11 Slow Fashion Brands Fighting Back Against Fast Fashion
Take a deep breath. Slow down with us for a moment.
It’s time we channel our slow fashion angel on our shoulder, not the fast fashion devil. You know, the one that convinced you to buy that metallic body con dress that ripped the first night you wore it.
Slow fashion brands like these save us from more than just cheap fashion mishaps. It’s the eco friendly solution that might just bring the fashion industry back from the brink.
RE/DONE nails the most important aspect of slow fashion: keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible. Their fully recycled and recyclable garments are the antithesis of fast fashion.
Bastet Noir’s made to order designs won’t just make you feel drop-dead gorgeous; you’ll also feel good knowing they’re improving the lives of underserved women.
While tonlé uses recycled fabrics in their inclusively sized range of slow fashion essentials.
If slow fashion is your style, but slow reading isn’t, go directly to the end to see what qualifies as a slow fashion brand.
*This post contains affiliate links
QUICK LINKS FOR SLOW FASHION BRANDS FOR MEN & WOMEN
1. VALANI
About VALANI
VALANI’s “once upon a time” worthy pieces help us say “the end” to fast fashion. Anyone who promotes slow fashion is a tre storybook hero, after all.
This Tencel clothing brand offers a curated collection of feminine dresses, blouses, bottoms, skirts, and accessories.
VALANI’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
As a slow vegan fashion brand, VALANI’s pieces are made using plant-based materials like Tencel, hemp, and banana fabric.
Dyes are also plant-based and non toxic.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Their sustainable clothing is made in either Chicago or a GOTS 6.0 certified facility in India.
At either location, tailors work in safe and clean conditions and are paid hourly rather than by piece.
Green business practices:
Fabric trimmings and offcuts become recycled materials for scrunches, pillows, toy stuffing, and packaging materials.
Inclusivity:
VALANI is female-founded and offers sizes 0-12 (XS-L).
Community & charitable giving:
Feel good in your silky tree-based dress knowing it not only plants a tree, but that 10% of the profits go toward organizations specializing in female empowerment.
Available: VALANI
2. RE/DONE
About RE/DONE
RE/DONE’s clothing is made using the most sustainable materials of all: other clothing.
This upcycled clothing brand started by giving vintage Levis’ a new lease of life. Now, their upcycled line extends beyond sustainable jeans.
You’ll find their funky stylings in sweatpants, tees, hoodies, overalls, shorts, tanks, sweaters, jackets, and dresses.
RE/DONE’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Fabric scraps and unwanted garments from Levi’s and Hanes brands are combined with fabric like organic cotton, Tencel lyocell, and some stretchy synthetics.
Supply chain & labor practices:
RE/DONE’s factory in Los Angeles employs ethical practices and, being 10 miles away from HQ, is frequently audited.
Green business practices:
Keeping garments in circulation, they offer a way to resell your unwanted RE/DONE pieces on their website.
Their carbon footprint is made lower still through water-conserving and hand-stitching techniques.
Inclusivity:
Women’s XS-L tops and 23-30” jeans.
Over 50% of their models and influencers are BIPOC.
Community & charitable giving:
RE/DONE donates up to 10% of profits to rotating organizations. Past recipients include the ACLU, Transgender Law Center, Black Lives Matter, and the World Health Organization.
They also arrange for food drives in Los Angeles.
Available: RE/DONE
3. MATE THE LABEL
About MATE the Label
We’re happy to include MATE the Label in our close circular fashion circle.
This organic clothing brand creates affordable ethical clothing to detox our closets from fast fashion foes.
We turn to this MATE of ours for their women’s tanks, tees, thermals, sweats, jumpsuits, hoodies, shorts, bottoms, and more.
MATE the Label’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
MATE uses low impact dyes and biodegradable fabrics like organic cotton, linen, and TENCEL.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Here’s what makes MATE the Label one of the best slow fashion brands: sewing, cutting, dying, processing, packaging, and shipping happens in their Los Angeles factory.
Organic cotton comes from India, TENCEL from Austria, and linen from China.
Green business practices:
“V localized” manufacturing = small transportation emissions.
They plan to implement a program to transform old MATE products into new garments, use recycled/recyclable packaging, and boast an office equipped with eco friendly office supplies and on-site composting.
Inclusivity:
Their Extended Collection increases their XS-XL range to 1X-3X (with models to reflect).
The company is female-founded and operated by a mostly-woman team.
Available: MATE the Label
4. MATA TRADERS
About Mata Traders
Mata Traders is a rare brand combining the best of slow fashion with plus sizing.
Their range of ethical plus size clothing includes women’s tops, skirts, and ethical dresses in cuts and patterns that are flirty and flattering for everyone.
Mata Traders’ Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Mata uses fabrics like certified organic or conventional cotton, linen, rayon fabric, and some spandex.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Every purchase supports and empowers women in Nepal and India by fighting gender inequality through economic independence.
Unlike conventional factories, their fair trade manufacturing cooperatives work with all skill levels and don’t dock pay for less productivity. You can’t get more slow fashion than that.
Green business practices:
Reducing energy consumption, this Green America Gold Certified business uses traditional handcrafting techniques and solar power in their main facility.
Inclusivity:
This slow fashion brand ticks the inclusivity box, both for size (US sizes 0-24 are covered) and budget.
Community & charitable giving:
Going beyond good wages, they support mostly female workers with opportunities to learn literacy, parenting, computer skills, and more.
These training courses provided the catalyst for one embroiderer to organize a 200-women protest demanding access to water!
Available: Mata Traders
5. TONLÉ
About tonlé
tonlé is yet another of the sustainable brands turning recycled fabrics into clothing that’s “restorative, regenerative and just.”
This zero waste fashion brand creates eco friendly clothing for women in small batches, including dresses, tops, bottoms, sustainable jumpsuits, jackets, and accessories.
tonlé’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All pieces are made using 100% recycled materials sourced from large garment factories.
Hardware and zippers are also recycled factory cut-offs, and dyes are natural and water-based.
Supply chain & labor practices:
These slow fashion pieces are made in a small workshop in Cambodia.
Aside from general ethical practices, their workers receive benefits, management training, vacation time, free lunch, and team retreats.
Green business practices:
In addition to using other brands’ wasted fabric, tonlé turns theirs (or scraps too small to directly become something new) into yarn via Weaves of Cambodia.
Instead of machines, they achieve high quality products and minimal waste through manual cutting, printing, and embroidery.
With the Open Closet recycling program, they offer a solution to unwanted or worn out tonlé pieces
Packaging consists of recycled materials.
Inclusivity:
They offer inclusive women’s sizes US 0-26 that are on average 3” larger than those of traditional fashion brands.
Community & charitable giving:
Anyone can join tonlé’s activism community, which is like brand ambassadorship, except you’ll be an ambassador for the planet by participating in monthly calls-to-action in exchange for store credit.
Available: tonlé
6. BASTET NOIR
About Bastet Noir
Small batches are great and all, but this made to order slow fashion brand is next level.
Bastet Noir’s stunning garments are made using customers’ exact measurements.
For fancy occasions or channeling your inner #GirlBoss, their suits and dresses (including bridal and bridesmaid dresses) may be a perfect fit. Check them out if you seek slow fashion brands for business attire.
Bastet Noir’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Cotton, cashmere, linen, wool, silk (both pure and satin), and french terry are their sustainable materials. The best part?
They’re 100% recycled.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Once you submit your measurements, garments are made to order by small studios in North Macedonia.
Their seamstresses are single moms and entrepreneurs. Bastet Noir helps them not only provide for their children with fair wages but also grow their own business through a reinvestment fund.
Customers can tip their seamstresses at checkout which goes directly into this fund.
Green business practices:
Bastet Noir ships using carbon offset shipping.
Inclusivity:
Since everything is custom made to order, sizes can be anything you need them to be.
You can even schedule a virtual fitting appointment with this woman-owned brand for help.
Community & charitable giving:
Bastet Noir gives anywhere from 10-50% to causes like Black Lives Matter and animal shelters like Cat Shelter Meow Paws and Wires.
Available: Bastet Noir
7. COYUCHI
About Coyuchi
Coyuchi is all about that slow-down-California-style of living.
Helping us dress when slowness is the main prerogative (a.k.a. bedtime), they offer everything from ethical pajamas to affordable linen sheets and organic baby blankets.
Coyuchi’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
100% Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), MADE SAFE organic cotton and linen are not cool with fast fashion, but they are with Coyuchi.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Coyuchi partners with India’s sustainable farming Chetna Coalition for cotton, which is woven in India or Turkey and finished in Portugal.
Many of their factories have Fair Trade certifications.
Green business practices:
The 2nd Home Take Back Program rewards Coyuchi linen recyclers with a 15% discount.
Their Climate Beneficial products support regenerative agriculture and capture more carbon than they produce.
Inclusivity:
XS-XL is available for women and M-XL for men.
Community & charitable giving:
Coyuchi supports regenerative agriculture organizations (like Fibershed) through 1% for the Planet.
Available: Coyuchi
8. ASKET
About ASKET
Is you’re asking why ASKET’s made our list of slow fashion brands, we’ll let them do the talking: “zero compromise garments – essentials made to last.”
Their Permanent Collection—to which they add just 3-4 wardrobe essentials per year—embodies anti fast fashion philosophy. We really couldn’t ASKET for more than that!
One of the best slow fashion brands for men (and women), ASKET offers tees, sweatshirts, knitwear, denim, trousers, outerwear, underwear, and accessories.
ASKETs Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
You’ll find fabrics like extra-long staple Egyptian cotton, organic cotton, linen, traceable Merino wool and various recycled fabrics (ethical cashmere, wool, and polyester).
Most products (except their boxers) are elastane-free.
Supply chain & labor practices:
“Know your garments. Buy less, keep them longer.”
That’s why each product comes with an Impact Receipt, showing its cost, traceability, CO2 emissions, and where it was processed, sewed, laundered, dyed, and milled.
Their WRAP, SA8000, OEKO-TEX, and/or Global Organic Textile Standard certified suppliers stand out for environmental and social rigor.
Green business practices:
ASKET never runs sales or promotions that encourage unconsidered consumption.
Between designing garments with end-of-life in mind, offering repair and recycling programs, and selling garment care products to ensure they last for years to come, ASKET is one of the best sustainable brands in terms of product circularity.
For shipping, they avoid air transport, use reusable packaging, and have a proprietary tool to help customers with sizing, reducing returns.
They also provide employees with an additional five vacation days if they travel by train instead of plane.
Inclusivity:
Men’s sizes XS-XL.
Available: ASKET
9. TENTREE
About tentree
Just as trees grow slowly, tentree epitomizes slow fashion.
They’re a favorite of the slow fashion brands for women and men’s daily essentials that are affordable and high quality enough to last for years.
This Canadian B-Corp has no shortage of eco friendly clothing, including sustainable sweatpants, tees, activewear, organic hoodies, and accessories like hats, scarves, and wallets.
tentree’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Organic cotton, TENCEL lyocell, hemp, recycled polyester, and trace spandex round out the majority of their materials.
Supply chain & labor practices:
tentree shares their Factory Ledger (backed with certifications from Fair Trade, WRAP, SA8000, Fair Wear Foundation, and BSCI) to see exactly where things are made.
Green business practices:
View each product’s Eco Log for a breakdown of how their eco friendly methods save water, reduce waste, and minimize CO2 emissions.
Speaking of emissions, they sell a range of carbon offsets on their website.
Inclusivity:
You’ll see sizes up to XXL for men and XL for women.
Community & charitable giving:
Every purchase = 10 trees.
The trees they plant may grow slowly, but the rate at which they’re planting them isn’t. With over 55 million planted to date, they hope to reach one billion trees by 2030.
Available: tentree
10. EILEEN FISHER
About Eileen Fisher
Eileen Fisher may be one of our favorite hemp clothing brands but they’re so much more than that.
This New York brand believes in “A simple wardrobe. A simple life.”
Their women’s slow fashion line is extensive: tops, sweaters, outerwear, pants, jumpsuits, denim, dresses, skirts, sleepwear, shoes, and accessories like sustainable gloves.
Eileen Fisher’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
EF uses sustainable materials like certified organic cotton, linen, hemp FSC certified Tencel Lyocell and modal fabric, RDS-certified down, LWG-certified leather, chlorine-free wool, and recycled polyester, nylon, and cashmere.
A handful are not so eco friendly though like silk and viscose.
Supply chain & labor practices:
A Certified B Corp that’s big in the eco friendly slow fashion world, their suppliers and manufacturers are widely spread.
They aim for transparency by showing where they’re located, what standards each adheres to, and releasing regular impact reports.
Child and forced labor is prohibited by their ILO-based Code of Conduct and they’re working to reduce human trafficking in the fashion industry overall.
Green business practices:
The Textile Exchange partner uses carbon emission reducing processes for all of their materials (e.g. linen grown using crop rotation and processed with dew retting).
They track progress using Science Based Targets Initiative to assess the impact.
Renewable energy-powered stores and green office buildings further their eco friendly cause.
Renew allows you to resell your old Eileen Fisher duds and Waste No More turns unsellable garments into pillows and decor.
Inclusivity:
Most (but not all) garments range from XXS-3X.
Community & charitable giving:
The Eileen Fisher Foundation supports women working for environmental justice on top of their many other NGO beneficiaries.
Available: Eileen Fisher
11. REPRISE
About Reprise
The quick and dirty (err… clean?) about Reprise is that they’re one of the top slow fashion brands for ethical activewear.
Especially since they only offer one type of sustainable yoga clothes: leggings.
Pair them with the three other products they make: scrunchies, hair ties (gotta keep that hair out of your face to hold that perfect crow pose!) and eco friendly yoga mats.
Reprise’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Tree-based TENCEL Lyocell (and a touch of spandex) will support your tree pose, especially since it comes from sustainably managed eucalyptus and is processed in a closed-loop manner.
Dyes are GOTS certified organic.
Supply chain & labor practices:
The list of slow fashion brands that produce their own garments in the USA is small, but Reprise is on it.
Designing, cutting, and sewing happen in New York City, while knitting and dying are finished in Los Angeles.
All workers are treated like family and supported with above-living wages.
Green business practices:
Here’s another big FU to fast fashion: Reprise orders only the amount of fabric required for their small batches. No excess deadstock fabrics.
Everything shipping-related is eco friendly, recyclable, sustainably sourced, and/or biodegradable.
Carbon offsets make their entire product line carbon neutral.
Inclusivity:
Diverse models represent their sizes XS-XL.
Community & charitable giving:
Reprise regularly supports social enterprises that help secure clean drinking water for global communities in need.
Available: Reprise
HOW WE FOUND THE BEST SLOW FASHION BRANDS
Slow fashion is a movement. It gives practical meaning to sustainable and ethical fashion.
It asks us to step back and take stock of our clothing consumption, focusing on high quality, longevity, and circularity.
Let’s dive into what slow fashion looks like for us.
Materials:
Sustainable fabrics form the basis of slow fashion (literally).
Our favorites are natural materials like certified organic cotton, linen, TENCEL modal and lyocell, ethical wool and down, and hemp, as well as recycled materials, whether deadstock fabrics or recycled plastic.
- Certifications: OEKO-TEX, Global Recycled Standard, MADE SAFE, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
Supply chain and labor practices:
We love it when ethical slow fashion brands slow down enough to actually get to know the details about where pieces are made. The more details they can share about wages and working conditions of where their products are made, the better.
Living wages, safe and empowering work environments, and local manufacturing are the cherry on top of any slow fashion ensemble.
- Certifications: International Labor Organization, Fair Labor Association, WRAP, Fair Trade, ISO 14001, SA8000, BSCI
Green business practices:
The biggest focus for many of these brands is designing high quality clothes that last for years to come.
That also means clothes that aren’t influenced by fake seasons and the need to “keep up with the Joneses.” Slow fashion pieces should seamlessly fit into any capsule wardrobe (AKA minimalist wardrobe).
Carbon neutrality and circularity by way of garment recycling programs and upcycling (what is upcycled clothing? It’s clothing made from unwanted and bound for landfill textiles) are also focuses for these slow fashion brands.
When pieces are made to order or made in small batches, that also slows down the fast fashion machine.
Inclusivity:
Extended sizes, inclusive models, and female-founded companies make for the most socially inclusive slow fashion brands.
We should all be able to play a role in slow fashion, so we were thrilled to see that many brands have incorporated measures to keep their clothes affordable (without sacrificing the planet) so no one chooses fast fashion because they can’t afford not to.
Community & charitable giving:
Support of social and environmental organizations, tree planting, and discounts for essential workers are a few ways slow fashion can be more than just a well-made and well-loved product.
Ultimately, many of these slow fashion brands are also trying to make the push for slow fashion to be more inclusive. We can change the fashion industry but it will require a connected community to do so.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SLOW FASHION BRANDS
Slow fashion is the new black.
It’s the only way to dress and it’s where the fashion industry needs to go.
Remeber ASKET’s take on what slow fashion really means: “Every garment has a story, a cost and an impact. Green, Conscious, Recycled or Offset isn’t moving the needle. In fact, it’s confusing us into thinking we can actually shop our way out of the problem.”
That in mind, the best thing we can do is wear what we already own or buy secondhand from a thrift store.
Beyond that, join these slow fashion brands in saying F.U. to fast fashion and encourage friends to do the same by passing this article along.
