4 Ethical Fashion Brands To Check Out

Two years ago this week the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh sent a wake-up call to the world. Over 1,100 people perished in the disaster, and international retailers came under intense scrutiny over how they source their clothes. While the media claimed outrage, many wonder just how much has changed in practice.

The Guardian says the fund for the families of Rana Plaza has seen a lot of major brands not paying pledged amounts. Campaigns such as Fashion Revolution are asking consumers to question clothes companies about how they source their labour across social media in a bid to effect change in how manufacturing is carried out.

While we wait for corporates catch up with the demands of people who only want workers to be treated fairly and humanely, we look at four ethical brands you can start supporting now.

Braintree calls itself ?feel good fashion? and it’s relaxed look is reflected in the materials it uses. Only sustainable fabrics are used, and we love our super soft bamboo socks. Check out their bamboo wellie socks for any festival hijinks you have plotted. This is Ireland, not Coachella.

Who Made Your Pants is a lingerie brand based in Southhampton in the UK and makes amazing sustainable knickers. The fabrics are from factory shipments bigger companies have sold on and the women who make the pants all come from backgrounds that have made finding employment difficult. What a great ethos! We love these smug panties.

People Tree products make us feel very Pacific Crest Trail. There’s just a sound vibe emanating from every collection. Which makes sense when you read about the company philosophy. People Tree is one of the pioneers of Fair Trade and is all about environmentally sustainable fashion. Forget about those carbon footprint dyes that are poisoning the planet, People Tree works with artisans throughout the developing world to deliver very chill, and very ethical items. We love this hand knitted jumper.

Stella McCartney is one of the biggest fashion names to embrace sustainability as an everlasting trend, with an eco-friendly collection available on her site. Her commitment to asking the fashion world to rethink how it does business has drawn her praise from Liva Firth, Colin Firth’s campaigning wife. Stella’s lingerie uses organic materials and recycled metal for all those sexy clasps.

Follow Jeanne Sutton on Twitter @jeannedesutun

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