Find Eco-Friendly Fashion Online
Internet Sites For Organic and Sustainable, Stylish Womenswear
Ethical fashion and sustaining the environment is a hot issue in the fashion industry these days. Know where to find the greenest and most fashionable eco-buys online.
There is a growing number of dedicated fashion sites committed to offering environmentally-friendly, trendy fashion products in clothing, bags, shoes, underwear and jewelry.
In the past, environmentally-friendly fashion conjured up images of organic cotton shirts and overpriced hippy-style clothes. Ethical fashion today not only fits the definition of “fashion that has been made, worn and passed on in a way that looks after people, animals and the environment,” but can be stylish and trendy. For fashion-conscious females, wearing "going green" no longer means looking hippy or frumpy; it is possible to look stylish and eco-glam instead!
Finding stylish eco- fashion can be time consuming. It is about knowing where to look for fair-trade and environmentally-friendly products, so here are some of the most popular sites:
Ethical fashion - Online Shopping Sites
- Adili is an eco-fashion online shop, showcasing pioneering ethical clothing brands which are tackling the ethical issues involved in fashion production today. This includes subscribing to brands which, according to Adili, "trade fairly and directly with producers while others have a focus on the environmental cost of growing and producing fiber and fabric. Some brands achieve both these objectives and many aspire to." Proving that fashion can be both ethical and stylish, Adili is named after a Swahili word, meaning "ethical and just." Adili sells a wide range of fashionable products from women and men's clothing, to bags, shoes and jewelry. Although the site is UK based, products can be shipped to anywhere in the world.
- Green-UK understands that the organic clothes wearer wants stylish and fashionable clothes, so according to their website “we ensure that all our organic clothing have oodles of style and plenty of quality.” They cover an extensive range of women’s fashion, including dresses, tops, jeans, lingerie, bags and accessories. In keeping with this season’s top trends they have a number of ruffle dresses, maxi and mini dresses, and a versatile Rose print wrap-dress.There is also a varied collection of women’s footwear including some funky multicolored hemp wedges and ballet flats. This site caters for fashion for everyone in the family with men’s, children’ and baby wear too. Products can be delivered worldwide.
- Natural Collection is the UK’s award winning online green shop, having been awarded the Best On-line Retailer at the Observer Ethical Awards, for two years in a row (2006-2007). They are the UK’s leading non-food ecological retailer and represent products from the Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Trees for Life, Out of This World, and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Their women’s fashion section includes everything from fashionable jackets to funky swimsuits, proving that organic cotton or hemp does not have to be boring. The best thing about this site is its affordable prices. Fashionable organic cotton Hawaiian Bikinis sell at £5.95 a piece and a colorful striped tote shopping bag retails at £12.95. International shipping is available to all parts of the world.
- People Tree is one of the world’s most renowned environmentally friendly companies. People Tree products follow a fair trade policy and employs small, artisan producers around the globe – from Peru, Bangladesh, India etc, to produce fashion for high-street stores, mainly in the UK. Their products are also available through this online store, which includes a varied selection of fashionable dresses, jackets, pants and lingerie. It also includes a designer section with trendy tunic-length T’s and easy-to-wear, stylish summer dresses.
- Simple Shoes sell shoes for a happy planet. From hemp eco-sneaks to flats and flip-flops made out of recycled car tires, Simple Shoes is a “nice little shoe company,” selling fashionable and funky footwear. They have both a US and a UK based site, and will ship worldwide.
Finally,not so much a retail site but instead, a mine of information, Treehugger.com claims to receive around 2 million visitors a month and is an extensive site on all aspects of being green. Its fashion and beauty section is full of useful articles on related products and where to find/buy them. This includes a feature dated 15th May 2008,on a solar powered bra and a solar powered dress to power-up your Ipod, and another providing advice on "How to Green Your Wardrobe."
