Many great apparel brands have been able to lean into their values during the global economic and social shift over the last six months. These clothing companies use a mission-based philosophy to embrace ethical fashion and talk about the benefits to an engaged audience. More consumers are looking for these bright spots online. When brands can offer positive impact, encouragement and quality products, they are able to stand out.
Below are a few of the apparel brands that are marketing well, promoting their message with a genuine voice, and making an impact.
Threads 4 Thought
Thread 4 Thoughts sustainability report speaks volumes about this apparel company’s mission and values. Threads 4 Thought invests in improving the apparel industry’s environmental impact through recycling and water conservation. Threads 4 Thought products are made from materials like regenerated beech trees, recycled polyester and nylon from recycled plastic bottles, and fishing nets in additional to organic cotton. Their transparency shines through to customers. In addition, their clarity on which areas they are still working on, versus where they are leading the way. In addition, they carry this marketing message throughout their social media channels (catch them at @thread4thought and #wearthoughtfully) and their content-rich blog.
Pact
Pact Apparel out of Boulder, Colorado, operates under the tagline, “We are making a pact to do better. To be better. To inspire change.” Making that statement boldly to its customers leaves no doubt as to the values of this apparel brand. The company holds GOTS and Fair Trade USA Factor certifications and products have a sustainable and ethical style guarantee. Where Pact stands out is its mission to make organic affordable, something that resonates with customers now more than ever. The company marketing tools like their customer newsletter and social posts to promote their clothing donation program, Give Back. Wear Forward. This service they provide to customers to reduce the 80lbs of clothing per person we all throw away each year.
Tentree
We love our fellow B Corps! Tentree is one of those great apparel companies doing things right for their customers. Recognized as a certified B Corp and scoring in the top 1% for manufacturing industry, the folks at Tentree are leading the way. They keep their customers engaged, activated and invested in how their purchase can have a bigger impact. The company plants a tree for every item you purchase. As a customer, you get a token that tells you where your tree was planted. That is customer and environmental engagement to the extreme.
The company offers carbon emission credit offsets as part of your purchase. In addition, they use cute and relevant metrics including your daily drive, your food deliveries, road trips, shipping and single-use plastics. Using their marketing to educate their customers and make environmental change relevant to everyone is how they differentiate themselves.
Kotn
Another B Corp doing amazing things for the people working in the fashion and apparel manufacturing space is Kotn. Kotn believes that knowing where your clothes come from, whether that’s who made it, how they made it and when it was made is important and should be shared with everyone no matter how much the clothes cost. They share details regularly on their website and mailing list. They describe their process as ‘ farm-to-table, but for your clothes.” Finally, each purchase you make directly supports cotton farmers living in the Nile Delta. Purchasing clothes from Kotn has already allowed them to build 7 schools and fund 690 farms.
Everlane
We are intrigued by the work Everlane is doing to grow. They are moving toward improving ‘radical transparency.’ The company has recently been in hot water for being less than transparent to their employees, especially their Black employees. However, the company is taking steps to make changes. New leadership seeks to set them on a better path. We sure hope so. Their mission of being open with customers about the true costs of their clothes inspires us. From materials to labor to transportation, and only using factories that provide fair wages and reasonable hours.
