8 EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE FASHION
BUY SECONDHAND
Some great apps/sites where you can easily purchase preloved clothing:
Depop - Mostly vintage and modern streetwear
Still White - Bridalwear
Loopster - Kids clothes
One Scoop Store - One off standout pieces
Hardly Ever Worn It - Pre-loved designer pieces
The Real Real - Luxury womenswear
Build A Bundle - Quality kids wear
Vestiare Collective - High end fashion
Duke’s Cupboard - Rare menswear
DONATE
Thrift+ donation - You can order a free thrift bag and fill with your preloved clothes, then Thrift will collect your bag and upload your clothes to their online store for other people to buy.
Salvation Army - Donate unwanted textiles to one of the Salvation Army’s 8000 clothes banks across the UK and everything you donate will be re-purposed, recycled or reused.
Oxfam - You can donate to any Oxfam shop (when they re-open!) and your items will either be resold or recycled.
Re-fashion - You can easily apply online for a donation bag and fill it with used and unwanted clothes, then post back to them and they will recycle all the materials!
British Heart Foundation - Freepost donation service. You can donate all sorts of used items as long as they are in reasonable condition, including clothes, books, jewellery and electronics.
REPAIR
H&M Take Care - H&M’s ‘Take Care’ edit provides loads of useful info and tips about how to look after your clothes and repair any worn out pieces, so that your clothes can last longer.
Love Your Clothes Care & Repair Love Your Clothes has a great page with details about caring for your clothes, repairing and mending items and tips on how to save cash.
The Guardian - How to Mend - The Guardian has a super useful series called ‘How to Mend’ with a collection of articles providing info about how to mend and repair a host of different things, from clothes to electronics.
SELL SECONDHAND
eBay - The first of its kind and the world’s biggest online marketplace.
Depop - Buy, sell and discover unique fashion. One of the best apps to use - very easy and similar to Instagram!
Vinted - Pre-loved fashion and accessories, similar to Depop.
Facebook Marketplace - Buy and sell second-hand items locally - very convenient.
Car Boot Sales - One man’s trash is another man’s treasure! One of the oldest ways of finding used items and definitely a great wat to spend a Saturday afternoon.
SEARCH SUSTAINABLE BRANDS
Lucy & Yak - Handmade and ethically made womenswear, with items made from recycled plastic
Nearly New Cashmere - Rescued and restored 100% cashmere knitwear at affordable prices - check out our interview with NNC’s founder, Alison, where she chats about the brand.
Been London - Sustainable accessories and handbags made from recycled leather.
Everlane - Modern essentials and basic pieces made sustainably
Wearth - Online marketplace partnering with eco-friendly brands including zero waste shops, making it easy and convenient to shop sustainably.
ELV Denim - Jeans made from deadstock and discarded material, ELV upcycles unused denim to make trendy clothes.
Thought Clothing - Affordable organic, sustainable womenswear and menswear crafted from bamboo, hemp and cotton.
Girlfriend Collective - Ethically made activewear using recycled materials with inclusive sizing. Brand supporting ethical working conditions and fair wages.
GO VINTAGE
A few great sites where you can buy reworked/vintage fashion from small businesses and vintage brands.
ASOS Marketplace - home to small independent brands & vintage boutiques
Beyond Retro - retro vintage clothing
House of Vintage UK - huge collection of vintage clothing
We Are Cow - upcycled and reworked on trend pieces
RENT CLOTHES
Rent the Runway - Eco-friendly alternative to buying brand new, you can rent designer clothing for one off events.
My Wardrobe HQ - Dress rental website where you can borrow or buy preloved luxury fashion from designer brands.
HURR - Rent designer womenswear or lend your own pieces out so others can rent them.
RECYCLE TEXTILES
Easily find your local textile recycling centre by entering your postcode here where you can drop off any textiles and they will be recycled instead of going to landfill.
Alternative, you can check high street stores such as ZARA and H&M that have a recycling scheme in place. Usually they have zones in their shops where you can leave bags of unwanted textiles and they will recycle them for you.
M&S also has a ‘Shwopping’ scheme in place where you can bring any unwanted item of clothing into their store and they will pass them on to Oxfam to be resold, recycled or reused.