Fashion is a lot of things to a lot of people, but many have become concerned with the detrimental effects of the fast fashion industry. Fast fashion is the result of consumer demand driving the catwalk trends of the season into production. It is often cheap, inefficient, and, most importantly to businesses, profitable.
It would seem that the trade-off for trendy comes at the price of sustainability. The fast fashion industry makes up around 10% of global CO2 output, relying heavily on fossil fuel chemicals in the production of textiles — the same fossil fuels that are spiking greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming, according to Bloomberg News. Fast fashion is costing us our beautiful planet — but fear not! Some brands are changing the game.
It’s true that more sustainable clothing production has often been linked to an uptick in pricing; however, Ayesha Barenblat, founder of the fashion nonprofit Remake, explained to Vogue India that sustainable fashion pricing should not be compared against its fast fashion counterpart because there’s so much more going into it.
“A sustainably made and priced garment reflects a brand’s dedication to reducing their impact on the environment and the makers as well,” she said. While sustainable fashion is naturally going to cost more than fast fashion, affordable and sustainable can still go hand in hand. Some brands are making the basics work for all demographics and negotiate the price of being trendy and doing better for our planet.
Allbirds sneakers offer footwear without the carbon footprint
Allbirds, a footwear and apparel company that specializes in wool fabric, came onto the sustainability scene in 2014. With the tagline “Mother nature made us do it,” co-founders Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger combined their love of the planet with their expertise in merino wool, engineering, and renewables — creating their unique wool fabric out of only natural materials. In 2021, Allbirds released The Flight Plan, which outlines the company’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint by half by 2025, and as close to zero as possible by the end of 2030.
Allbirds footwear ranges from around $90 to $165. Allbirds offers an array of sneakers, sandals, slippers, flats, and even hiking shoes for men and women. Apparel and accessories start at around $12 and cap out at around $120 for pullovers.
In an interview with Business of Fashion, Ashley Comeaux, vice president of Allbirds product design, discussed the significance of integrating sustainability into their production model, saying, “Understanding the downstream effects of the decisions that you make can impact the way you approach design. Diligence around material choices and how they come together, diligence [over methods of] delivery of your designs — ocean shipping versus airfreight — getting in the nitty gritty can work towards making you a stronger designer and one that’s in service of the environment.”
Girlfriend Collective turns recycled water bottles into activewear
Girlfriend Collective is an activewear company that makes its gear from recycled materials. With the tagline “Don’t waste it, wear it,” Girlfriend Collective offers a breakdown of the materials for each of their products as well as using 100% recycled and recyclable packaging for their orders. The company sources discarded water bottles from Taiwan and showcases transparency in its processes, providing details on how they use environmentally friendly dyes and have wastewater cleaned before it is released, donating any mud to a local pavement facility for reuse. “From fiber to fabric, we need to look at every step and make sure we know its impact,” the company asserts.
Girlfriend Collective offers an array of sustainably stylish athleisure gear and swimwear. With bright activewear sets (leggings, bras, and tops, available up to 6XL), they also stock unitards, dresses, sweatsuits, accessories (scrunchies!), and intimates. Undergarments begin at around $18 and coats max out at around $300.
Reviews of the brand’s viral leggings, the Compressive High-Rise Legging (regularly retails for $68), are consistently positive. The Every Girl’s fashion editor, Madeline Galassim tried them and wrote, “From a functionality standpoint, more so than any other set I own, I can truly do it all in my Girlfriend set. … I’m going to leave you with this hugely controversial opinion: I love my Lululemons, but I reach for my Girlfriend set first every chance I get.”
