Great, Green Fashion Brands

Fashion brands that go out of their way to be good to the earth deserve to be recognized. Here are our recommendations, grouped by product category.

1. Tees: Everyone needs a few good t-shirts. Indie brand Holiday Matinee sells tag-free organic-cotton ones printed with hip designs. The best part? For every shirt purchased, 20 trees are planted and 100 percent of proceeds go to Plant-It 2020. Other good-for-the-planet t-shirt companies include Thomas Hillman, Revenge Is . . ., Tees for Change, and Gramicci.

2. Jewelry: Some of the most eye-catching baubles are made of stuff that had a past life--and many of them can be found on Etsy, a global network of artisans selling handmade works. Take, for example, Hagarae's one-of-a-kind necklaces made of vintage neckties. Or Wired Originals' dainty pieces fashioned from 100 percent reclaimed silver. Or QA Create's earrings, bracelets, and cufflinks, which use old typewriter keys as charms.

Those with a creative streak should consider making your own jewelry from found objects.

3. Menswear: It's not often that you come across an eco-friendly business suit for men, but they exist. Nora Sotamaa has organic ones, while Rawganique.com sells those made of hemp. Makers of accessories have got your back too: These days, designers are crafting belts out of recycled bike tubes and fire hoses and shoes out of hemp. More of a casual dude? Check out the duds made of domestic cotton and bamboo over at 4-rth, a company that donates 5 percent of its profits to environmental causes.

4. Outdoor Apparel: Try Timberland for hiking boots, REI for outfitting a day on the trail, Billabong for surfing, and Patagonia if you're heading anywhere cold. All four of these big names either sell eco-sensitive products or maintain a commitment to sustainable practices.

Starting soon, look for The Green Life blog's new Fashion Monday feature. Got a green fashion product to recommend? Tell us about it and look for it in an upcoming blog post.

 

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Comments

[handmadejewelry]

Copper Reflections have many skillful and talented artisans who have 24 years of experience of handcrafting handmade jewelry and unique gifts. We do not use pre-made jewelry parts and put them together. Copper sheets come into our workshop in coils. They are sliced into the correct lengths for handmade bracelets, handmade earrings, unique rings, handcrafted necklaces, etc using guillotines. These copper sheets are then polished using buffing tools and steel brushing to achieve the matte and subtle effect on copper. Jewelry designs are made ready after hard months of work, many trials and experiments and are finally transferred onto the copper sheets. Handmade jewelry designs are then silver plated and special finishes are applied to make them last for years, so people can enjoy their handmade jewelry without any special care. There are actually three layers of finish on our unique jewelry to prevent the color changing or tarnishing over the years. These handmade jewelry pieces are then cut-out by hand using jewellers shears or cutting tools. At our workshop, Ms.Vildan has been cutting handmade earrings, handmade brooches and handcrafted hair clips for over 20 years. http://www.copperreflections.com/

[Pema]

i love the natural cotton tees. it taes three pounds of pesticides to make 1 single tee shirt. global, means shipping. more pollution, i go local when ever possible,. or do without.... its amazing what we dont need.

[PaulineB]

My sister makes jewelry from recycled components, as described in the article. She's off to the huge flea market in Brimfield, Conn. this weekend to hunt for vintage jewelry and other bits for her future creations.

She recently made this video tutorial of how she assembles her jewelry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4GKyewH9aU