Fashion is a statement: one that can be environmental, political, or personal. It is a form of identity that reflects how aware we are of ourselves and of our surroundings. At eco-nnect we support sustainable innovation, self-expression, and art; thus, we bring to you a set of sustainable, creative, and artistic brands that have innovated the way fashion is manufactured. Upcycling is the future of fashion: creating new clothes from old garments. It is a way of adapting the past with the future, with a dash of creativity.
1. Eat da Rich
Price Range: $10-150
Location: Detroit
“Wearable for weirdos.”
This sustainable brand was born over the concept that one person’s trash is someone else’s fashion line. Apart from using sustainable textiles and vintage fashion to transform new trendy outfits, the brand has a political focus as well.
As of April 2020 the EDR showroom is a donation hub for gloves, masks, and food. EDR advocates for environmentalism, pro-choice, defunding the police, and power to the people.
Wearing a garment from this brand is a political liberal statement.
2. Siam Circle
Price Range:
Location: LA & Bangkok
A community of upcycle fashion brands from Thailand, bringing to you the only fashion that does not create waste. Siam Circle’s brands use deconstructed recycled clothing as their fabric and repurpose them into new and wonderful creations.
“We LOVE clothing and LOVE the planet so we found a way to enjoy both without harming either.”
3. 3 Women
Price Range: $20-200
Location: California
As the name describes it, this sustainable fashion brand is a women-owned business that operates in a sustainable house in California, where its energy is renewable and built with sustainable sources.
Each clothing garment comes from vintage rice, flour, and feed fabric. The designers work in collaboration with other artists in order to make the creative process more inclusive. You can also finde vintage clothes in their store.
This brand believes in collaboration and sustainability, refusing the competitive fashion model we are all used to.
4. Aisling Duffy
Price Range: £15-175
Location: London and Dublin
This artistic and sustainable brand explores self-expression, identity, and personality.
The DIY aesthetic of the brand reflects the designer’s concern about the environment regarding climate change and global warming. Thus, every item is worked with vegan friendly fabrics, deadstock, and upcycled organic materials.
All of the garments are vegan and sustainably certified.
5. Chi qc
Price Range:$200-400
Location: Los Angeles
Each piece is a one-of-a-kind, made up of old clothings from the designers with a special story. The cotton they use is organic, avoiding health issues related to GMOs.
Chi qc advocates against textile waste, which is the reason why they started the brand.They are also very vocal on fair labor and against sweatshops, which is why they work in-house.
The message behind Chi qc is one of justice, love, and sustainability. They believe that individual conscious consumption can lead to a systematic change that will make everyone better off.
6. Frankie
Price Range: £25-145
Location: London
Frankie is a French designer based in East London. She creates beautiful denim jackets from vintage stores with French vintage tapestry from the 40s and 50s.
Her garments are like wearing a piece of art. She carefully picks each material in thrift stores and flee markets in both France and the UK, which reduces the carbon footprint of each garment.
7. Peachy Salvage
Price Range: £10-35
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Peachy Salvage is a slow-fashion brand that creates exciting new pieces from existing textiles.
The designers hand pick vintage clothings and rework with them to create funky pieces.
Everything they do is handmade.
Peachy Salvage also makes costume orders with old garments from the customer in order to avoid over-production and unnecessary waste.
8. Rentrayage
Price Range: $35-1500
Location: New York
Reyntrage is a sustainable luxurious upcycled brand that believes in the beauty of design through a reinvention of old pieces.
As the designer, Earnie Beatty states:
“Designing into a concept creates waste in the name of creativity. Inherently unsustainable, it requires you to add and overdo. Rentrayage is a rejection of this prodigal business model and our way of reimagining and reanimating what has already existed; creating beauty and value; new shape, new form, new style from what has been discarded.”
9. Vernisse
Price Range: €300+
Location: Milan, Italy
Vernisse is a contemporary luxury brand founded in 2019 to celebrate tailor made garments and vintage textiles.
Francesca and Eugenia collect fabrics, trims and objects from the past, working with vintage and antique dealers around Italy and Europe to create one of a kind garments.
With a philosophy that sustainability and circular economy should be first part of our lifestyle and culture. Quality over quantity.
This mindset embraces every stage of our product life: from design to production, taking responsibility and respect for time, natural resources and manufacturing.
