10 Black-Owned Ethical Clothing Brands You Should Know
Nov 08, 2023 10:00AM ● By Boitumelo Masihleho
Supporting Black-owned sustainable and ethical clothing brands is one of the best ways of advancing social justice efforts. In doing so, you not only help to reduce our impact on the planet but you also help to uplift marginalized communities. Businesses that demonstrate their commitment to creating a better planet for all are the businesses anyone would like to support. Environmental initiatives, poverty alleviation efforts, diversity and inclusion efforts, carbon-neutral operations, recycling programs, and sustainable packaging are great indicators of business values. From shoes to dresses and swimsuits, these 10 Black-owned brands have what you need to head out in a sustainable and ethical style.
1. Míe
Míe is a lifestyle brand that provides design and fashion consciously made to be nature-friendly. Their focus is on resort wear, made with natural fabrics, that are breathable, elegant, and functional, for conscious women and all women with refined taste. All their clothes are locally made by seamstresses and artisans here in Lagos, Nigeria where they are based. Launched in 2018, their brand goal has been to make feel-good fashion with the perks of sustainability, and we continue to seek ways to improve our design and production processes such that our products meet people’s needs without jeopardizing the environment and compromising the future. Mei is on a journey to provide their customers with more than clothing, treasured home accessories, and designs that feel good and beautify any home.
2. Jo-Anne Vernay
Jo-Anne Vernay is a line of luxury vegan footwear made from fruit that merges durability with style. Their pineapple leaf fiber shoes are made in Italy from fine highly biodegradable fabrics. Founded by Dyandra Raye, this line was born after a lifetime of sketching shoes mixed with her 13-year retail/fashion career and a vegan & sustainable lifestyle. Dyandra sets out to create shoes that weren't pumped with harmful materials like leather and polyurethane. Named after her mother and fashion inspiration Jo-Anne, and late Aunt Vernay who supported her childhood shoe designs; her family’s namesake line embodies legacy and women in business. Jo-Anne Vernay's premiere design is made of pineapple leaf fiber and in Italy, designed by Dyandra to bring sustainability to the fashion industry's forefront. The brand follows slow and circular processes, keeping luxury, uniqueness, and quality in mind. Each style is offered in limited quantities, making room for more original luxury vegan designs.
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3. Chelsea Bravo Studio
Born in Brooklyn, New York Chelsea Bravo moved to London as a toddler with her father, a London native born to Trinidadian parents, and her Mother Grenadian, both parents growing up in New York City through the 70s and 80s. In 2013 Bravo founded her eponymous menswear label with the launch of her strongly received spring/summer 2013 collection entitled ‘Dysfunction’ which was picked up and featured on Okay Africa. Chelsea Bravo’s collections now feature menswear, womenswear, and unisex styles as well as one-of-a-kind pieces made from repurposed materials. Describing her design process as, explorations and expressions of creativity, the collections creatively infuse an artistic hand through illustrative abstract hand-painting and elements of hand-embroidery and appliqué. All combined with fabrics such as hemp, linen, and organic cotton through open, playful and free silhouettes.
4. Autumn Adeigbo
After watching her Nigerian mother sew her clothes growing up and working for illustrious names like Betsy Johnson and stylist Andrea Lieberman of A.L.C., Autumn Adeigbo created her namesake label of joyful, vibrant styles. Autumn Adeigbo designs colorful, fashion-forward clothing for women who like to stand out in a crowd. As a Black female business owner, Autumn is devoted to positively impacting the lives of women across cultures by utilizing female-owned production facilities in the U.S., and providing global artisans with meaningful employment and fair wages. The made-to-order, global brand ethically sources its materials from all over the world, including Indian fabrics and West African beading, and has it sewn into its tailored silhouettes in New York City. Autumn launched four fair-trade fashion production pilots in Africa and has been a featured speaker at The World Bank, Capital One, The New York Public Library, and The Fashion Institute of Technology. She sits on the Parsons School of Design Reunion Committee.
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5. Sami Miro Vintage
Sami Miro Vintage is a Black female-owned clothing company whose ethos was founded on eco-consciousness. Based in Los Angeles, their social responsibility to do better for the planet is brought forth through every step of their supply chain. Sami Miro Vintage creates beautiful, detail-oriented, long-lasting, and non-seasonal creative staples designed from a high-quality and fashion-forward point of view. Founded by Sami Miró in 2016, the brand debuted a Spring/Summer 30-piece runway collaboration with Heron Preston during Paris Fashion Week 2019. In the same year, SMV collaborated with Samsung for its first-ever sustainable watch product, as well as a clothing collaboration with Future Earth, an online non-profit dedicated to educating and bringing awareness to climate change.
6. Arrow + Phoenix
Established in 2012, Arrow + Phoenix is a 90’s influenced sustainable swimwear line based in Los Angeles. Arrow + Phoenix is a conscious lifestyle brand known for its sleek feminine silhouettes, comfortable + supportive fit, luxurious fabric, and eco-friendly quality in a full range of inclusive sizes. A+P founder and designer, Kayla Bell, has always been a bikini lover and at just seven years old, she recognized her love of design and keen eye for detail that has since taken her places beyond her childhood aspirations. As a designer and strong advocate of body positivity + philanthropy, Kayla always knew that she wanted to build a brand that had meaning and intention. It focuses on diversity and size inclusivity with bra cups ranging from A-H. The brand’s designs are made out of ECONYL, an Italian eco-luxe fiber made from regenerated nylon. Created from recycled water bottles, these can be shipped back to the company when you are ready to pass them on.
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7. Lemlem
Lemlem specializes in resort wear (and swimwear) made responsibly, entirely in Africa. Created by supermodel Liya Kebede, Lemlem works to preserve the local art of weaving in Ethiopia, while celebrating women and nature. In their garments, you will find joyful colors and patterns, with a new take on the casual yet chic. Committed to slow fashion, Lemlem has created over 200 jobs in partnership with an ethical artisan workshop in Ethiopia, and two small garment factories located in Kenya and Morocco. There the workers are ensured safe and inclusive workplaces, living wages, and benefits. Materials used include cotton for their handwoven pieces (sourced mainly from Africa), Repreve (a recycled polyester fabric) for their swimsuits, the upcycled fabric turned into accessories (or donated to sewing schools), 100% recyclable tags and labels, as well as 100% compostable packaging.
8. Taylor Jay
Founder, Taylor Jay, set out to create reliable basics designed to perform, with every woman in mind. Inclusion is the principal value upon which the brand is founded. Perfect for minimalist clothing, their elevated yet comfortable garments are produced in partnership with an ethically sourced, fair labor factory located in Oakland, California. With an intersectional approach considering female empowerment, inclusion, and environmental consciousness, Taylor Jay is constantly striving to be cleaner, safer, and healthier. They make sure to recycle and upcycle thread and use safer tints to dye their garments. They are pursuing every attainable green certification so that they can contribute to a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for their customers.
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9. Aliya Wanek
Aliya Wanek is a speech therapist by day and a womenswear designer by night. She founded her Oakland-based eponymous label in 2016 and creates timeless, comfortable clothing from natural fibers. Aliya Wanek is an eponymous womenswear label that focuses on exploring the connection between one’s identity and style. Their mission is to create comfortable, stylish clothing ethically and sustainably as an extension of the wearer’s individuality. Each piece by Aliya Wanek is hand-dyed in the Bay Area and has a mix of the American classic with Japanese aesthetics. Garments are sewn by Aliya herself, working with two small factories located in the Bay Area, that help produce and dye garments. Materials used include an alpaca blend, organic cotton, hemp blend, cotton, and silk noil (made from the leftover fibers from spinning silk).
10. Jade Swim
This sustainable swimwear brand by former fashion editor & stylist Brittany Kozerski combines her minimalist aesthetic with innovative silhouettes and unique design details. Jade Swim is a sustainable swimwear line using deadstock fibers and ECONYL which is regenerated nylon from plastic waste such as fishnets taken out of the ocean and remade into new nylon fabric. The collection is carefully crafted from luxe fabric to smooth and sculpt the body. Designed with multifunctional versatility in mind, these styles can be worn from day to night, from beach to city, as swim or ready-to-wear. “I wanted to provide a go-to line of swimwear with styles that shape and accentuate the body, reduce tan lines, and also seamlessly pair with your closet essentials,” said Kozerski in an interview with Forbes.
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She's an experienced multimedia journalist who is committed to writing balanced, informative and interesting stories on a number of topics. Boitumelo has her own YouTube channel where she shares her love for affordable beauty and lifestyle content.
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