The road in living a sustainable life won’t be easy. This world has a lot to offer and one of those is that you can dress up as chic, as sleek, and as gorgeous as possible while being planet-conscious.
Here are 5 local fashion brands that promote sustainability but not sacrificing quality and stylish designs:
Rags2RichesInc
This is a design house empowering the world of the artisan community through crafts. R2R partners with artisans to make eco-ethical fashion empowered by lifestyle. In here, pieces are made up of upcycled materials, overstock fabrics, and local textiles.
Photo from Instagram @rags2richesinc
Their ultimate goal is to strive and weave better futures in the community. Aside from providing a sustainable livelihood for partner community artisans, they also co-developed an artisan academy, a savings and micro-insurance program, and opportunities for full-time employment.
Photo from Instagram @rags2richesinc
Maison Metisse
In Maison Metisse, they create sustainable pieces in which they can connect with culture, heritage, and tradition. The pieces they create help the consumers connect to the people behind these masterpieces.
Photo from Instagram @maison.metisse
They revive forgotten fabrics and materials and transform it in a brand-new clothing. They dedicated their time, effort, and capacity in achieving these products that are within reach.
Photo from Instagram @maison.metisse
According to the founder, Adrienne Charuel, this is a sacred process for her—making these clothes. It’s all about going back to her roots, the collaboration, and the manifestation to create without boundaries but making it eco-friendly.
Tela Mnl
Tela’s retail line is made from Bayo’s excess fabrics. Tela Mnl is a sustainable and ethical fashion brand that creates sustainable products through fabric usage, going down to the strands and weave fabrics reviving the Filipino traditional artistry of handweaving.
Photo from Instagram @tela.mnl
It’s not just the clothes, it’s also the tags and the overall packaging that are also sustainable. Tela Mnl believes that creation is an ongoing process that’s why they also learn and develop through time. Their packaging are made up of canvas tote bags, their product tags are embroidered, and the bags used to mail the products are made of cassava.
Photo from Instagram @tela.mnl
Sunki Label
Sunki Label is a brand that was formed by a group of four women from Manila with different interests but advocating in one, which is lowering carbon emissions. They built Sunki the moment they noticed the lack of options in local brands that were stylish, accessible, and sustainable.
Photo from Instagram @sunki.label
Sunki promotes transparency, authenticity, and inclusivity. They sell and advertise their products because they also believed in them. According to them, their investors are also their own friends who share the same mission. They’re a group of friends who are also creatives and environmentalists.
Photo from Instagram @sunki.label
Candid Clothing Co.
Candid Clothing is ethically made in Rizal. They advocate for having this fashion sense wherein they partner with garment workers and at the same time, make accessible wardrobe that is chic and stylish.
Photo from Instagram @candidclothing.ph
They also have this advocacy of training communities, to contribute, while creating upcycled accessories from fabric scraps.
Photo from Instagram @candidclothing.ph
Their goal has always been making fashion affordable for consumers and at the same time, earth-friendly. Everything is made up of 100 upcycled materials.
CONCLUSION
Sustainable fashion takes time because of the effort and the capacity to do so. It’s a process that takes a lot of interest, learning, and understanding. These brands prove that in this growing age of fast fashion, we can take a moment to slow down, and make things put in reality and know that despite the abrupt and ever-changing world in this industry, fashion is also sustainable.
