The not-so-new fashion trend you should be keeping an eye out for is sustainable and ethical fashion. The fears of global warming, and the soon-to-be irreversible effects of the world’s Co2 emissions, is not news to anyone. From the ecological effects of elevated Co2, all the way to how the global carbon footprint affects our health and life span, global warming is an issue that affects the world. What action we take to reduce our carbon footprint is, quite literally, life or death.

One of the biggest factors in pollution and the global carbon footprint, is fashion – fast fashion, to be specific. Below, 21 questions and facts on how fast-fashion plays a role in the global carbon footprint will be answered, and you’ll be pointed to some of the leading brands revolutionizing fashion sustainability and ethicality.

What is sustainable fashion?

According to ‘Cosmopolitan’ in ‘What is sustainable fashion, and which brands are the most eco-friendly?’, sustainable fashion refers to the life of a clothing item. From the materials used to create the garment, how they’re sourced and created, to what happens to the garment once it’s discarded from the wardrobe. The entire life of a garment is considered when thinking about fashion sustainability, and that’s for every single item of clothing made sustainably.

What is ethical fashion?

So, if that’s sustainable fashion, what’s ethical fashion?

As told by ‘WTVOX’ in their article ‘What Is Sustainable Fashion – A Comprehensive Guide + 10 Must-Know Designers’, ethical fashion revolves around the people aspect of fashion. Despite the majority of garments being made by machines, “people-power” is still a huge part of the clothing industry. Workers are needed to add the final elements to clothes and do all the things machines aren’t yet programmed to do. With this in mind, it’s a well-known fact the conditions in which workers operate are less than healthy. From long working hours and low pay to terrible working conditions and rights in the workplace. This happens because clothing companies source their manufacturing overseas, and to countries with less worker-workplace related protective regulations, explained by ‘Bellatory’, in ‘Ready-to-Wear: A Short History of the Garment Industry’.

So, as you may have guessed, ethical fashion is finding ways to combat all the inequalities now inherent in the fashion industry. ‘WTVOX’ tells us companies focus on finding and sourcing their clothing from workers who are well paid, work reasonable hours and work in healthy environments. You’d think necessities like these are implemented everywhere but, sadly, there are many work environments that don’t provide safe places for their workers to operate, a living wage, or reasonable working hours. With the fashion industry being one of the largest in terms of sourcing from these unfair working environments, it’s imperative they start the process of transferring manufacturing to those of more sustainable and ethical means.

So, what brands are sustainable and ethical?

‘wearetala.com’ Is a clothing company that not only sources their clothing from sustainable and ethical sources, they also manage to keep their clothing affordable, and fights for awareness in the fashion industry, giving those who are often side-lined the opportunity to be in the spotlight.

‘T/ALA’ has entire pages on their website dedicated to explaining their desire for sustainable and ethically sourced clothing. They even have something they call ‘T/ALA’ talks and is all about sustainable and ethical fashion, and body positivity. Their website is also a platform for marginalized groups in fashion, such as the black and disabled communities. ‘T/ALA’ is a brilliant fashion company, so go check them out!

Another fashion company that focuses on fashion sustainability and ethicality, is ‘mayamiko.com’. ‘Mayamiko’ have made pledges on ‘zero waste goals’, to ensure they’re adding as little as possible to the waste of fashion; ‘circular economy’, so they can follow their garments’ life cycle; ‘solar power’, to reduce their environmental impact; ‘locally sourced materials’, to reduce all the negative environmental effects that shipping materials cause; ‘tackling packaging’, as they recognize this as an issue for sustainability; ‘fair trade’, to ensure everyone involved in their fashion’s life cycle is treated ethically, and many others that make them one of the best fashion companies for sustainable and ethical fashion.

So there you have it! Sustainable and ethical fashion for the win.