Ethical Clothes Shops

Several ethical brands – Know the Origin, People Tree, Bibico, and Nudie – use this, which supports the most vulnerable farmers with decent prices. It also means it is GM-free. 

Brands that make fair trade clothing have a [F] next to their name on the score table and were given an extra Product Sustainability plus point.

Of course, buying secondhand clothes rather than new is the best form of clothes recycling. Oxfam and Beyond Retro are on our score table but there are loads of other ways to get second-hand clothing.

Brands that sell second-hand clothing have a [S] next to their name on the score table and were given an extra Product Sustainability plus point.

Whether it’s recycling wool and cotton, or any other fibres, using recycled fibres to make new clothes is always more sustainable than making new fibres.

Brands that use recycled fabrics:

MUD, Cock & Bull, Kuyichi, Outsider, Rapanui, THTC, and Brothers We Stand.

Bamboo is another fashionable fabric used by ethical clothing companies. It is a type of viscose. Viscose is derived from the ‘cellulose’ or wood pulp of trees or plants, like bamboo.

However, the processing method used to extract and turn bamboo into fabric determines whether bamboo is sustainable or not. 

There are currently three main ways to produce fabric from bamboo:

1. Industrial method

The cellulose of the bamboo plant is dissolved in a chemical solvent during production. Due to this process, the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and the Soil Association do not certify bamboo fabric made in this way despite it being grown organically in many cases. So, if something is labelled as made from organic bamboo, you can be sure it has not been made with this process.

2. Industrial method using the lyocell process

One manufacturing process that minimises chemical use, and is therefore environmentally preferred, is called the ‘lyocell process’ (a closed loop process that reuses the water and chemicals and excludes the use of carbon disulphide). When the ‘lyocell’ process is used to process bamboo, the fabric is branded Monocel® so look out for this label on clothes.

3. Mechanical extraction

This is more environmentally friendly but can be labour intensive and therefore costly. For example, the woody parts of bamboo can be crushed, and a natural enzyme can be used to break down the bamboo further to create a ‘mushy mass’. The natural fibres can be mechanically combed out and spun into a thread which is then used to make a slightly coarse fabric – often called ‘bamboo linen’ – as opposed to the commonly silky bamboo fabrics found in shops.

The following brands stated how the bamboo they used was processed:

Outsider (organic), and Birdsong (closed loop).

The following brands did not clearly state what process they used for their bamboo clothes: Komodo, Thought.

Tencel is a brand name for a fabric made from eucalyptus wood pulp using the lyocell process. In production, over 99% of the solvents and chemicals used are captured and recycled in a closed-loop process.

Making Tencel fibres reduces greenhouse gas emissions by almost 50% and water consumption by 90% versus conventional cotton.

The following brands make clothes from Tencel: Komodo, People Tree, Thought, Kuyichi, Nomads, Finisterre, Birdsong, and Ninety Percent.

Modal is made from the wood pulp of the beech tree. If it is Lenzing Modal, it is made using 100% renewable energy, is sourced from trees from certified sustainably managed forests, and the chemical and waste that result from the production process are recycled.

But not all modal is Lenzing Modal, so it may be made from trees grown, for example, in cleared forests in Indonesia

Linen is made from the flax plant, it’s one of the strongest fibres known to man and the oldest. Making linen yarn requires few pesticides and reduces CO2 emissions by 30% and water use by 90% versus conventional cotton. 

People Tree, Kuyichi, Komodo and Lowie sell linen clothes.

Hemp is made from the cannabis plant, it needs little water and no pesticides. It literally grows like a weed so requires a relatively small amount of land to cultivate. It can produce up to double the fibre yield per hectare than cotton.

Cock & Bull, Komodo and, of course, THTC (The Hemp Trading Company) make hemp clothes.