me nab a lot of clothing for much more reasonable prices. I’ve seen European and Western brands charge for much more for high fashion, though I will mention that the brand itself is likely targeted to non-Vietnamese with their clothing prices being somewhat of a small fortune if you buy it in Vietnamese dong.

Boody

• Specialty: Basics, underwear, athleisure, and loungewear for men and women.
• Price: $-$$
• Do They Have Sales: Yes
• Plus Size Friendly?: No
• Good On You rating: Good
• Items I own: Full Brief 4-Pack & Active Muscle Tanks
• Favorite Items: Active Muscle Tank

Boody is an Australian brand that focuses on bamboo viscose fabric. Like Girlfriend Collective, Boody also makes underwear, bras, and high-quality clothing, but with their sustainability focus being bamboo rather than recycled polyester. Their clothing is oeko-tex certified, which concerns harmful materials caused by dyes and they have a statement on their code of conduct involving the labor of their clothes you can check out here.

I do have one caveat about Boody that I haven’t found the answer to yet. Based on what I’ve seen, while their main fabric is bamboo viscose, they do list that their tanks and other clothes are made from spandex and nylon as well. It’s not clear whether this is recycled materials or non-recycled. Their Good on You rating is from 2019, and I would imagine the use of non-recycled spandex and nylon would cause a ding on their record.

I only technically have two products from them, but believe it or not, the market for sustainable underwear is pretty vast. Aside from Girlfriend Collective, which I’ve mentioned, and Parade, there’s also WAMA, and the list goes on.

The cost efficiency of their clothes, along with the quality is what made me impressed. Their active muscle tanks are simply superb, and the feathery soft claim is true. They often have BOGO 50% deals, and at $39.95 for one, I was able to get two! You can also save money by buying a pack of underwear rather than 1 at a time, and they actually have colors more exciting than black and white.

Their underwear is really soft, though they tend to smell rather strongly after a full day’s sweat in drag. I honestly haven’t determined if this is a boody thing or if it’s me, but considering their brief averages 5 stars at 1378 reviews, you can go ahead and determine it’s probably me!

Parade

• Specialty: Bright, jewel-toned underwear and bras for women and loungewear
• Extended sizes?: Sorta, but could be better
• Price: $
• Discount Code/Referral Code: amy-b48 for 20% off $40
• Do They Have Sales: Yes
• Good On You rating: Good
• Items I own: Re:Play Brief, Play Sport+, Scoop bralette, Triangle bralette, Plunge bralette
• Favorite Items: Play Sport+ underwear, Perfect T-Shirt, Cozy Waffle Crewneck

Parade underwear is based in New York and makes underwear fun and sustainable. They boast of top-notch and accessible customer service. Each panty even has a number you can text for questions and comments. If a bra or panty isn’t a match for you, due to the nature of their undergarments, they’ll simply refund you the price.

Their underwear is relatively inexpensive compared to other sustainable brands (and Victoria’s Secret, for that matter,) and they have an awesome mix and match program. Due to those reasons, 75% of my underwear drawer is now Parade! I love folding them into colorful squares and they Play Sport+ underwear is awesome for my gym days.

A great new update for Parade in 2021 was that they finally came out with non-synthetic underwear in eco-friendly fabrics like Tencel, and organic cotton! They call this fabric, “supersoft,” and true to its name, it is indeed super soft and feels great on the skin. They also have new loungewear drops. Their waffle crewneck is fantastic and I’ve been wearing it almost daily during the winter.

The other thing I have to say is that while they have Extended Sizes for larger breast sizes, and they technically have my size, many of their fun colors are sold out for those sizes. This means that out of colors like neon yellow, orange popsicle, cerulean, and lavender, the only colors I get the choose from might be black, white, and navy. While I bought bras that fit my chest, I ended up not wearing them except for work due to the discomfort and ended up selling or giving them away. This isn’t something I’ve experienced with Parade only, but every single company I’ve bought bras from. I’ve yet to find a perfect match, so if you’re large-chested like me, you may have to keep looking.

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Other Sustainable & Fair Trade Clothing Brands

Here are some other fair trade, sustainable, and eco-friendly clothing brands that I’ve tried out, but don’t have enough info to write a full review on. However, they are awesome and deserve a small shout-out at the end!

Lanius – This is a German apparel brand specializes in chic European fashion. Like most of the brands here, I found out about it through Good On You, and went nuts for this gorgeous soft denim Kimono jacket. I paid extra when they had a sale to have the package shipped to me from Austria. All I can say is that it was worth every dime.

Organic Basics – Based in Denmark, this brand focuses on yes, organic basics, underwear, athleisure and apparel for men and women. This is definitely a brand that I would buy more of if I could, but they’re pretty pricey. I bought their SilverTech active shirt on sale and I wear it every week. It doesn’t retain bad smell, so it’s perfect for heavy gym workout days or multi-day hikes.

Ekyog – Ekyog is another European apparel line for women, found all over France. I purchased a few items from them during my trip to France. They have a strong commitment to sustainability and use the same earthy dye colors you see with Girlfriend Collective. While their clothing is an A+ on sustainable materials and comfort, I can’t say the same for durability – one of the buttons on my paper bag shorts ripped shortly after I returned to the states. But that’s the good thing about being a nerdy seamstress in training, a thread and needle is never too far away.

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I hope this was informational for you! Do feel free to share your thoughts on clothing, my review, and any other brands. I only mentioned brands that truly demonstrated a commitment to sustainability and fair trade practices. In fact, brands I do own that recently got dinged on their recent practices (cough, let’s say that they’re two shoe brands based in San Francisco) were taken off from this article.

If you decide to overhaul your wardrobe or replace your old threads, I do strongly recommend donating your clothes to a local Out of the Closet or Goodwill, so they can have a second life. If they are too worn to be resold, oftentimes, these thrift stores will also give the fabric away to some fabric recycling company. Unfortunately, info I found about donating to fabric recycling yourself in the bay area has been inconclusive.

In the future, I hope to add brands owned by BIPOC and have individual articles featuring these sustainable and fair trade clothing brands. You can also look forward to possibly sewing tutorials coming to this blog soon, accompanied by YouTube videos.

Happy researching and shopping!