Sustainable and vegan clothing companies are becoming more and more in demand. Consumers no longer want apparel that exploits animals, or promotes sweatshop working conditions.
The desire for fast fashion is changing, and now companies are becoming more focused on the environment, and how their manufacturing processes can affect it.
These days, there are a huge number of vegan clothing companies to choose from, bringing you sustainable, fashionable clothing.
LaBante London has selected 10 of the best sustainable vegan clothing companies for you to look at. From shoes and bags, sweatshirts to cocktail dresses, these vegan fashion designers have it all.
People Tree’s big draw is that it promotes traditional ways of making clothes. Supporting hand weaving, hand kitting, and hand embroidery means that they can create much-needed jobs in rural communities.
Alongside this, their clothes are hand dyed with low impact dyes, ensuring that not only are they creating much-needed jobs but they're also protecting the environment as well. People Tree is a UK company, but they have stockists all over the world, including the USA, where they sell in a number of vegan clothing stores.
People Tree is dedicated to fair trade and being completely transparent from start to finish, so you can know exactly where your product comes from, and how it’s made.
Olsenhaus is the brainchild of Elizabeth Olsen and was founded in New York City in 2008. Elizabeth has set out to change our perceptions on what it is to be vegan and to wear vegan leather.
Her shoes don’t sacrifice style and have been worn by celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and Cameron Diaz. One of the top vegan fashion designers in America, many Olsenhaus shoes have a bright pop of color, and the synthetic material looks and feels luxurious.
These shoes are made to withstand hardcore partying; made to be strong and to be worn again and again.
Olsenhaus is at the forefront of vegan leather and cruelty free clothing production, continually looking for new and improved materials for all of their products. Recently they have taken the industrial waste from a television factory in Japan and up-cycled it to make an ultra-suede.
Minimizing waste is a key part of the material that they produce, and Elizabeth continues to advocate against the use of animal leather and the harmful chemicals that processing it produces.
For John Bartlett, it’s all about the dogs. His stylish range of t-shirts and hoodies all feature a print of his three-legged rescue dog, ‘Tiny Tim’ and he even has his own rescue foundation called ‘The Tiny Tim Rescue Fund’.
John produced the first 100% vegan luxe menswear collection at New York Fashion Week in 2012. He has long been a champion for animal rights and welfare and this is reflected in the clothes that he produces in partnership with Bon-Ton Stores.
In addition to his fashion designing, John is a podcast host for Dogs Save The People, which airs a new episode every week and focuses on – you guessed it – how dogs make our lives better.
Miakoda want to create change through the way we dress. They want us to re-evaluate the way that we shop, consume, and the way that we treat our planet.
Their website lays out everything that they do in glorious detail, so that the entire process of making their garments is 100% transparent.
The great thing about their clothes is that they look normal – like any fast fashion that you would buy on the high street. The difference is, that their slouchy pants are sustainable, as well as being long-lasting. Unlike fast fashion, you won’t need to throw them out after three months.
Not only do they go into detail about the vegan fabrics that they use and why they use them, they also have a step-by-step guide to all of their packaging material. From biodegradable packing tape to recycled paper, they are committed to being zero waste.
This is even extended to the scraps form the factory floor. Miakoda collect everything, and these scraps are then repurposed to form their Zero Waste Collection.
Groceries Apparel make all of their clothes in California. Even within the sustainable clothing world, home grown manufacturing is rare.
What is great about this company is that this makes it super easy for them to track the garments that they produce, ‘from Seed to Skin’, as they say.
Focused on using organic cotton and recycled plastic in many of their items, Groceries Apparel also has a vegetable dye collection, where they experiment with the best way to use non-toxic dyes to achieve the best looks.
Their cruelty free fashion ranges from comfy crop-tops to stylish dresses and their clothes are also affordable – which may come as a surprise to some. They have also expanded into men’s apparel and aim to bring sustainable clothing options to everyone.
Bhava shoes are designed to last. Each design has had a test run around the streets of New York to ensure that not only are they comfortable to wear all day and aren’t going to cause any sprained ankles, but that they will also withstand the everyday wear and tear of a busy city life.
Brava shoes are 100% vegan and some of the most stylish out there. The ultra suede that they use is easy to keep clean and care for, and you can purchase shoes in every style and colour imaginable.
Bhava care about your feet, and so keep their heels at no more than three inches in height. They also use shock absorbent cork insoles in their heeled boots, so that you will have long lasting comfort.
As the name suggests, Alternative Apparel suggest an alternative option to the fashion that we typically see on the high street. It has a full range of different apparel and caters for both men and women.
Alternative Apparel uses only eco-friendly and sustainable fabrics and is of course 100% vegan. Best known for their super-soft organic t-shirts and hoodies in a full range of colours, Alternative Apparel differs from other cruelty free clothing companies due to the sheer range of product that it has on offer.
Committed to low-impact dyes and waste free packaging, this is a company that shows us just how far we can take sustainable clothing. They prove that we are able to buy the type of clothes that we want while still being eco-friendly, and that we don’t have to make any fashion sacrifices to do so.
Delikate Rayne is all about premium, luxurious textiles that are 100% cruelty free. With a minimalist style, DR is pushing the boundaries of what style means to us. It is one of those vegan clothing brands that when you see it, you simply won’t be able to think about anything else.
Delikate Rayne wants everyone to discard fast fashion and look to more sustainable practices for the future of our planet. While the items might be on the pricier side, their quality is undeniable. There is a rebellious side to this vegan designer but this only enhances their luxury aesthetic.
We particularly like their range of faux leather miniskirts (that are all PVC free). All of DR’s manufacturing is done by a family run company who are paid a fair and living wage.
Keep Seeing, Keep Making, Keep Dreaming. This is the tagline for shoe and apparel company Keep. Founded in 2006, their original idea was to make cruelty free footwear that was long-lasting, and not made in the bulk that you see in other stores.
Their shoes are both classy and classic in style and are designed to be worn every day. All of the factories that manufacture Keep shoes are audited by a third-party non-profit to ensure that the working conditions are the absolute best that they can be.
With a range of hand-dyed t-shirts and jackets also available, this is one of the vegan fashion brands that you should definitely keep an eye on for the future.
Here at LaBante London, we pride ourselves on producing sustainable, 100% vegan products. The interior of our handbags is made from recycled polyester – using 25 plastic bottles which are turned into pellets and then spun into fabric.
The exterior of our bags is made from high quality faux leather that is both eco-friendly and fashionable. Our workers are primarily women and they are all paid a fair wage and given maternity leave should they choose to have children.
In addition to this, we also have a zero waste policy on all of our packaging, with even our dust bags being made from recycled material. It also helps that our range of bags and wallets look and feel luxurious, proving that sustainability can still have style!
