Not to get all fashion police on you, but the clothes and accessories we wear everyday might not have been made with the most ethical or sustainable practices.
A lot can happen to a simple item of clothing before it gets hung on a rack, from violations in labor laws, to animal cruelty and also environmental pollution.
However, these following companies prove that fashion can have a heart.
In a massive global study called Sustainia100, researchers narrowed down the top 10 most sustainable fashion projects in the world. EcoWatch reports that the research team took in considerations such as materials used to the amount of water and energy needed to create their products.
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And if “eco-friendly” fashion immediately conjures images of potato sack pants and open-toed sandals, you’ll be happy to find that music-and-fashion trendsetter Pharrell Williams backs one of the chosen brands.
Here are some of the top brands (in no particular order):
Levi Strauss & Co.
The All-American jean brand has a Water<Less line that uses up to 96 percent less water in the finishing process for some products. So far, Levi’s has made 13 million of these products, saving over 172 million liters of water.
Bionic Yarn
Finally, a use for those pesky water bottles. We previously reported that this company creates yarn for clothing from recycled plastic found in ocean debris. As EcoWatch puts it, Bionic Yarn, “[is] so cool, even Pharrell Williams is on board.”
I:Collect (I:CO)
This international textile recycling company sorts through castoffs to determine if they’re rewearable, reusable, or recyclable. We’ve mentioned that San Franciscans are already tossing everything from dirty socks to never-worn impulse buys to hundreds of I:CO collection bins scattered around the city. These unwanted items are then used to make insulation material, flooring, packaging or even Teddy bear-stuffing.
Atlantic Leather
This Icelandic tannery takes the unwanted skins from perch, salmon, wolffish and cod from fishing industries and turns them into gorgeous leather goods. The resulting shoes, handbags and clothes are so uniquely colorful and textured, you won’t even notice you’re wearing dead fish.
Click here to see which other planet-friendly fashion brands rounded out the top 10.
And if fashion’s not your thing, Sustainia also ranked the top 10 planet-friendly innovations around the world in buildings, cities, food, health, technology, education, resources, transportation and energy.
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