Sustainable fashion has been a growing trend in the past couple of years. Consumers have shown a big demand for more ethically sourced and environmentally friendly clothing. Fast fashion has been in the spotlight for the negative impacts on the environment, society, and health. Fast fashion has an inexpensive price-tag, but has other costs in return. The fashion industry is responsible for water pollution, waste creation, and water over-consumption all over the world. Big fast fashion companies, such as Forever 21, have seen a decline in revenue in the past years, mainly due to the new demand of sustainable clothes. Other companies have “green-washed” or falsely advertised their products as environmentally friendly to gain profits, whilst still harming the environment. In this new world of sustainable clothing and green-washing, here are my favorite places to shop sustainably.
Girlfriend Collective: Girlfriend Collective is a Seattle based athletic clothing brand. Girlfriend is best known for their cozy legging and sports bra sets. Girlfriend Collective’s clothing comes in a variety of unique colors and designs. Also, they are extremely accessible to a range of body types, ranging from size XXS to 6XL! The best thing about Girlfriend is what their leggings are made out of…recycled water bottles and fishing nets. By recycling materials and using eco-friendly dyes, girlfriend has been a huge innovator in sustainability. Girlfriend can be found on their website or occasionally at a local pop-up sale.
Reformation: One of the most popular sustainable brands to emerge in recent years is Reformation. From flowyy floral dresses to tanks and jeans, Reformation pretty much has it all. Celebrities such as Bella Hadid, Selena Gomez, and the queen of fashion herself, Rihanna, have been seen wearing this LA based brand. Reformation incorporates satiability through their use of eco-friendly materials and management of potential emissions and pollution. The Nordstrom in downtown Seattle carries a wide variety of reformation clothing, but the full collection can be found on their website.
Thrift Stores: Probably the most well-know way to sustainably shop is through buying clothes from local thrift stores. Wearing used clothing cuts out the production process, in turn saving resources and preventing further pollution from textiles, dyes, ect. Another advantage of thrifting is finding unique pieces that can’t be found on the mainstream market. Also, the absolute best part of buying used clothing is the affordable price tag.
Checkout my favorite thrift stores in Udistrict: Red-light, Valley of Roses, and Lucky Vintage.
In need of an item that you can’t find at the thrift store? Depop is your answer. Depop is a used-clothing app based shop. Depop is pretty much just an enormous online thrift store, with items for all around the world.