7 Ethical Fashion Brands For Fashion Revolution Week!

7 Fashion Brands who are trying to be more ethical Tomorrow it will be 6 years since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh where 1,134 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured. The building was home to factories making clothes for the UK high street for well-known brands such as Mango, Matalan and Primark. It was a horrific tragedy and one that woke us up to the fact that we need to know #whomademyclothes

80% of workers in the fashion industry are women. Yet sadly, research shows that garments are among the items most at risk of being produced through modern slavery. And that’s not the only problem with the industry; the environmental footprint it is leaving is huge, through our over consumption and harmful production practices. According to Fashion Revolution “We are producing 53 million tonnes of fibres to make clothes and textiles annually, only to landfill or burn 73% of those fibres.”

But it is not all doom and gloom. There are brands seeking to make a difference. Yes no one brand is perfect, but there are those who are looking to produce their fashion more ethically and sustainably. And we have our part to play too in trying to buy less and remembering that when we do buy we vote with our wallets. Which is why today I have joined forces with Emma from Finaly Fox to bring to you a whole host of wonderful, stylish and affordable brands who are willing to be transparent about who is making their clothes.

So here are seven ethical fashion brands for you:

Mi Apparel

Mi Apparel is a wonderful online ethical fashion boutique. Founder, Kate, sells a whole range of different brands that have been selected for their ethical and sustainable credentials. I’m wearing clothes from CUS and Swedish Stockings.

The button through dress is from CUS a Barcelona based brand where transparency is key. In fact they’ll tell you every last detail, from where the fabric is made through to where the trims come from. My dress was made by Rosario and her team in Barcelona. They also use sustainable fabrics such as Tencel ®, linen, recycled cotton and organic cotton.

These fishnet socks are from Swedish Stockings. All their products are knitted in Northern Italy near Lake Garda in a factory that has several social initiatives including helping those with addiction and rehabilitation. They also place due emphasis on sustainability and not allowing overproduction. For example, the factory uses all their spare yarn to make samples and is powered entirely by renewable sources. Karen Maurice of n4mummy wearing a blue button through dress & Emma from Finaly Fox wearing a pink jumpsuit both from ethical fashion brand Mi Apparel

“they’ll tell you every last detail, from where the fabric is made through to where the trims come from.”

Fishnet socks from ethical fashion brand Mi apparel and pink canvas trainers from Shoe The Bear

Boden

When I think of ethical fashion brands I am guilty of discounting larger brands, assuming that they are purely profit driven. However, back in 2015, I asked four brands #whomademyclothes and only Boden responded.

Now Boden are members of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a non-profit organisation that seeks to use business to create a just and sustainable world. And through this they are part of BSR’s HERproject that seeks to empower low-income women working in global supply chains. They do this through the HER Health programme that sees peer educators teach about nutrition, sexual health and family planning to give them a stronger voice in their workplace and communities. The programme also provide links with local services to improve women’s wellbeing. Currently this initiative has been rolled out to five factories, with more in the pipeline. Both the shirt dress I am wearing and Emma’s ponte midi dress were made in a factory running the HERproject.

Boden also has a commitment to producing clothes to last. It’s why they leave plenty of space on the labels of their children’s clothes, as they know they will have more than one owner. And as someone who dresses their children in second-hand clothing, I can tell you Boden’s clothes do stand the test of time. And it’s also why you can send back your clothes for up to a year if you are not happy with the quality.

Karen Maurice of n4mummy & Emma from Finlay Fox stood outside a yellow door dressed in Boden

“[they] seek to empower low-income women working in global supply chains.”

Karen Maurice of n4mummy wears rainbow sneakers from Boden Karen of n4mummy and Emma from Finlay Fox dressed in Boden on a London Street

Lucy & Yak

For seriously comfy dungarees that you can breastfeed in, wear with a bump and generally just look great in, Lucy & Yak are the place to go. But the amazing thing is, they strive to pay everyone within their business a fair wage. From their UK staff to whom they pay the living wage, to their tailors in Northern India whom they pay four times the state minimum wage. Lucy & Yak really embody the idea of ethical fashion. And it doesn’t stop there; they care about our world too. Each garment comes wrapped in a recycled fabric bag that is beautiful and the mailing bag is 100% biodegradable. In fact they’re trying to remove any trace of plastic from their production and distribution, a challenge indeed! Both Emma and my dungarees are made from organic cotton.

Karen of n4mummy wears organic denim dungarees from Lucy & Yak and a mohair pink jumper from Lowie, Emma from Finaly fox wears stripe dungarees from ethical fashion brand Lucy & Yak

“Lucy & Yak really embody the idea of ethical fashion.”

Beyond Nine

Dressing your bump shouldn’t be a challenge, but it so often is. However thankfully, Beyond Nine have changed all this. Fed up with the throw away nature of maternity wear, founder Naomi has designed clothing that is bump friendly but will also flatter beyond birth and, crucially, is suitable for breastfeeding. And producing ethical fashion has always been important to Naomi. Indeed, all her garments are ethically made from natural and organic fabrics here in the UK.

Lucy is her digital pattern maker and turns Naomi’s designs into reality. The clothes are then produced here in North London by Yuksel who’s been running her unit for 11 years. My gingham dress and Emma’s jumpsuit are both made from linen which is an incredibly sustainable material. Growing flax is much less water intensive than cotton. It also has very little waste and requires fewer pesticides, herbicides and fungicides than cotton.

Karen Maurice of n4mummy wears a gingham check dress from ethical fashion brand Beyond Nine A close up of the linen gingham dress from Beyond Nine

“…clothing that is bump friendly but will also flatter beyond birth.”

Karen Maurice of n4mummy and Emma from Finaly Fox both wearing linen outfits from Beyond Nine

Bobo Choses

Save the honeybees by planting a garden. This is the wonderful message behind Bobo Choses Spring Summer 2019 collection. Most of their collection is made locally in Mataró, Barcelona close to their headquarters, including this fab sweatshirt and skirt I am wearing. Their founder Adriana talks about just how important this has been for creating trust with their suppliers and quality with their clothing. As a brand they are continually looking for ways to be more sustainable. They’ve introduced sustainable fabrics, such as organic cotton and linen. And they have teamed up with ECAP (European Clothing Action Plan) to make their designs in a more sustainable way, reduce clothing waste and move towards a circular economy.

Karen Maurice of n4mummy wearing a yellow sweatshirt and green patterned skirt from ethical fashion brand Bobo Choses with clogs from Kitty Clogs Sweden

“….they are continually looking for ways to be more sustainable.”

A close up of Karen Maurice of n4mummy wearing the hair clip from Maison Archives and sweatshirt from ethical brand Bobo Choses Karen Maurice of n4mummy & Emma from Finlay Fox wearing clothes from ethical fashion brand Bobo Choses

Clary & Peg

Those of you who know me well will know my love of Clary and Peg. I wore their pinafore dress all through my pregnancy with Laurie and still wear it today. For they are a vintage inspired maternity brand producing clothing that looks great with or without a bump. All their clothes are high quality and designed to last.

They’ve just launched their Spring/Summer Collection and we’re wearing a couple of our favourite pieces from it. This fab floral jumpsuit and Emma’s beautiful floral dress. And everything is done here in London. From their pattern cutter Nicky who turns their designs into reality to their manufacturer Julie who pays a living wage to her three employees. Keeping their production local, helps them to ensure it is ethically made. And as for sustainability? Well they turn their offcuts into these wonderful head bands and turbans, which are made by a local seamstress. Also they work with UK fabric mills and often use end of roll fabrics to minimise their environmental footprint.

Karen Maurice of n4mummy wearing a floral jumpsuit from vintage inspired maternity brand Clary & Peg, with Emma from Finlay Fox wearing a Clary & Peg floral dress

“they turn their offcuts into these wonderful head bands and turbans,”

Karen from n4mummy in a pink turban, sunglasses and floral jumpsuit from ethical fashion brand Clary & Peg Nude & Gold Midi clogs from Kitty Clogs Sweden

Smalls

Smalls have harnessed the secret powers of merino wool to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer. Yes the entire collection is made from merino wool by a small family run factory in Portugal and consists of super comfy vests, long sleeve tops and trousers for both adults and children.

Now merino wool is a wonderfully sustainable material as a merino sheep’s wool never stops growing. And if you’re worrying about the welfare of the sheep you don’t need to, as these are ZQ Merino certified sheep. In a nutshell, this means there’s no mulesing, the sheep are well fed and watered, roam in open pasture and have adequate shelter. It’s lovely being able to relax in our Smalls safe and confident about how these garments were made.

Karen of n4mummy & Emma from Finaly Fox wearing merino trousers and tops from ethical fashion brand Smalls

“It’s lovely being able to relax in our Smalls safe and confident about how these garments were made.”

Close up of the Smalls logo and colourful stitching Merino trousers from Smalls and hand embroidered slippers from Afolktale

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the ethical fashion brands who are seeking to make a difference in how our clothes are made. But it certainly contains some of my favourites. And If you’re on Instagram, then each day this week I’ll be delving more into the behind the scenes of each of these brands over on my stories. So do head over and take a look.