50 Affordable Ethical Fashion Brands To Dress Consciously On A Budget

Have you ever thought that ethical clothing is too expensive? If yes, this is the article for you. If not, this article may help you discover something new.

Let’s start with an undeniable fact: sustainable and ethical fashion is more expensive than fast fashion. This is due to at least two noteworthy reasons: higher quality of materials and a fair wage for workers.

However, the higher prices of these mindful brands can be daunting! Luckily, there is a variety of affordable brands that are either fully sustainable or are committed to stepping in the right direction without compromising on quality and style.

What we shouldn’t do is just stop at the price we see on the hangtags. Indeed, the real cost of the cheaper clothing is pollution, bad working conditions, and garments that have to be discarded after a few uses because of the bad performance of the fibers and colors… or just because that trend has already passed. These costs are not shown on the hangtags, but they are real and the Earth – with all the animals and humans – is already “paying” them and suffering for them.

We are led to think that to be stylish and on-trend we need to buy a lot of clothes at a very small price. This conviction should be changed, one step at a time, together with our wardrobe. This doesn’t mean that we have to throw away all our fast fashion clothes and buy new sustainable pieces: this is not a solution. A good start may be orienting our next purchases towards more ethical and eco-friendly brands and building a conscious wardrobe slowly with timeless pieces of style, and keeping the cost per wear of our pieces of clothing in mind.

Are you looking for essentials, basics, underwear, activewear, or something else? Here’s a list of 50 affordable and ethical brands definitely worth checking out that will help you on this journey through your wardrobe to discover a new world… just like in the Chronicles of Narnia!

1. Tentree

Tentree is committed to sourcing the most eco-friendly materials, such as recycled polyester, hemp, cork, and organic cotton, to create clothing. Their basics and activewear are inspired by the shapes and colors of nature, spread positive messages about global warming and endangered animals, and are suitable for your everyday outfits. As the name suggests, Tentree plants 10 trees for each item sold.

2. Chnge

Chnge is a brand you were looking for to spread positive messages on feminism, global warming, and love. Chnge clothing is for everybody. Their products are ethically made in India and China from 100% organic cotton. To date, Chnge has donated about 300,000 $ to organizations focused on empowering the next generation of women leaders, civil rights, saving LGBTQ lives, fighting climate change, and many more. Definitively a noteworthy brand.

3. Everlane

Everlane creates trendy everyday essentials for women and men that are designed to last for decades. Their pieces are made from organic cotton, old plastic bottles, fishing nets, recycled wool, and cashmere. They believe that customers have the right to know how much their clothes cost to make, as such Everlane reveals the true costs behind all of their products – from materials to labor to transportation.

4. JW Pei

JW Pei is an accessories brand that creates vegan leather bags with a modern and minimalistic aesthetic to celebrate feminine beauty every day. JW Pei uses high-quality canvas, polyurethane, and certified fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. Whether you are looking for the perfect bag for your formal evening or for your simpler day look, JW Pei has the perfect vegan bag for every outfit.

5. Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective turns landfills waste – old plastic bottles, and fishing nets among others – into ethically made and colorful activewear. They also take back your old Girlfriend pieces to turn them into brand new pieces. So far Girlfriend Collective has recycled more than 1 million water bottles, and saved more than 13 million liters of water!

6. MeUndies

MeUndies creates colorful and comfy underwear and loungewear for women and men. You can choose among a range of vibrant colors and fancy patterns – queen bee, zodiac prints, peace love & sloth. Their undies are made from beechwood cellulose that is spun into a yarn (MicroModal) that is extra soft, breathable, static-resistant, and cozy. MeUndies pieces are made from a fully biodegradable fabric by factories that treat their employees with exceptional respect.

7. Linennaive

Linennaive designs classy and iconic clothing – dresses, skirts, pants, caps, and coats – that will take you back in time especially if, like me, you’re in love with the costume movies. For Linennaive comfort comes first, as such all their products are made from linen and cashmere, consciously sourced and suitable for different seasons and temperatures.

8. Organic Basics

Organic Basics is a well-known brand of quality everyday essentials, underwear, and activewear. Their basics are long-lasting and made from the softest organic cotton, recycled and renewable materials. Organic Basics offers a minimal design that guarantees timeless products. Their prices aren’t as low as other brands we’ve mentioned here in this list, but their quality is definitely over the top.

9. Twothirds

Twothirds makes basic clothes for women and men with a super soft texture and visual elegance from sustainable and recycled material – mainly post-consumer waste, and materials recovered from the oceans. Twothirds has an innovative manufacturing process to prevent overproduction and deadstock: they produce only what has been pre-ordered.

10. Nu-in

Nu-in designs everyday essentials and activewear with a unique and versatile style. All Nu-in pieces are made from eco-friendly sources – organic and recycled cotton, recycled plastic bottles, recycled polyester from plastic waste from the oceans, production waste, fishing nets, and manufacturing waste. They are on a journey towards circularity… starting from an ever-new design.

11. Ecoalf

Ecoalf offers clothing and accessories for women, men, and kids made entirely from recycled materials – polyester, nylon, wool, tires, and even coffee grounds. They have all you need to always be consciously on-trend, from daily basics to yoga outfits and backpacks. With the leftover fabric from the production processes, Ecoalf creates bags and gives them away with every purchase. You can enjoy this bag daily to replace single-use bags.

12. H&M Conscious

H&M probably is one of the most popular fast-fashion brands. However, as mention earlier, every step towards a better world counts… as such, a mention to the H&M Conscious collection is due. You can find the conscious products in all of their stores thanks to a special green hangtag, all year round. The pieces with the green hangtag contain at least 50% sustainable materials, such as organic cotton and recycled polyester. This collection deserves a chance.

RELATED: Should Vegans Shop At H&M?

13. Samara

Samara is a female-founded, cruelty-free sustainable brand that creates bags and jewelry pouches with a buttery soft feel from apple leather (a vegan, biodegradable, waterproof, and durable leather), castor seeds, and recycled bottles and plastic from oceans. Samara sells also a loungewear collection made from bamboo grown without the use of pesticides. Thanks to bamboo fiber Samara’s products are hypoallergenic, antibacterial, sweat-absorbent, and extremely breathable.

14. Happy Earth

Happy Earth is a brand that loves to give back and make the world a better place: every item plants three, prevent emissions, and removes trash. Their pieces include apparel, accessories, activewear, and headwear that are united by unique colors, designs, and logos of natural elements, animals, and decors. Happy Earth uses organic cotton, reclaimed fibers, and cork.

15. Nobody’s Child

Nobody’s Child is a small brand that makes clothing for women. Their pieces are mindfully crafted in ethical factories that span across 7 countries. They offer affordable clothes and accessories made with eco-fabrics that generate up to 50% less water consumption. Nobody’s Child offers some of the most floras dresses I’ve ever seen, and they aim for zero fabric waste.

RELATED: Affordable Ethical Clothing In The UK: 11 Brands You Should Know

16. Pact

Pact offers comfy, colorful, and everyday basic for women, men, kids, and home at a very small price. From underwear to apparel, Pact clothing is made from 100% organic cotton in certified factories with no harmful chemicals and saving as much water as possible. Pact wants to be the “Earth’s favorite clothing brand” and ensures care for both people and the planet.

17. Kotn

Kotn is a sustainable clothing and home décor brand designed in Canada and ethically made from 100% Egyptian cotton in the Nile Delta. Kotn creates everyday trendy and delicate essentials for women, men, and home from the finest natural fibers, and ensures fair and safe working conditions. Kotn is committed to an even nobler cause: every purchase funds new schools in developing countries.

18. Amour Vert

Amour Vert makes versatile and thoughtful clothing, bags, and accessories for women. Amour Vert is a little more expensive than the other brands on this list, but it guarantees a unique and timeless design, soft and strong fabrics, and pieces made from the finest and most sustainable fibers: fully-traceable and eco-friendly silk, closed-loop and FSC-certified beechwood, linen, and organic cotton.

19. Sunski

Sunski sunglasses are great for the planet, as well as for your eyes! The affordable sustainable shades brand uses plastic and turns it into recycled resin. As for the lenses, they offer polarized lenses that reduce glare, sharpen your vision, and are perfect if you love spending a lot of time outdoors. Quality is also one of Sunski’s core values, that’s why they offer a lifetime warranty! So technically, you only need to purchase one pair of sunglasses in your life which makes Sunski’s glasses the most affordable and the most sustainable option!

20. Clae

Clae is a shoe brand that creates premium and minimalist sneakers with modern silhouettes that emphasize uncommon comfort and versatility for an active lifestyle. Clae’s vegan collection features sneakers are made from innovative and recycled high-end materials, such as upcycled marine plastic and cactus leather, which has a high resistance to abrasion and great durability.

21. Thought

Thought makes easy-to-wear clothes with a unique design from organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, modal (a sustainable viscose made from beech trees), and recycled polyester. Loungewear, dresses, underwear, and even facemasks: Thought has it all for a stylish and planet-friendly wardrobe. They use recycled paper for hang tags and mailing bags, while the garments bags are made from compostable cornstarch.

22. Tradlands

Tradlands produces essential womenswear to live in now and love forever. Tradlands is a young brand that gets inspiration from thoughtful tailoring and quality fabrics rather than from runaway trends. Each collection is made from natural materials like cotton, and silk in small batches to produce as little waste as possible.

23. The Nude Label

The Nude Label makes comfy, colorful, and timeless underwear for women and men from organic cotton, totally manufactured in Spain. The Nude Label is committed to reduce waste, create long-lasting products, and using recycled or recyclable materials whenever possible. They constantly and actively research alternative renewable energy solutions.

24. Rapanui

Rapanui creates sustainable clothing for women and men made from natural materials and designs it to send back when it is worn out. From the recovered material Rapanui makes new products. Only renewable energy is used in the manufacturing process. Rapanui offers also custom t-shirts: you can create and design your own organic t-shirt directly on their website.

25. Mud Jeans

Mud Jeans creates new jeans by mixing recycled old jeans with organic cotton. Their jeans are high-quality and some of them are priced on the higher end, but Mud Jeans has a solution to this “problem”. Indeed, they offer the possibility to lease a pair of jeans for a monthly fee, starting from 9,95 €.

26. Encircled

Encircled creates stylish and comfortable essential clothing for women from linen, bamboo, and hemp. Encircled is a size-inclusive brand, and you can shop online by style, fabric, and color without worrying about compromising on comfort, quality, ethics, and sustainability. Encircled is the slow fashion brand that does it all.

27. Fruity Booty

Fruity Booty creates fancy underwear, nightwear, clothing, and limited-edition lingerie from sustainably sourced fabrics. Over 80% of Fruity Booty products are made from surplus fabrics and materials, which would otherwise have gone to landfill. Fruity Booty gives waste a new life and produces only limited quantities of pieces to avoid overproduction scraps.

28. Plant Faced

If you’re looking for clothing with vegan and plant-based positive messages to spread awareness and encourage conversations, Plant Faced is the ethical streetwear brand for you. Their garments are created to last forever, and more than 75% of the pieces are made using organic cotton and recycled polyester. Plant Faced wants to support the non-harming or exploitation of any beings – humans, animals, or plants.

39. SiiZU

SiiZU creates jewelry, vegan handbags, and high-quality apparel made with sustainable manufacturing practices. They use exclusively 100% natural and sustainably grown fabrics, which contain 0% polyester and 0% toxins. The fabrics are used consciously and to their full potential to minimize production waste. SiiZU helps American Forest to reach its goal of planting 2.7 million trees.

30. Boody

Boody creates everyday essentials from organically-grown bamboo for a simpler wardrobe. Boody offers activewear, loungewear, and basics for women, men, and kids. Boody clothing is super soft, comfy, antibacterial, and breathable. They emphasize quality and simplicity, and bypass trends that lead to overconsumption. Boody also takes care of workers and supports activist groups and projects for change.

31. Conscious Step

Every step towards a better world counts… so let’s start putting our socks on! Every pair of Conscious Step socks has a colorful pattern and a purpose: giving books, finding a cure, protecting endangered animals, planting trees, fighting for equality, and many more. At the same time, their socks are good for the planet because are made from organic fibers, are no tested on animals, and are vegan.

32. Threads 4 Thought

Threads 4 Thought is a brand that produces a range of everyday basics, activewear, and even more responsibly supports sustainable initiatives. Their products bring comfort and style to every look and are made from regenerated beech trees, organic cotton, recycled plastic bottles, and fishing nets. Threads 4 Thought is a size-inclusive brand that also supports black creators and black businesses.

33. Mata Traders

Mata Traders is a design-driven, ethical brand merging vibrant style with fair trade practices and craft traditions. Mata Traders was founded by 3 girls after a trip to India because they fell in love with the culture, markets, and colorful textiles. All the clothes are made by artisans in India and Nepal, ensuring them meaningful work and economic independence.

34. Knickey

Knickey designs organic underwear for women that doesn’t sacrifice style for comfort at a very small price. Knickey loves to take care of women’s health and creates undies that are super soft to prevent intimate chafing, breathable to avoid bacteria proliferation, free from toxins, carcinogens, and other harmful chemicals.

35. Privato

Privato is a vegan brand that transforms and combines plastic waste and fabric scraps with un-dyed cotton and Piñatex (vegan leather obtained from pineapple leaves) to create footwear, knitwear, and bags. They offer stunning hand-painted sneakers by artists and crafters who use vegan and non-toxic dyes. Any model is customizable in just 7 days and has a very good price.

36. Tonlé

Tonlé creates zero-waste sophisticated clothing for women from given textiles and reclaimed materials. All of their fabrics are a combination of deadstock, cut-waste, and textiles that, although high quality, were not considered as suitable for industrial production. Their expert “sourcing team” visits remnant markets weekly to select the highest quality fabric scraps. Tonlé designs both monochrome and pattern clothes.

37. Ninety Percent

Ninety Percent creates stylish, on-trend premium womenswear. The brand shares 90% of its distributable profits between its workers and charitable causes and even invites customers to vote on which cause to support with their purchases. Ninety Percent’s clothes are a perfect balance between popular trends and evergreen purchases.

38. Nomads

Nomads has been a fair trade and affordable clothing brand since 1989. Nomads creates pieces by combining a contemporary design with natural fibers, exclusive prints, and traditional artisan techniques – handloom, tie-dye, block printing. Nomads keeping these techniques alive provides a fair income for skilled craftspeople and makes one-of-a-kind garments. No two pieces are alike.

39. Mayamiko

Mayamiko offers contemporary clothing, accessories, and homeware that are fair trade, organic, and cruelty-free. Their collections are designed for women and are inspired by traditional African techniques. They use, among others, up-cycled silk, linen, dead-stock cotton jersey to create the most exclusive designs. Mayamiko clothing is “season-free” and can be worn all year round.

40. Noctu

The organic cotton nightwear made by Noctu is inspired by Scandinavian simplicity and minimalist design. Their products are suitable even for the most sensitive skins thanks to the high quality of fabrics and the softness of cotton grown without harmful chemicals. Noctu is committed to giving you the comfiest on-trend nightwear.

41. All My Eco

All My Eco (AME) creates 100% vegan and eco-friendly sneakers from pineapple fiber, recycled plastic bottles, and cork. The exteriors of AME’s sneakers are made from vegan leather, the colorful stripes on the sides are made with pineapple fiber (a material obtained from the discarded leaves of the pineapple harvest), while the shoe tongue is decorated with cork. The comfy inside is cushioned with the equivalent of 2 recycled plastic bottles. For each pair of sneakers sold, All my eco plants 5 trees and gives 1% to charities.

42. Slow Nature

Slow Nature creates ethical and fancy clothing for women, men, kids… and for our furry friends too! Their clothing is made from 100% organic cotton grown in the valleys of northern Peru, and it is fully recyclable. The cotton is woven into fabric without the use of damaging chemicals and bleaches. Slow Nature offers also eco-friendly skincare and make-up products.

43. Fair Indigo

Fair Indico makes organic cotton clothing with a simple but highly versatile design that will fit forever to any outfit. Their pieces are born in the Andean highlands close to the Pacific coast, Peru. Fair Indigo offers its artisans and operator in Peru fair wages and the means to live a happy and healthy life.

44. Slum Love

Slum Love makes stylish and quality clothing hand-sewn with love in Kenya by the local highly-specialized artisan. Slum Love uses only natural, organic, and recycled materials to create classy basics for women and men inspired by colors of nature and perfect for every season. They believe that education is the key to a successful future, and so they provide scholarships to children living in slums.

45. Bibico

Bibico is a brand with a simple and minimal style that uses natural fabrics to create easy-to-wear clothing for women. Bibico has adopted a slower “back to basics” approach and creates clothes that are timeless, fuss-free, well-made, and as far away as possible from the idea of fast fashion.

46. Terra Thread

Terra Thread makes cute, practical, affordable, and carbon-neutral bags using organic cotton canvas. The high-quality Terra Thread bags are manufactured in a Fair Trade factory using Fair Trade organic cotton. The brand also gives back to the community by supporting Feeding America, a charity that provides nutritious meals to American children, families, and elders in need. Terra Thread is especially great for college life offering bags for all activities: school, gym, and free time.

47. Zara Join Life

As well as H&M, Zara is not my favorite brand, but again we should appreciate any effort made in the right direction. Join Life is the sustainable on-trend collection introduced by Zara that is made from recycled wool and organic cotton, and includes contemporary designs just in the style of the brand. Zara is working to reduce its environmental impact, to give a second life to worn-out garments, to support communities of workers in developing countries. It’s definitely a start.

48. Smateria

Smateria is a women-owned brand that transforms waste materials – leather offcuts and plastic bags – into functional and contemporary bags and accessories “with a soul”. Their shoulder and crossbody bags are inspired by the materials available, and the workers’ skills. As such, they have new styles every year.

49. Asos Responsible Edit

Asos has launched “Responsible Edit” to bring together ethical brands and products on its website, without compromising a unique style. You can now easily discover new sustainable brands and products made from recycled plastic, sustainable fibers, and fabric scraps on Asos. The filter “Responsible” helps you search for recycled and sustainable materials.

50. Calzedonia Eco Collection

Calzedonia is a famous brand that sells trendy bathing suits, tights, and leggings that is striving to use more sustainable materials for its products. Eco Collection shows the commitment of the brand to lower the environmental impact of the fiber used for tights, leggings, and socks production. For the Eco Collection Calzedonia uses upcycled cotton, recycled PET, and renewable plant fibers. The packaging that comes with the collection clearly shows the pledge… hopefully, this is just the beginning!

Bonus tip

If you are interested in how sustainable and ethical a particular fashion brand is, simply use Good On You, search for the brand name, and read about its impact on people, animals, and the planet. Good On You rates thousands of brands according to their levels of accountability and transparency, and assigns a score to each brand. There are 5 available scores: avoid; not good enough; it’s a start; good; great.

Enjoy!