Key Points:
- Sustainable fashion uses sustainable and eco-friendly materials to manufacture apparel
- It’s predicted that the fashion industry’s water consumption will grow to 118 billion cubic meters by 2030, which will exacerbate any impending water crises
- Fashion brands should, therefore, use sustainable approaches in their production and marketing processes
The modern fashion world is characterized by stiff online competition between brands. Regardless of their size or niche, sustainable clothing brands always seem to outperform their counterparts. A report by Nielsen shows that brands that continuously demonstrate a commitment to sustainability have a competitive edge over those that don’t. This is especially important in a world where consumers are conscious of the corporate social responsibility of fashion brands. To meet the demands of the growing consumer demand for sustainable fashion, clothing brands must rework their production processes and practices to make them more sustainable.
Table of Contents
What is Sustainable Fashion?
As the world strives to go green, sustainability is increasingly becoming a key point of focus. With the fashion industry generating almost 10% of global carbon emissions, top industry players are making moves to avert this trend through sustainable innovation. This means taking into account all aspects of the supply chain and lifecycle of clothing, shoes, and other fashion accessories to reduce their negative environmental and social-economic impacts. The following criteria can best describe a sustainable fashion brand:
- Uses sustainable and eco-friendly materials to manufacture apparel.
- Adheres to fair and ethical manufacturing and marketing processes.
- Produces on-demand and custom-made products.
- Uses high-quality and timeless designs.
- Repairs, redesigns and upcycles garments to extend their lifespan.
- Has green logistics and shipping guidelines.
- Takes into account necessary manufacturer and supplier certifications.
- Educates customers on proper upcycling or reuse processes.
Why Do Ethical Fashion Brands Matter?
Ethical fashion is important in the modern world because sustainability is everyone’s social and environmental responsibility, one that requires immediate and ongoing action from both manufacturers and consumers. It’s predicted that the fashion industry’s water consumption will grow to 118 billion cubic meters by 2030, which will exacerbate any impending water crises. Similarly, the carbon footprint generated will increase to 2,791 tons as the amount of waste hits 148 tons, leading to significant environmental detriment.
This is only a glimpse into the crisis evident in the fashion world. The sustainability problem is more far-reaching than most people imagine. For this reason, the industry should set clear standards and ethical guidelines in clothing manufacturing, marketing, and use. While it may seem impossible to control these factors directly, we can effect changes that will ultimately reduce the pressure on resources and restore the balance between us and the planet with regard to fashion.
10 Sustainable Clothing Brands That Are Also Acing eCommerce
Understanding sustainability and integrating it into a fashion brand’s processes can increase interest from consumers exponentially. This is not just within the environmental dimensions but also in retail marketing and other eCommerce operations. Here are some elements that the best sustainable clothing brands use to create a successful eCommerce store.
- A stable eCommerce store with a great user experience
- Fast and accurate product search functionality
- Good product photography and videos
- Interesting product descriptions
- Reliable payment gateways
- Mobile-friendly designs
- Eco-friendly packaging and shipping options
- Well-crafted web copy and calls-to-action
- Special product promotions
Integrating these elements into your online marketing strategy makes a whole world of difference for your sustainable fashion brand’s online store. At Easyship, we’re proud to work with a range of leaders in sustainable fashion, including Man’s Best Friend and Oliv/Swim.
While they focus on creating beautiful clothing that’s good for the environment, we support their efforts by offering tips on creating a great eCommerce store, and how to find sustainable shipping solutions and green packing ideas. Here is a roundup of ten sustainable fashion brands that are acing the eCommerce world:
1. Man’s Best Friend
This is among the best fashion eCommerce stores you’ll ever come across. With its extensive line of well-positioned products, customers have no trouble browsing the product pages. This Easyship client is the epitome of modern fashion built on sustainability, and it makes that clear on its store with extensive, well-written copy about its product’s environmentally-friendly features.
2. Oliv/Swim
Oliv/Swim is a unique brand that creates modern, thoughtful swimsuits. All products are made from regenerated ocean plastic waste such as plastic bottles and fishing nets. Their role in cleaning up the ocean is an inspiration to their target customers and remains a key driving factor for their success in swimwear production and sales. It’s also why we love that they’re an Easyship client! Oliv/Swim’s eCommerce store entices customers with great photography and product descriptions.
3. ABLE
ABLE is a lifestyle brand that believes in ending generational poverty by creating economic opportunities for everyone, but more specifically, women. Their bold, creative, and elegantly designed bags, wallets, backpacks, and wardrobe staples are sourced from women all over the world who are paid for their efforts. This provides thousands of women with an opportunity to earn while supporting unique fashion. Their online product pages use customizable photography, clear shipping and return policies, and suggested products to encourage potential customers to buy. This Easyship client has clearly been following our suggestions for good product photography and product pages!
4. Pact
Pact has a reputation for producing exceptional organic cotton apparel. The brand’s supply chain and production processes are clean and responsible, making it a top choice for customers who value sustainability. Their reasonably-priced range of activewear, underwear, tops, and joggers keeps customers coming back. Their website is easy to navigate and uses product promotions and customer reviews to generate sales. Their visually-appealing website is well-laid out and uses good photography to showcase products.
5. Ninety Percent
Ninety Percent brings together fashion ethics and aesthetics in a unique way, without compromising on style. The brand is inspired by the responsibility to protect the planet’s limited resources. While promising products over prices, Ninety Percent uniquely celebrates nature’s elements with stunning designs and prints that every customer will love. Their visually-appealing website is well-laid out and uses good photography to showcase products. It also offers payment by major credit cards and PayPal.
6. RIMMBA
RIMMBA is an Indonesian fashion brand that designs original garments that customers will cherish for a long time. They focus on sustainable fashion by recycling, upcycling, regenerating, and reducing waste during the production process. The brand is a reflection of how the clothing industry should be conscious about caring for the world. Their sleek online store makes it easy for customers to find what they want, and provide extensive, well-written information about their products and sustainability efforts.
7. Sezane
Sezane is a French brand that believes in sustainable production that benefits the planet. It focuses on the ethical production of all items - from shoes and denim to swimwear and jewelry. The brand offers free deliveries for all orders, except for destinations that require express delivery. It also facilitates free returns in most European countries. Secure payment is also key to the online store, so it allows multiple payment gateways, including Visa, PayPal, Maestro, MasterCard, Sofort, iDEAL, Amex, and more. Sezane also runs a philanthropic initiative.
8. Everlane
Another planet-loving Easyship client, Everlane is a popular sustainable brand that is always transparent with customers about where its products come from. The brand works with ethical suppliers and spells out the cost of every clothing item on the site. Along with Everlane’s well-crafted essentials, the eCommerce store makes an excellent alley for social-minded customers to make purchases by offering easy search functionality and a mobile-friendly design.
9. Reformation
Reformation is a Los Angeles-based brand known for its eco-consciousness. It is guided by its unique vision to “lead and inspire a sustainable way to be fashionable.” It designs a wide range of clothing that is ethically manufactured using organic deadstock and recycled materials. As well as its stunning product visuals, this Easyship client has a stellar “about us” page. It also uses the hashtag (#jointhereformation) and hypnotizing “stories” to spread eco-friendly messages through its product pages.
10. Manduka
Manduka produces high-quality performance yoga apparel and accessories. Their products are crafted using simple, natural, and renewable products. The brand is committed to empowering people globally through donations, brand ambassador programs, and an exclusive live-on mat recycling program, and Easyship is proud to help them with its mission by offering affordable, low-impact shipping solutions. All items on their well-designed website are coupled with high-quality visuals and product descriptions.
Sustainable Fashion is Going Big with eCommerce
Modern-day customers want ethically and sustainably made products. Therefore, fashion brands should use sustainable approaches in their production and marketing processes. This will lead to more conversions while earning the brand greater respect and loyalty.
The good thing is that the ethical and sustainability components of eCommerce can be added to the mix as you go. As such, fashion brands have the freedom to choose what to implement to start, then focus on more practices as they grow. This includes finding sustainable shipping solutions and green packaging ideas.
We’re big fans of protecting the environment and its resources at Easyship, so if you’re a sustainable clothing brand looking for better ways to manage your shipping, sign up for a free account with us to see how we can help you reach your goals with shipping solutions from over 250 couriers, automated functions, and branded post-purchase processes for your customers.
