The fashion culture has been slowly evolving, leaning towards a more sustainable way of producing clothing. Although some companies are leaning towards sustainability, fashion still harms the environment. Through the production of clothing we are increasing our carbon footprint on earth and affecting many walks of life globally. Sustainability is a fairly new method being introduced to the fashion world and contributes to conserving our environment. Many companies and brands are slowly shifting into working with fair trade manufacturers and sustainable production.
The Girlfriend collective is a sustainability activewear brand based in Washington, DC. This particular company practices ethical production through the use of eco-friendly dyes and recycled sustainable methods. They encourage customers to take back and recycle used garments to receive an incentive in return. This brand mainly stood out to me because not only are they sustainable, their sizes run up to 6X, being a US32 (Staff, 2022). As you visit the website you can sign up for their newsletter and receive a small discount on your first purchase. The website is filled with all shapes and sizes of natural bodies which is refreshing and pricing is affordable. This is one of the few companies that offers the highest sizes available, promoting inclusivity. Furthermore they offer a variety of styles and a wide selection of colors for every collection reflective of the season and trends. Through various methods, the Girlfriend Collective is making activewear widely accessible and contributing to global conservation.
Although fashion harms our environment and places risk on citizens around the world there are ways to improve the manufacturing process. It can take decades to have companies convert to fair trade production methods. The lives of millions of citizens in different countries have been impacted because of our clothing and there needs to be change. Although companies are using eco-friendly packaging, dyes and fabrics, they can also push to use renewable energy. Thankfully there are many sustainable companies to discover on The Good Trade website. They highlight companies that are sustainable and their contribution to revolutionize the fashion industry.
By Amber Alicea
References
Staff. (2022, February). 35 ethical and sustainable clothing brands betting against Fast Fashion. The Good Trade. Retrieved March 2022, from https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing
Image:
Griggs, M. (2020, October). 17 picks from girlfriend Collective’s 20% off everything sale. SELF. Retrieved March 2022, from https://www.self.com/gallery/girlfriend-collective-sale
I think your blog is really informational and it makes me want to shop here because it is sustainable. When you think of other websites that don’t have many sizes it becomes a bit underwhelming and to know that this company goes up to 6X is really good and surprising. When looking into the website they really have trendy and comfortable clothing for somewhat of an affordable price which is good with the use of sustainable fabrics.
It’s sometimes rare for clothing brands to offer sizes past extra-large, let alone xxxlarge. The fact that this brand offers a 6x is amazingly inclusive for larger sized people. Often times, brands incorporate recyclable/sustainable material OR plus sizes but they tend to imply the two are mutually exclusive. I posted about Patagonia and they also have a similar trade in program like The Girlfriend Collective. Having consumers bring back unwanted merchandise to be re/upcycled is a great way to get the customer started in sustainable practices. It’s also great to see a brand not being afraid of expanding their available size range even at the risk of using more resources.
You picked a company on the opposite end of the spectrum than I, unintentionally, did. While companies have been extending their size range and/or conducting complete sizing overhauls, the 8 year old company I chose (Whimsy + Row) decided it would be a fantastic idea to go up to a size XL, which I’m thinking is probably around a 14…nope, their XL is a size 8-10!!! It’s basically just a fancy, environmentally and sustainable version of the horrid 5-7-9 store that haunted my latter elementary years when I was transitioning from kids to junior sizing and had no idea you didn’t just start from size 1 like toddler to kids clothes did. What a traumatizing time thinking I was a whale because I skipped all the way to size 9 and they were snug. I just think companies marketing to one type of body shape is omits huge demographics.