Exploring Sustainable Fashion
Article by Ashlie Dhugga
As young adults in the digital age, the consumption of fashion is easier than ever. With the rise of internet fashion brands, we have access to millions of garments at the touch of a button. While these fashion brands may make it convenient and budget-efficient to buy fast-fashion, it is important to recognize the short-comings of fast-fashion clothing consumption. There is an inherent detrimental aspect of the fast-fashion industry; companies often resort to unethical and/or polluting means of production to subsidize costs. It can be hard to completely cut these brands out of your spending given their prevalence on the internet, and I’m not suggesting that you do. Instead, I’m going to present to you some sustainable Canadian fashion online retailers that you may choose to purchase from when you have the means to do so. It is the responsibility of all of us as consumers to make ethical purchases as often as we can in order to combat unethical production and promote consumer consciousness.
Sustainable Clothing Retailers
Arc Apparel
Arc Apparel is an online clothing retailer founded by a woman named Sarah Stewart. Stewart developed the company because as a young adult, she found it to be very hard to find apparel companies that were committed to environmental sustainability. Upon learning that the apparel industry was the second largest industrial polluter after the oil industry, she knew that she wanted to make a change (Arc Apparel 2019). She went on to develop Arc Apparel, a retailer that only carries apparel brands that are sourced ethically. What I personally like about this retailer is there is variety in the brands you may purchase from, and every purchase is guilt-free. The company has conducted the research to ensure every piece of clothing that is up for sale is sustainably sourced, of high quality, and is as affordable as possible.
You can browse the website here:
https://www.arcapparel.ca/shop/
New Classics
Like Arc Apparel, New Classics is a retailer that carries only sustainably sourced items. The website offers a large variety of item categories to purchase from, including: clothing, accessories, beauty products, shoes, and homewares. The unique thing about the New Classics brand is its commitment to the “slow fashion” movement. The “slow fashion” movement is about consuming high quality clothes that will last long, keeping clothes out of landfills and promoting eco-consciousness (New Classics 2020). My personal favourite thing about New Classics is how you can shop based on different production standards you may want to support. For example, if you want to support fair-trade, there is a section on the website for items that are produced under that standard.
You can browse the website here:
https://newclassics.ca/blogs/journal
Sustainable Swimwear
Unika Custom Swimwear
The Unika brand is a small business based out of Toronto that specializes in creating custom swimwear. The brand ensures no consumer feels excluded and offers swimwear for people of all sizes. It’s also dedicated to preserving our oceans and uses the material ECONYL to source its swimwear. ECONYL fabrics are made out of repurposed ocean waste and are highly durable and eco-friendly (Unika Swim 2019). My favourite thing about Unika Custom Swimwear is that it ensures no fabric goes to waste; fabric that is leftover from making the swimsuits is then used to make accessories such as scrunchies.
You can browse the website here:
Sustainable Jewelry
Kind Karma Company
The Kind Karma company is an ethical jewelry brand which prides itself in hiring at-risk youth in order to combat homelessness and poverty. The jewelry is handcrafted and ethically sourced, with a portion of proceeds from sales going back into the youth population to fund their education and futures. Every purchase comes with a handwritten card from the youth who made the piece of jewelry you purchased. What I personally love about this brand is that the jewelry is both affordable and impactful; with each purchase you are helping combat homelessness and generational poverty.
You can browse the website here:
https://kindkarma.ca/
While I have highlighted a few ethical and environmentally-conscious companies to purchase from, I encourage you to do your own research and find other companies that do the same. We often think that shopping sustainably is an all or nothing approach when that is simply not the case. Every purchase we make from an ethical company, no matter how big or small, makes a lasting impact.
Sources:
“The Slow Fashion Movement.” New Classics Studios, newclassics.ca/pages/slow-fashion-movement.
“Sustainable.” UNIKA SWIM, unikaswim.ca/pages/sustainable.
“Who We Are.” ARC Apparel, www.arcapparel.ca/service/about/.
Zhu, Annie. “110+ Ethical & Sustainable Canadian Fashion Brands.” Terumah, 9 June 2021, www.terumah.ca/where-canadians-can-buy-ethical-sustainable-fashion-online/.