Fashion Brands Doing Sustainability Right

Sustainability has been a prominent topic of discussion in the fashion industry for years, with a resurgence in debate following the release of a documentary on the fast-fashion company, Shein. Since then, brands have been name-dropping terms like “organic” and “eco-conscious” as a means to greenwash their production operations. But in the big year of 2025, performative sustainability is not cutting it anymore.  ​

Practicing sustainability in fashion is much more than just traceable material origins or using organic fibres. Textile circularity is the core of sustainable consumption, which is the practice of keeping garments in a continuous loop of usage, from promoting reuse and repair campaigns to regenerative farming practices. This is a crucial step towards change, especially considering the increase of global fibre production from 125 million tonnes in 2023 to 132 million tonnes in 2024. Today, approximately 4 tonnes of fibre—the weight of a helicopter—is produced every second worldwide.​

According to Fashion Revolution’s Transparency Index, only 11 per cent of fashion brands know the source of their raw materials. As research reports continue to indicate this gap in retailers’ textile education, companies like Reformation are going the extra mile towards sustainability.

“Our perspective is that the future of fashion must be circular in order to be sustainable,” explains Kathleen Talbot, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP of Operations at Reformation. “We’re stuck in a massive global cycle of overproduction and overconsumption that results in clothing ending up in the trash way too quickly.”​

In a time when consumers are facing an influx of decision fatigue, uncomplicated branding strategies and authenticity make all the difference. Reformation continues to build trust within their customer relations through transparency while remaining true to their brand ethos—setting standards for other retailers to follow suit.

“We try to give customers all the information they need to understand where their garments come from, how they’re made, what they’re made of, how to care for them and how to responsibly pass them along once they are done with them. But we’re also very pragmatic about what they care about most, which is to look and feel good in their clothes,” said Talbot.

Check out FASHION’s picks for brands doing sustainability the right way below.

Reformation

Reformation has always been a trendsetter. Case in point: their vintage cool-girl aesthetic, and the fact that they are one of the first brands to actively promote circularity through their partnerships with ThredUp and Poshmark. The brand’s latest release, its first-ever 100 per cent recycled sweaters, continues to reinforce its industry-leading position on sustainability. Composed of 95 per cent recycled cashmere and five per cent recycled wool, the sweaters use absolutely no new materials. This new recycled core blend produces 96 per cent less carbon and requires 89 per cent less water to make compared to conventional cashmere—but trust that it feels just as good.

Reformation also utilizes climate-positive cotton, traceable leather and the lowest amount of virgin plastic possible in their products. “Our goal is to offer a zero trade-off value proposition so that they don’t have to choose between beautiful, flattering garments and low-impact ones,” said Talbot.

The brand’s approach to revitalizing sustainable cashmere garments demonstrates their unsatiated appetite for perfection. While traditional recycled cashmere sweaters tend to pill and show their wear faster than their non-recycled counterparts, Reformation is committed to quality, even testing out their newest garments themselves before showcasing them to the world. Their dissatisfaction with the recycled options on the market, due to the lack of durability and longevity, keeps the team hungry for new possibilities in sustainability.

“We’re planning to introduce regenerative cashmere next year and bulk up our existing assortment of regenerative wool, cotton and leather. We’ll also play with the ratio between wool and cashmere in our 100% recycled blend or even replace the 5 per cent recycled wool with other materials to achieve different aesthetics and hand feels,” said Talbot.

Patagonia

Patagonia has continuously been at the top of their sustainability game. Their core values are consistently demonstrated and acted upon—from their initial decision to use 100 per cent virgin cotton grown organically in 1996, to their involvement in the first crop of Regenerative Organic Certified cotton in India in 2018.

Today, the brand continues to progress alongside worldwide standards for sustainability and even launched their first collection of Regenerative Organic Certified cotton products in 2022—producing quality sustainable products without compromising their stylish outdoorsy aesthetic.

Kotn

In recent years, Kotn has propelled itself into stardom amongst the eco-conscious fashion sector. Though originally from New York City, the fashion retailer’s core ethos draws inspiration from closer to home for Co-founder Rami Helali, who’s from Egypt. Kotn sources its textiles directly from smallholder farmers in the Nile Delta and Faiyum regions of the African country. Their production process also utilizes low-waste cutting methods, upcycles leftover materials and uses OEKO-TEX® certified non-toxic dyes.

Recognizable not only by their signature tote bag, Kotn is synonymous with a deep-rooted commitment to culture, ethical treatment towards workers and soft, sustainable knits.

Camper

Founded in 1975, this family operation put the Spanish island of Mallorca on the map for high-quality traditional shoe production. Camper’s core values have historically reflected that of their history, embodying the values of a slow Mediterranean lifestyle through their thoughtful production. The brand supports more responsible leather manufacturing, while condoning the use of skins and furs from endangered animals and hazardous chemicals during the leather manufacturing process.

Their forward-thinking approach was evident during their Fall 2021 collection, where the brand replaced all virgin polyester linings with 100 per cent recycled polyester. Today, the brand continues to make strides towards an even more sustainable future, particularly in their recent drops, which utilize an OrthoLite® Recycled™ Footbed made from post-production foam waste.

​Stella McCartney

With their recent eye-catching Spring collection that debuted this past Paris Fashion Week, Stella McCartney continues to showcase that with enough imagination and ingenuity, sustainability can be oh so chic. The self-proclaimed vegetarian company unveiled the industry’s first-ever plant-based fashion feathers on the runway—but their commitment to sustainability goes far beyond recent innovative designs. Constantly on the frontier of sustainability, McCartney is one of the designers leading the charge towards conscious cotton consumption and new textile innovations. Since 2010, the brand has devoted itself to fully PVC-free products.

“Every free single industry sharing this Earth needs to look at itself and be responsible, mindful and at the same time still have a healthy business at the end of the day,” said McCartney.