When it comes to the intersection of sustainability and style, it’s impossible to not talk about Patagonia. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, the California-based brand has come to be seen as the epitome of environmentally-conscious-but-still-cool clothing.

After some initial pitfalls—like climbing gear that actually eroded rock faces—Chouinard steered Patagonia towards more responsible and thoughtful production. There is no one area that signals Patagonia’s commitment to a sustainable future—instead, the company has taken a holistic approach. Its jackets are made using traceable down, which means that interested parties can ensure that geese were raised in humane conditions and the feathers harvested in ways that aren’t cruel. Patagonia’s WornWear program sees artisans repair and refurbish old jackets, fleeces and countless other garments using authentic Patagonia hardware and techniques, which essentially keeps customers from buying new pieces. In that respect, Patagonia has been one of the early champions of the upcycling movement, encouraging the brand’s fans to keep their old clothes instead of throwing them away, thus sacrificing sales that would pad its own bottom line.

Speaking of Patagonia’s bottom line, the brand’s commitment to sustainability extends to its finances. Chouinard used Patagonia to launch “1% For The Planet”, a movement that sees corporations around the world pledge one percent of their revenue towards environmental causes. And, slowly but surely, Patagonia is transitioning to use only recycled or renewable materials—a process the company hopes to complete by 2025—while the brand’s retail stores and offices are aiming to use only renewable sources of electricity.

With relatively affordable price points and simple garments, Patagonia is the ideal entry-level brand for those looking to dress in a more responsible way.

Noah will have you know that it is not a sustainable brand. By its own admission, Noah has a lot of ground to make up to be considered a sustainable brand—from its packaging to how its garments are produced. But, what makes Noah interesting from a sustainability standpoint is how much emphasis the brand puts on promoting responsible consumption.

In its own dissertation on its failure to be wholly sustainable, Noah offered that it could instead play a crucial role in driving conversation—raising awareness, in other words. It has definitely succeeded in doing so. We’ve talked about Noah’s iconography and graphic language before, but it’s worth emphasizing just how much the brand promotes protecting our planet through the graphics they put out. From T-shirts that call out Smokey The Bear to pamphlets that address sustainable fishing in-store, Noah is conscious that they can sway its consumers in the right direction.

So, while its packaging may leave much to be desired and its fleece isn’t upcycled, Noah is a great example of brand that takes an educative approach to sustainability. And, while they’re not perfect, the brand has put its money where its mouth is by signing onto the aforementioned 1% For The Planet initiative.

In a similar vein to Noah, Eden Power Corp’s stated mission is to educate consumers—about clothing, yes, but also about sustainability writ large. Launched in early-2019 by renowned milliner Isaac Larose and his partner Florence Provencher-Proulx, each Eden collection is inspired by a utopian vision for a specific industry; the first collection touched on solar energy, for example.

Central to spreading the gospel of sustainability is how Eden produces its garments. The pieces themselves are fairly simple and not unlike the streetwear staples you’re familiar with: Printed T-shirts and hoodies, workwear-inspired jackets and pants, and hats—which only makes sense given Larose’s involvement. The T-shirts are made from organic cotton and printed using natural dyes, while the jackets and pants are made using recycled plastic and the hats are fashioned from upcycled fabric that would otherwise be wasted.

Equally important, though, is the aesthetic nature of Eden. Larose and Provencher-Proulx want to make “cool shit” that resonates with people who don’t necessarily have an existing penchant for sustainability. The graphics that adorn the duo’s pieces are eye-catching and contemporary, the accessories—like branded Nalgene water bottles and slings that can be used for either said Nalgene or a bottle of natural wine—are slightly aloof and light-hearted.

Oh—and the metaphorical cherry on top? The garments are sold with hangtags embedded with seeds so they can be planted. Truly a utopian vision for the future of streetwear.

Most brands that dabble in upcycling tend to focus on giving old clothes new life. What makes Kanghyuk unique is that the Korean brand has instead focused on prolonging the life of an abundant, but oft-forgotten commodity with no ties to fashion: airbags.

Designer Kanghyuk Choi has been somewhat obsessed with refashioning airbags into garments since his days as a student at the Royal College of Art. Upon launching his eponymous label with his partner Sanglak Shon, Choi continued to repurpose used airbags to create garments ranging from blazers and parkas to caps and trousers. Kanghyuk earned immediate plaudits from industry insiders and co-signs from prestigious retailers like MACHINE-A and H. Lorenzo, as well as a collaboration with Reebok—something almost unheard of for such a young brand. But, the biggest achievement? The brand was shortlisted for the 2019 LVMH Prize.

Kanghyuk’s cross-disciplinary approach to sustainability—using auto industry waste to make clothes—is not only refreshing from an ideological standpoint: The clothes carry a distinct aesthetic with an almost surreal look and feel that would be difficult to replicate without the use of airbags.

Taken together, the distinct aesthetic and industry success make Kanghyuk a glowing example for other brands seeking to innovate in a responsible way.

If Kanghyuk’s inclusion on the LVMH shortlist suggests that it’s possible for brands to earn accolades while operating in a sustainable way, then PHIPPS’ nomination as a fully-fledged finalist for the same prize is proof positive of that idea.

Like most fashion-forward but sustainability-focused brands, PHIPPS is a relatively recent creation. Founded by former Dries Van Noten designer Spencer Phipps, the label only showed its inaugural collection at Paris Fashion Week in January, 2018. PHIPPS uses a host of recycled and organic textiles to create its garments, with factories in Portugal tasked with producing said garments in responsible and eco-friendly ways. Phipps, himself, has argued that sustainability is akin to modern luxury and fashion brands have an obligation to pursue more sustainable ways of making their clothes. And, with his eponymous label, the designer is offering a roadmap of sorts for brands that seek to exist at the intersection of sustainability and style.

PHIPPS’ eco-friendly ways extend from how the garments are made—and what they’re made of—to how they look. You’ll notice that’s somewhat of a theme among the brands we’ve covered. Phipps used brown extensively in his inaugural collection because it reminded him of the Boy Scouts; binoculars were draped around models’ necks; many of the pieces are inspired by climbing, hiking or snowboarding; garments that aren’t feature prints or graphics that reference nature. It’s a holistic approach that makes caring about the environment look good.

And, given PHIPPS’ initial success—LVMH finalist and all—it seems like a decent blueprint to follow.

Priya Ahluwalia’s eponymous label was only launched in 2018, but the London-based designer has quickly established herself as one of fashion’s rising stars, scooping up both awards and adulation in the process. Since graduating with an MA in Menswear from the University of Westminster, Ahluwalia has won both the H&M Design Award, in 2019, and the LVMH Prize, in 2020 (the Prize was shared among the eight finalists due to the pandemic), while also being named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list.

The praise is well-deserved.

When the young designer launched her label, she sought to use vintage and second-hand garments to create something that was at once new and old. And while her commitment to sustainability and more eco-friendly manufacturing have earned plaudits, Ahluwalia is emblematic of the future of fashion: a sustainable brand that is about more than sustainability. Ahluwalia has developed a unique, recognizable aesthetic, inspired by her dual Indian-Nigerian heritage and the reality of being “a young mixed heritage person living in modern Britain.” From sportswear to outerwear, the designer draws on the silhouettes and styles those around her wore when she was growing up. The resulting garments are arresting and undeniably unique, with curved lines, bold colors and contrast panelling becoming central to Ahluwalia’s visual language.

Ahluwalia is proof that it’s possible to make one’s mark without leaving an outsized environmental footprint.

CFCL, short for Clothing For Contemporary Life, is the youngest brand on this list, having only introduced its first collection in January 2021. Even with such a limited offering, the man behind CFCL, Yusuke Takahashi, is among the most seasoned designers in menswear, having helmed the now-defunct Issey Miyake Men line.

Aesthetically, CFCL definitely fills part of the void left by Issey Miyake Men, with garments that are simple yet complex. At first glance, you’ll notice solid colors, simple knits, and little in the way of unnecessary accoutrements. The shapes are very much in the tradition of Miyake: at times sleek, at times voluminous, toying with our perception of the human silhouette. A single-button jacket with flared sleeves is part blazer, part artist’s smock.

What makes CFCL especially interesting is that it’s not simply a case of a designer creating a new home for their style. With CFCL, Takahashi is making a concerted effort to reimagine how clothes are produced, by using computer-programmed knitting and certified eco-friendly polyester yarns. In that respect, CFCL is set out to establish itself as “a progressive laboratory for innovative fashion-making,” by finding efficient ways to make long-lasting garments. Which is where the pared-down look comes into play: These are slightly quirky, but timeless basics that can be worn season after season.

(di)vision was founded by the sibling duo of Nanna and Simon Wick in 2018, and the Copenhagen-based brand embraces being hard to pigeonhole. “It’s how you see it,” the brand declares on its website, and the name can refer to “either […] taking one jacket and making it two, or taking two thoughts and making it one vision.”

One thing that isn’t up for debate—and ties together everything (di)vision does—is the Wicks’ sustainable approach to fashion and production. (di)vision’s garments are, like those produced by Ahluwalia, made by combining things that are pre-existing to create something new. The brand has distinguished itself with zip-together bomber jackets, sewn-together flannels and long-sleeved shirts made using short-sleeved T-shirts and paisley print bandanas, not to mention the “(di)constructed” and up-cycled Carhartt pieces.

In the three years that (di)vision has been around, the Danish brand has carved out a reputation for itself not just because of its sustainable practices, but because of the resulting aesthetic. Some of the brand’s garments have drawn comparisons to Needles’ Rebuild line, but as the Wicks continue to expand their offering, it’s becoming increasingly clear that (di)vision has a vision of its own.

Jonathan Anderson has received a lot of praise for the work he’s done at Loewe. While most of it is due to reinvigorating the Spanish luxury house and turning it into one of the most influential—and commercially successful—labels of the last decade, by the time Anderson is done at Loewe, it may be his stewardship of the Eye/Loewe/Nature project that most warrants applause.

Launched for Spring/Summer 2019, Eye/Loewe/Nature is Loewe’s sustainability and upcycling-driven initiative. While only a portion of the Eye/Loewe/Nature collection is upcycled, the (re?)-diffusion line has, since its inception, had an inclination towards the gorpy. The aesthetic and philosophic commitment to nature and the great outdoors has seen a blend of particularly strong outerwear, eclectic graphic hits and bags in myriad shapes and sizes.

When compared to some of the other brands on this list, Eye/Loewe/Nature might not seem like much, but it’s important to contextualize it: this is one of the most important luxury houses in the world going beyond an empty acknowledgement or Earth Day capsule collection and dedicating a portion of their offering to sustainably-produced clothes—but also to spreading awareness and building up a customer base in the sustainable luxury realm.

It represents the first step, but sometimes, that’s the hardest one to take—especially for a luxury industry that can be archaic at the best of times.

We’ve already waxed poetic about Story Mfg., so we’ll keep it short and sweet.

Based in London’s East End, Story Mfg. was founded in 2013 by the husband and wife duo of Katy and Bobbin Katazome. Even as the brand has reached new levels of success of popularity, it’s remained a small, thoughtful operation—which has allowed it to grow healthily over the years.

Aesthetically, Story Mfg. sits in a small, easy-going, earthy-meets-artsy niche filled with natural dyes, peace signs, mushrooms and aliens. If that sounds familiar, it’s because countless brands have adopted a visual language not dissimilar from Story Mfg.’s.

But aesthetics are only part of Story Mfg.’s appeal, making it hard for imitators to entirely undercut Story Mfg.. Natural dyes are one of the linchpins of the brand, with a whole section of the brand’s website devoted to explaining them: fermented iron, jackfruit wood, various types of bark and Rubia Cordifolia, a flowering plant used for red and orange hues, and, of course, natural indigo. Beyond that, the Katazomes have placed an emphasis on biodegradable, organic materials while striving to create the kind of sustainable, zero-waste production that the fashion industry will need to survive. Excess materials and other waste is used as fertilizer in and around the artisanal ateliers in the Indian forest where Story Mfg. produces its clothing.

The Katazomes have claimed that their “greater goal is to help reverse the damage done by industry,” and so far, they’re on the right track.

The sneaker industry has a sustainability problem. Try as they might to use recycled ocean plastics or donate proceeds from Earth Day drops, the ever-churning sneaker drop machine needs to find a solution that ensures a sustainable future. One sneaker brand that has sustainability at the core of its identity—not a once-year marketing strategy—is Veja.

Veja was founded in 2005 by Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion, and the French brand has made it its mission to “rethink the creation of a popular product” in an ecological, ethical and sustainable way. In practice that means the rubber used is bought directly from rubber tappers in the Amazon; the cotton used is grown in ecological and sustainable fashion; and recycled plastics are used to create mesh. They do that 365 years—on every sneaker.

Perhaps most interesting is that Veja was among the first to do things the sustainable way, without necessarily drawing attention to it. They made sleek, high-end sneakers that just happened to be sustainably-made. Veja’s growth has been slow, but steady, relying on good product and word of mouth rather than outsized marketing budgets.

Too many brands let sustainability be their entire identity. Veja, like so many of the other brands on this list, ought to be the blueprint for the future of fashion: treat sustainability like the norm and distinguish yourself by making good product, instead.

You’ve probably first heard of Avery Ginsberg thanks to his one-time presence on Youtube, through his food blog Songs From Forest Floor or, even better, in 2021’s edition of the Grailed 100). Today, Ginsberg’s better known as a designer in his own right. His work for Ground Cover—the footwear and accessories label he founded in 2020—builds off his experience co-founding Staatsballett, itself an environmentally-conscious label.

As Ginsberg explains, Ground Cover was conceived after switching to a plant-based lifestyle in 2017, searching for a quality work boot that reflected his values (and was created without animal cruelty). After discovering a void in the market, he decided to create his own. Now the brand’s signature product, the 8 Eye Boot is built from pineapple fibers and a “proprietary heavy-duty lug sole”; these details ensure the boot is long-lasting, durable, repairable (thus reducing waste) and almost entirely biodegradable. A similar approach on ethical and environmentally-conscious production is applied to Ground Cover’s other products—like the linen Tsuno bag or the Peace Ring (made with recycled silver and housed in a cactus leather purse).

For Ginsberg, it’s not just about creating an environmentally sustainable product, but an entirely new way of thinking about fashion and design.

Now, hear us out. We don’t want to gas ourselves up, but our brand has sustainability built directly into our business. We don’t technically create clothing designs like the other brands on this list, but we pride ourselves on being able to contribute to the wider fashion dialogue by giving our users an opportunity to recycle their well-loved garments.

As a peer-to-peer marketplace, sites like Grailed give users a chance to find new homes for their unwanted or pre-worn garments—a more sustainable option than simply trashing clothing into landfill. Furthermore, by buying secondhand (as opposed to “brand new” from a traditional retailer) Grailed users are able to reduce the amount of clothing in the wider global market; giving new life to an already existing garment equates to one less new garment being produced by a fashion label.

Giving our users a chance to share their wardrobes with other like-minded shoppers, offer users to try new styles and help reduce waste and recycle clothing within the wider fashion marketplace—it’s something Grailed is immensely proud of.