Shop These 8 Sustainable Australian Brands to Help Reclaim Our Future

This feature is dedicated to our #NoChangeNoFuture initiative. From the Women’s March, to Australia voting yes to same sex marriage, and the #MeToo movement, 2017 taught us to look beyond ourselves and come together as a collective of powerful women who are writing our own history. Join us as we commit to being the change we want to see in 2018. Because without change, there is no future.

In this day and age, there’s no getting around the fact that fashion is one of the world’s greatest polluters. With our fast-paced lifestyle and fast-fashion mindset to mirror it, consumers are buying more items, at a faster rate, which means more waste is being created all along the spectrum. From chemicals emitted into the air and water during textile production, to unworn clothes piling up in landfills, the negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment stretches far and wide.

We’ve previously reported that the average Australian woman only wears 33% of her wardrobe, and if that’s not a wake up call, we don’t know what is. We think, it’s time we all start shopping a little more mindfully by supporting brands that are striving towards a more ethical approach than just the industry demands. With the added transparency created by social media, one would hope that brands would have a little more incentive to uphold sustainable practices, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case. It seems as though the masses prefer to have clothes quickly and cheaply, rather than ethically; and so, each us must take it upon ourselves to pull our weight—even if this is something as small as buying  your next top from an environmentally-friendly designer.

Thankfully, Australia is on the forefront of sustainable fashion, and with a number of ethical designers on our local fashion scene, conscious shopping is easier (and more stylish) than ever. Below, we’ve rounded up a number of Australian brands that are working hard to uphold sustainable and ethical practices. Whether by using eco-friendly dyes, producing items in limited numbers, or packing its products in biodegradable bags, each of these brands is pulling it's weight in hopes of alleviating a little of the turmoil caused by fashion. Now it’s up to us to support these brands, showing support for sustainable fashion and hopefully tipping the scales towards ethically-made clothes and away from the environmentally destructive cycle of fast fashion.