11 Sustainable Streetwear Brands Hitting The Road With Ethically Cool Clothes
Streetwear. Casual. Cool. And Collectively laid back.
But is it a cool look for our not-so-cool planet?
These sustainable streetwear brands prove that it can be.
If you’re ready to hit the road, let’s take a quick stroll around the block for some standouts.
Fanfare Label certainly earns its name by designing unique ethical streetwear from revived vintage pieces.
Outland Denim not only has plenty of green business practices in place but they also provide safe and dignified employment for victims of exploitation.
For sick kicks to help you to tread lightly in the urban jungle, VEJA’s ethical shoes go the extra mile by using recycled and innovative bio-based fabrics.
Before you pull on your organic hoodie, bop down to the end of the article to find out how we chose these sustainable streetwear fashion brands.
*This post contains affiliate links
QUICK LINKS FOR SUSTAINABLE STREETWEAR CLOTHING BRANDS
1. FANFARE LABEL
About Fanfare Label
London-based upcycled clothing brand Fanfare Label has an ethical streetwear collection that sticks to its bold, contemporary, and versatile aesthetic.
Their jeans, t-shirts, jumpers, suits, tops, bottoms, and dresses, all go to show why they’re one of the more edgy ethical streetwear brands out there including head-turning statement pieces.
Many of their garments begin as vintage items they transform into fresh new designs.
Fanfare Label’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Fanfare Label specializes in reusing, recycling, and upcycling fabric roll end cuts and pre-loved clothing.
Some items are handcrafted from scratch using organic and recycled sustainable materials bearing GOTS and OEKO-TEX certifications.
Supply chain and labor practices:
If you’re looking for ethical streetwear in the UK, Fanfare Label keeps it hyper-local with London-based manufacturing.
All workers are paid fair wages and workshop practices are in line with the UN’s SDGs.
Green business practices:
Fanfare Label’s clothing comes with a lifetime guarantee for repairs.
To reduce in-house fabric waste, they use zero waste pattern cutting techniques.
Recycled paper packaging, biodegradable postage bags, and recycled polyester labels round out their sustainable materials.
Inclusivity:
Sizing is variable in this female-founded brand’s recycled collection where items are redesigned from waste clothing.
General sizing for tops is UK 6-16 and 26”-34” waists for bottoms.
Community and charitable giving:
Fanfare Label partners with a range of charitable organizations and runs regular educational and awareness-raising events on how to avoid fast fashion.
Available: Fanfare Label
2. ETSY VINTAGE STREETWEAR
About Etsy Vintage Streetwear
From ethical wedding dresses to eco friendly kettles you can buy all sorts of sustainable wonders from Etsy, the online marketplace.
You’ll find plenty of on-point vintage streetwear including graphic tees, windbreakers, sweatshirts, jeans, and bomber jackets.
Besides, the most ethical streetwear you can purchase is second hand, and Etsy’s carbon neutral shipping and net zero goals further help reduce the impact of steezy new streetwear.
- Madame Lorraine: Offering all kinds of vintage clothing, their streetwear specialties are vintage letterman and racing jackets, all at surprisingly affordable prices considering the rarity.
- Glass City Reclaimed: Whether you like strutting in vintage Carhartt or sweatshirts straight from the 90s, Glass City Reclaimed has tops, bottoms, and accessories to express your inner grunge or pop-heart.
- Body Party Vintage: With vintage band tees and goods from sportswear brands like Adidas to high-end designers, they live up to the hype of edgy and unique.
3. NUDIE JEANS
About Nudie Jeans
For sustainable streetwear in Europe, Swedish denim brand Nudie Jeans offers urban staples for men, women, and kids.
You’ll find jeans, jackets, tees, shirts, sweatshirts, pants, shorts, and jumpsuits.
Nudie Jean’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
94% of the fibers Nudie Jeans uses are cotton, either GOTS certified organic, fair trade, or OCS 100 certified recycled.
Used, unrepairable denim often goes back into the loop as raw material for new products.
The brand tag may look like leather, but it’s actually made from vegan Jacron paper.
Supply chain and labor practices:
A member of the Fair Wear Foundation and Textile Exchange, Nudie bares all about their manufacturing in Tunisia, Turkey, and a handful of other countries.
Both these and their fabric mills in Turkey, Italy, and Japan are regularly audited.
Green business practices:
Every pair of Nudie Jeans comes with a promise of free repairs, either via a free repair kit or the experts themselves.
Once you’ve worn them out, return them to receive 20% off a new pair. If possible, the old jeans get repaired, washed, and resold in the Reuse collection.
Nudie has mapped its entire supply chain’s CO2 emissions and offsets this through the UN Carbon Offset Platform.
You can read more about that and their green packaging process in their sustainability report.
Inclusivity:
Men’s and women’s jeans come in unisex sizes (24”-38” waist and 28”-36” inseam) and tops in XS-XL.
Community and charitable giving:
Last year the brand donated 120kg of unsold product samples to Style it Forward, the pop-up shop of The Hunger Project.
Available: Nudie Jeans
4. VEJA
About VEJA
Is sustainable streetwear without ethical sneakers even streetwear?
That would be a no from VEJA.
The Certified B Corp offers sustainable active x streetwear in the form of skate shoes and sustainable running shoes made from biodegradable, recycled, and biobased materials.
They come in a rainbow of colors, including the classic white kicks look you know and love.
Veja’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
For uppers, you’ll find vegetable-tanned, chrome-free, and sourced from LWG Gold certified and REACH compliant tanneries.
The brand also has vegan options that contain two different kinds of vegan leather: Hexamesh (organic cotton and rPET) and B-Mesh (100% rPET).
Uppers aside, 60% of materials are biobased. These include natural rubber, castor seed oil, sugar cane, latex, rice waste, GOTS organic cotton, and banana oil.
Supply chain and labor practices:
VEJA’s sneakers are made in Brazil using materials largely sourced there (Peruvian cotton being the exception).
They pay above the market rate for their organic cotton and wild Amazonian rubber. They further support suppliers by pre-financing harvests by up to 40% to provide financial security.
Their Porto Alegre factory pays above living wages.
You can read more about their social commitments in the brand’s comprehensive code of conduct.
Green business practices:
It costs 5 to 7 times more to make a pair of VEJA sneakers with eco friendly and fair trade materials but because they’ve eliminated advertising costs, the shoes cost the same as competing brands.
Shoeboxes are made from around 60% recycled cardboard, the remaining is FSC certified.
VEJA carries out chemical tests to ensure sneakers are free from hazardous chemicals.
They also offer a repair and recycling service in their Bordeaux and NYC stores.
Community and charitable giving:
The brand provides employment for disabled workers at its Paris warehouse through its partnership with Log’ins.
Available: Nordstrom
5. BACK BEAT CO
About Back Beat Co
Back Beat Co is a WOC-owned lifestyle brand.
If colorful, laidback Cali inspired surf-skate-streetwear is your vibe, then kickflip onto this one.
Women’s tees, tops, rompers, sweaters, jackets, dresses, pants, skirts, leggings, and vests make up this brand’s urban fashion collection.
Back Beat Co’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
As one of our fave hemp clothing brands, they obviously use natural hemp fabric, as well as GOTS certified and recycled cotton.
On the non-natural side, some garments contain TENCEL and deadstock fabric.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Check out Back Beat Co. if you’re looking for ethical streetwear brands in the US.
Most clothing is produced at a family-owned LA factory and dye-house (within a 3-mile radius).
For their plant-dyed garments, they work with a small, family-owned factory based in New Delhi, India that is GOTS certified.
Green business practices:
Back Beat uses recycled paper mailers, recycled plastic poly bags, and home compostable bags.
Inclusivity:
Sizes XS-XXL are available.
Community and charitable giving:
Rotating organizations receive 10% of proceeds of their seasonal collections.
Available: Back Beat Co
6. OUTERKNOWN
About OuterKnown
Co-founded by designer John Moore and world champion surfer Kelly Slater, Outerknown makes waves in the concrete jungle with their high quality ethical streetwear.
They stock a full range of mens and womens tees, shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, flannel shirts, sustainable sweatpants, shorts, and jeans.
Don’t forget their ethical swimwear for days when street turns to beach.
Outerknown’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Their mix of materials includes organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, alpaca wool, hemp, recycled synthetics, REFIBRA™ lyocell (recycled cotton and wood pulp).
Their “Second Spin” yarn contains pre and post-consumer textile waste and is GOTS certified.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Accredited by the Fair Labor Association, Outerknown works with suppliers who share their values, including Fair Trade Certified™ factories.
They’ve supported over 7000 workers through Fairtrade USA and share a list of their Tier 1 suppliers on the Open Apparel Registry.
Green business practices:
Outerknown uses EON’s CircularID™ technology to track the life cycle of each “Second Spin” garment. Scan the QR code on the garment label to discover its journey.
Their online resale platform, Outerworn, keeps clothing in circulation longer as part of their 2030 Sustainability Strategy to reach full circularity.
Inclusivity:
Women’s sizes are available in XS-XL and men’s in S-XXL.
Community and charitable giving:
Outerknown demonstrates its love of the ocean by donating to Ocean Conservancy.
Available: Outerknown
7. ECOALF
About Ecoalf
The first Spanish brand to become a Certified B Corp, Ecoalf’s slogan is “Because There Is No Planet B®”.
And that’s exactly what you’ll find on many of their t-shirts, eco-friendly sweaters, hoodies, pants, shorts, and sneakers.
Rain or shine, they have your urban wanderings covered with high quality ethical streetwear ranging from sustainable rain jackets to eco friendly flip flops.
Ecoalf’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Ecoalf uses organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, TENCEL™ lyocell, recycled nylon, recycled polyester, recycled wool, as well as some innovative new fabrics.
Their Ocean Yarn is made from salvaged ocean plastic and 0-Release yarn is made from 50% recycled nylon using hydrogen bonds to stop the shedding of microfibers.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Ecocalf’s suppliers are BSCI, SA8000 or SMETA certified. A number are also either OEKO-TEX or bluesign® approved.
Green business practices:
Ecoalf is committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of the decade.
They’ve partnered with BICOME to evaluate the impact of each of their products, so descriptions detail the number of resources saved through their practices.
Inclusivity:
73% and 50% of Ecoalf’s employees and executive team are women, respectively.
Women’s sizing runs XS-XL and men’s S-XXL.
Community and charitable giving:
The Ecoalf Foundation collaborates with local partners to carry out the Upcycling the Oceans project in Spain, Greece, Italy, and Thailand.
It works with local fishermen to remove plastic rubbish from the ocean to be recycled into yarn.
The foundation also raises awareness about environmental issues through lectures, workshops, and exhibitions.
Available: Ecoalf
8. ENSŌ CLOTHING
About ENSŌClothing
ENSŌ is a unisex, slow fashion start-up offering affordable ethical streetwear.
The UK stainable streetwear brand is pioneering a “Pod Model” approach where products (think: crewnecks, hoodies, shorts, and tees) are produced in small, limited edition pods using a pre-order system.
ENSŌ Clothing’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
ENSŌ uses 100% organic cotton for its urban streetwear and ECONYL® regenerated nylon for its swimwear.
Supply chain and labor practices:
ENSŌ works with carefully chosen suppliers and factories that are audited each year to ensure healthy and safe working conditions.
All tops are Fair Wear approved.
Green business practices:
The “Pod Model Approach” helps to reduce overproduction and their vertically integrated, wind-powered factory in India reduces manufacturing emissions.
They use paper packaging instead sans plastic.
Inclusivity:
Sizing runs from XS-XL.
Community and charitable giving:
They support several charities working to end plastic pollution, currently donating 4% of profits to Surfers Against Sewage.
Available: ENSŌ
9. OUTLAND DENIM
About Outland Denim
Think you can pull-off double denim ala Bon Jovi?
Then rock your way down under to sustainable streetwear in Australia, Outland Denim.
The first Australian denim brand to become a Certified B Corp (and the second globally), they received a rare A+ rating on the Baptist World Aid Ethical Fashion Report several years running.
While denim is their streetwear specialty (jeans, jackets, and overalls), they also offer tees, hoodies, skirts, and dresses.
Outland Denim’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
100% of the denim is organic cotton or recycled and dyed with natural indigo dye from the Indigofera plant where possible.
If plant dyes aren’t available, they use dyes tested for harmful chemicals.
Outland Denim is going leather-free by using OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified jacron paper instead of leather logo patches.
Supply chain and labor practices:
The brand believes that a sustainable career path is key to lasting social change and staff are supported with the “four pillars of training, opportunity, living wages, and education.”
Founded with a mission to provide safe and dignified employment to victims of human trafficking, they do just that as well as employ other vulnerable and exploited groups.
To obtain complete traceability, Outland Denim recently mapped the complete journey of their denim from Tier 1 to Tier 5.
Learn more about their suppliers in the brand’s supplier transparency list.
Green business practices:
As per their Sustainability Report, they use low-impact production methods that use less water, energy, and chemicals.
They’ve also replaced plastic poly bags with biodegradable cassava bags.
Inclusivity:
The sizing for most styles is XXS to XXL, though a select few are limited to XS to XL.
Community and charitable giving:
In partnership with Precision Solutions Group, Bossa Denim, and Nudie Jeans, Outland Denim has established the Supply Network Intelligence System to support cotton farming communities in Turkey.
The brand has donated well over $200k worth of products to Thread Together, providing quality clothing to those in need.
Available: Outland Denim
10. PLANT FACED
About Plant Faced
Non-binary owned and operated Plant Faced is a London-based vegan streetwear brand for “streetwear minus the sweatshop”.
Their cruelty free ethical streetwear encourages people to embrace their inner vegan or vegetarian.
Across their tees, sweatpants, hoodies, sweatshirts, shorts, socks, hats, and beanies, you’ll find distinct designs and slogan T-shirts like “Delete Meat” and “Kale’em With Kindness”.
Plant Faced’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Over 90% of their line is made with sustainable fabrics including GOTS certified organic cotton and rPET from recycled plastic bottles.
Vegan-friendly water-based inks produce their screen-printed designs.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Almost all Plant Faced’s fair trade streetwear is manufactured in Fair Wear or WRAP certified facilities.
Items are screen printed in London but we’re not sure where sewing takes place. We’ll be enquiring to find out.
Green business practices:
Plant Faced’s clothing is made in small batches and shipped in mailers made of 100% recycled paper and water-based inks.
They’re also switching to recycled woven garment labels.
Inclusivity:
Plant Faced is an equal opportunities employer committed to non-discrimination.
Sizing runs from XS to 3XL.
Community and charitable giving:
Using their platform to “elevate & amplify the voices of others”, they raise awareness and donate to various causes including animal rights organizations Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and WIRES wildlife rescue.
One tree is planted for every item sold through Eden Reforestation.
Available: Plant Faced
11. CHNGE
About CHNGE
For sustainable streetwear essentials that make a statement (literally), CHNGE is arguably the most out-spoken.
Each organic cotton tee, hoodie, t-shirt dress, tank and crop top bears affirmative statements of self-love or social justice, like “No human is illegal on stolen land”.
Defiant in design and impact, this edgy ethical streetwear brand is committed to counteracting the status quo of fast fashion and systemic oppression.
CHNGE’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
100% GOTS certified organic cotton makes up the majority of their eco friendly streetwear.
Their zero waste collection features 100% recycled materials, a mixture of rPET from recycled plastic bottles and cotton fabric scraps.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Clothing is produced in a factory in India that is certified by the Global Recycling Standard, the Indian Green Building Council, and Fair Trade.
Green business practices:
This factory uses a zero discharge water recovery plant and reverse osmosis technology to recycle 98% of dye water.
For every T-shirt, they offset 48.5lbs of CO2 to cover not only manufacturing emissions, but also the garment’s first 50 washes and dries.
Mailers are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and are 100% recyclable.
Inclusivity:
Inclusive sizing from XXS to 4XL.
Community and charitable giving:
Sales from different topical collections are donated to organizations such as the Loveland Foundation, Feeding America, The Trevor Project, and Mental Health America.
To date, CHNGE has donated over £500,000 to several organizations.
Their social media presence is less about marketing and more about making a difference by educating on women’s rights and mental health.
Available: CHNGE
How We Chose Sustainable Streetwear Fashion Brands
For ethical streetwear that’s comfortable for us and the planet, we used our sustainable and ethical fashion criteria to find the best sustainable streetwear fashion brands.
Much like we did for sustainable beanies.
Materials:
Natural fibers like organic cotton, hemp, and linen keep both ourselves and the planet cool and chemical free. Not to mention they’re compostable at end-of-life, too.
Sustainably made semi-synthetics like TENCEL™ lyocell and modal fabric are a close second.
Some ethical streetwear brands use recycled polyester and recycled nylon made from ocean waste but be sure to use a Guppy Friend wash bag to capture microplastic fibers.
- Certifications: Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), OEKO-TEX, Fair Trade, FSC, bluesign®, Global Recycle Standard (GRS)
Supply chain and labor practices:
Supply chain transparency is a must as this is the only way to know #whomademyclothes.
Certifications mean all entities are checked by an impartial third party, and when these aren’t there, we look for a code of conduct that covers all aspects of providing fair, healthy, and safe working environments.
It’s inspiring to see brands making a social impact by providing secure employment to those from vulnerable and marginalized backgrounds.
- Certifications: Fair Trade, Certified B Corp, WRAP, Fair Wear Foundation, BSCI, SA8000, Fair Labor Association, SMETA
Green business practices:
We look for brands that prioritize the health of the planet through carbon offset programs, renewable energy, water-saving manufacturing practices, and eco friendly packaging.
Since circular fashion is the future, brands that consider each step of a garment’s journey from initial design to end-of-life recycling are top picks.
To keep clothes in circulation for as long as possible, brands that offer lifetime guarantees, repair and recycling services, and resale programs get extra street cred.
Inclusivity:
This means offering something that fits all bodies, as well as using a diverse group of models that reflect the true diversity of our human family.
It’s also nice to find affordable ethical streetwear brands making their clothing accessible to a spectrum of lifestyles and budgets.
Community and charitable giving:
Brands that give back make us beam, and do so by donating proceeds and products to worthy causes or using their platform to raise awareness about important issues.
Final Thoughts On Ethical Streetwear Brands
How do you kick fast fashion to the curb?
For starters, you can support one of these sustainable streetwear brands.
But before you do, remember: the most ethical streetwear is the garb already in your closet. Or the secondhand steals from an online thrift store.
Have any street-fashion-loving friends? Share these ethical streetwear brands with them so they too can look on-point.
