DAY 4: ETHICAL DENIM
Welcome to day 4 of the blog series. If you’re still here well done! Today we’re taking a look at denim. The denim industry takes one of the biggest tolls on the environment due to the washes, dyes, chemicals and overall water usage needed to create one pair of jeans- it’s thought that it takes around 2,000 gallons or 7,600 litres of water! That’s a lot! Good on you wrote: “Over 10% of the world’s population is currently deprived of access to clean water, a staggering statistic which puts an alarming perspective on our thirsty denim purchases.” Over 2 billion pairs of jeans are produced worldwide each year, and many of them pose risk to those who make them, not only through the cheap labour or gruelling work hours but because many consumers have been hungry for distressed denim, a look that requires sandblasting- blasting jeans with sand multiple times to wear them down. This is highly dangerous to the workers as the particles can get lodged in their lungs. It makes me think again, do I really know where my clothes are coming from? And do I care enough to make a change?
I love these brands I’ve featured below- and really looking at their website I can see just the lengths these companies are going to in order to create a great product that is not at the cost of people or the environment.
Who: Women
What: Denim, Accessories, Vintage
Where: London
Favourite items: Victoria blouse, Suki dungaree, Bailey Jean
Price: ££
Seasonless and made to last
Sell directly to customer
Radical transparency
Vegan
Female empowerment
Living wage
Circular mission
Nudie *
Who: Women, Men and kids
What: Clothing and accessories with a re-use range
Where: Based in Sweden produced in Italy and India
Favourite items: Breezy Brit- Dusty White, Karin Dungarees Blue Touch, Straight Sally Everblack
Price: ££
Pay a living wage since the company was founded in 2013 and since 2016 have been giving additional amounts to increase wages beyond that at selected suppliers (3,400 workers)
Work with certified raw materials
Certifications include: GOTS cotton, ocs 100, usda organic
Who: Men and Women
What: Jeans
Where: Based in the Netherlands, produced in Tunisia and Spain
Favourite items: Wyde Sara Cropped - Stone Breeze, Mams Tapered - Bio Bleach, Flared Hazen - Strong Blue
Price: ££
Founded in 2012 by Bert Van Son- coming out of 30 years experience seeing the true underbelly of life in the fashion industry.
A completely circular fashion company
Lease a jean model was thought up in 2013
All Jeans are made with GOTS certified cotton.
Certifications include: BCORP, Global Recycle Standard, Nordic swan Ecolabel certified, Cradle 2 Cradle, Vegan
Short supply chain and radical transparency
Fair wage paid
Who: Men and Women
What: Jeans
Where: Based in Derbyshire, produced in India, Indonesia and Pakistan
Favourite items: Rosie Overall Dungarees in Pink, Libby Straight Jean in Black, Colette Wide Leg Cropped Jean in Vintage Light Stonewash
Price: £
The factory is GOTS-certified and Fairtrade
Provide a living wage
All made with organic cotton
Vegan
It traces all of its supply chains and all its supply chain is independently audited.
Comovita *
Who: Men and Women
What: Clothing and trainers
Where: Based in Barcelona, made in Bristol, Madrid and Spain
Favourite items: The #3 Jeans, The #6 Jeans
Price: ££
Pay a fair wage
Fabrics are all organic or recycled and made to last with a 5 year warranty on their jeans
Sell on pre-order to avoid excess stock and help consumers make non-impulsive decisions
Jeans are made to measure
The Comovita fund was set up to use part of their profits to fund NGO’S you can apply for funding via their website
Hold certifications such as PETA and FairTrade
Radical Transparency
Who: Women and Men
What: Clothing and accessories
Where: Based in Germany, made in Portugal and Turkey
Favourite items: Nessaa cr. worker, Mairaa, Cajaa
Price: ££
Only use sustainable & regenerative materials
GOTS certified since 2011 as well as PETA Vegan, fair wear foundation certified and fairtrade organisation approved
Working on a circular system and you can send back old t-shirts for them to have another life
Provide support to cotton farmers
Grass paper packaging
90% vegan
Fair wage paid
Who: Men and Women
What: Clothing
Where: Based in Amsterdam, produced in a mix of places including The Netherlands, Italy, India and Tunisia
Favourite items: Leila, Caroline, Juno High Rover Dark
Price: ££
Founder Tony created the brand as a means to clean up the denim industry- watch this video to find out more.
Only use sustainable materials
Certified by The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), OEKO-TEX, OCS100 and a member of the Fair Wear foundation,
60% of the input material for their jeans is recycled or rescued materials with a former life: they use the metal of former surgical instruments for buttons, and use waste streams of the denim production.
All production that’s from outside EU is 100% Fairwear Certified
The factories use a circular water supply for both dyeing and treatments
Fair wages
Who: Men and Women
What: Clothing and accessories
Where: Based in the Netherlands, Produced in Turkey, Italy, Pakistan and Portugal
Favourite items: Nora Loose Tapered Heritage Blue, Carey Skinny Black Again, Harper Loose Flare Rose Bowl Blue
Price: ££
All of products made from organic and recycled materials
Fair wage paid - member of the fair wear foundation
No seasonal collections and no sales
Sustainability report on their website
All the cotton they use is GOTS certified organic
Circular vision
Transparency pledge, supplier list and traceability on their website
Other brands to check out- Huit denim, Outland Denim
Did you read yesterday’s post? Incase you missed it find it here: Ethical loungewear/sleepwear companies