Sustainable luxury fashion is difficult to produce.
Some of the key principles of sustainable luxury fashion include:
- ethical production
- eco-friendly materials
- transparency and circularity.
Getting all of these right takes a lot of resources and attention to detail to execute properly.
The alternative is to be a regular luxury brand by paying less attention to the above and focusing more on leather goods, exclusivity and celebrity endorsements. It is quite easy to understand why that path is seductive: it brings popularity and social cachet.
The path of sustainable luxury, however, is not one that can yet be considered well-trodden. While luxury fashion started in business a long time ago (Hermès, Cartier and Louis Vuitton are all over 170 years old), the history of sustainable fashion is much shorter. This means that there are fewer native sustainable luxury brands (i.e. ones who started as sustainable).
There are of course many sustainable luxury brands that are not native to sustainability; they have opted to cross the aisle from traditional luxury to sustainable luxury. This means that such brands featured here are not perfect and so your expectations should be lowered; finding sustainable garments should not be “needle-in-a-haystack” challenges but it has to be said that sustainable ranges at such brands are fewer in number and/or come with a caveat or two. This roundup has opted to cover them so that we get a rounded sense of what sustainable luxury fashion looks like. As a dynamic document, we’ll keep this updated and so some of these brands may yet see much higher Good On You ratings. Fingers crossed!
By the way, if you’re looking for quiet sustainable luxury, you may want to check out our picks here. Our focus below will not be about aesthetics but a broader look at the sustainable luxury space with an unnumbered case study to reflect the complexities of the real world. We’ve used Good On You’s ratings as a guide: note that they are based on publicly available information.
1. Stella McCartney
Good On You rating: 4/5 Good (August 2022)
Stella McCartney, as the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney (from the Beatles) and animal rights activist, Linda McCartney, could easily have opted for the route of traditional luxury brands. Instead, in keeping with her parents’ values of animal rights and environmentalism, she has been a trailblazer in sustainable luxury fashion since establishing her eponymous label in 2001. From the outset, McCartney committed to cruelty-free practices, eschewing the use of leather, fur, and feathers in all designs—a revolutionary stance in the luxury fashion industry at the time. Beyond her core brand, she continues to invest in emerging fabric alternatives with considerable financial risk as not all are risk-free scalable ventures.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Innovative materials: The brand continually explores and incorporates alternative materials to traditional animal products. Examples include Mylo™ (a mycelium-based leather alternative), BioSequins (biodegradable sequins derived from cellulose) and Kelsun (a seaweed-based alternative to cotton and synthetic fibres).
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Clevercare initiative: In 2014, Stella McCartney launched the Clevercare labelling system, providing consumers with guidance on garment care to extend product lifespan and reduce environmental impact.
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Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L): Before moving to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a mechanism to help companies to set emission reduction targets, the brand used Environmental Profit & Loss (EP&L), a tool that used natural capital accounting methods to place a monetary value on environmental impacts, for a decade.
Case study: Vivienne Westwood
Good On You rating: 3/5 It’s a start (August 2022)
Vivienne Westwood's eponymous brand stems from her early days running a boutique in London that was closely associated with the Punk scene and especially the Sex Pistols who were managed by her partner, Malcolm McLaren. Westwood's outspoken stance on climate change and sustainability have been widely lauded.
At the same time, there are many that feel that Westwood’s activist rhetoric has actually come across as OTT and not backed up by her actions. Many have criticised Westwood for notably producing her clothes in China with plastics and polyester while the brand’s website talks about plastic-free packaging. So then is this greenwashing or just the complexity of a genuine founder coming up (and losing) against the corporate machine that their brand has become?
How many luxury brands would broadcast the image below on their official IG pages and highlight the founder’s work with Greenpeace on the website?
You may wish to compare Vivienne Westwood’s Good On You rating and public perception to the other brands on this list to make your own assessments of the importance of public relations!
3. Chloé
Good On You rating: 3/5 It’s a start (December 2024)
Chloé, the Parisian luxury fashion house, has recently intensified its focus on sustainability, marking a significant shift in its operational ethos. The focus is perhaps most keenly felt in its organisational changes. Chloé has been operating as a “Société à Mission” (Purpose-Driven Company) as of April 2023. As its website says, “This legal statutory change reflects Chloé’s commitment to support women’s advancement for a fairer future while adopting responsible environmental and social practices throughout its operations.”
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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B Corp certification: In 2021, Chloé became the first luxury fashion house to achieve B Corp certification, reflecting its commitment to meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
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Sustainable collections: Under the creative direction of Gabriela Hearst, appointed in 2020, Chloé has increased the use of lower-impact materials and artisanal collaborations, integrating sustainability into its design process.
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Transparency initiatives: Conceptually similar to the EP&L initiative adopted by Stella McCartney, Chloé has adopted a framework called Social Profit & Loss approach (SP&L). The SP&L is a business management tool that aims to integrate positive social impact into performance reports and accounting frameworks, alongside environmental and financial performance criteria.
4. Gabriela Hearst
Good On You rating: 2/5 Not good enough (September 2023)
Gabriela Hearst has embedded sustainability into the core of her eponymous brand, which may well have been a factor in her being asked to become Creative Director at Chloé. Having left that role in 2023, she is back focusing on her own brand where she has been charting her own sustainability journey. Here are a few choice snippets:
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Carbon-neutral runway shows: In New York in 2019, Hearst hosted the first carbon-neutral runway show.
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Innovative packaging: The brand introduced compostable bioplastic packaging, developed in collaboration with TIPA Sustainable Packaging as well as using recycled cardboard hangers.
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Material sourcing: A number of collections have utilised natural fibres or deadstock materials, such as the Spring Summer 2021 collection which comprised 60% deadstock materials
The timeline on her website captures the decade-long sustainability journey that the brand has been on as well as her own personal achievements. With the Good On You rating last updated in September 2023, it’s possible it needs updating for changes since Hearst’s return to the business.
5. Marine Serre
Good On You rating: 3/5 It’s a start (October 2022)
Marine Serre has rapidly gained recognition for such a young designer, with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and A$AP Rocky wearing her designs. Her work is often highlighted for incorporating recycled materials and challenging the concept of luxury.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Upcycling focus: The brand claims that around 50% of its collections are composed of upcycled projects with the remainder involving sustainable fibres such as “biodegradable yarns and recycled fibres”.
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Eco-futurist aesthetic: Serre's designs are considered to embody an eco-futurist ideology, a phrase that keeps recurring in her profiles. In the most simplistic meaning that we can derive, it is probably making the Earth the centre of focus instead of technology.
6. Another Tomorrow
Good On You rating: 4/5 Good (July 2024)
Founded in 2018 by former finance executive Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Another Tomorrow is a New York-based sustainable fashion brand. The brand was born out of Hallik's desire to create a label that embodies transparency, sustainability, and timeless design. Another Tomorrow offers a range of sophisticated, minimalist pieces designed to be wardrobe staples, reflecting a commitment to longevity over fleeting trends.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Supply chain transparency: Each garment features a unique digital ID in the form of a QR code on the care label. When scanned, this code reveals comprehensive information about the garment's provenance, including details about material sourcing, production processes, and sustainability facts.
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Material sourcing: The brand prioritises the use of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and hemp, ethical wool, and FSC-certified viscose. The brand also makes clear that they don’t use conventional cellulosic fibre, viscose, and cotton. Down and polyester are also not used.
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Resale initiatives: Another Tomorrow has implemented a resale program, allowing customers to return pre-owned items for resale.
7. Eileen Fisher
Good On You rating: 2/5 Not good enough (February 2025)
Eileen Fisher, established in 1984, has long been a pioneer in sustainable fashion. The brand’s website has three options in its header menu: Shop, A Simple Wardrobe and A Sustainable Life. When sustainability is thrust to the front and centre like that it is rarely done for gimmicky reasons. Yet its Good On You rating is lower than what one might expect; this appears to be due to inadequate disclosures around how it treats its people, not disclosing an animal welfare policy and using leather and wool in some products.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Renew program: Garments returned for re-use have 3 routes:
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Slightly damaged clothes get sold after mending, overdyeing or resewing.
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Fibre-to-fibre recycling: clothes are shredded and spun into yarn to be used for new fabrics.
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Downcycling: 33% of returned items are downcycled into insulation for construction, rags or mattress stuffing etc.
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Responsible fibre sourcing: The brand prioritises sourcing fibres that minimise environmental impact, such as organic cotton. Having started the brand with a focus on natural fibres, all cotton it currently uses is organic.
8. Nanushka
Good On You rating: 3/5 It’s a start (March 2025)
Founded in 2006 by Sandra Sandor, Nanushka is a Budapest-based brand that has garnered international acclaim for its modern, versatile designs and commitment to sustainability. The brand seamlessly blends traditional craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetics, offering pieces that are both functional and stylish.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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OKOBOR™ Fabric: Nanushka developed OKOBOR™, a proprietary alternative to animal-derived leather. This fabric is composed of 56% recycled polyester and 44% polyurethane.
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Deadstock fabrics: In November 2022, the brand launched ANEW:22, a collection of pieces from the Nanushka archive, reinterpreted entirely in deadstock fabrics
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Packaging: Nanushka partners with RePack to offer a reusable and returnable packaging alternative made from recycled materials. This accounted for 18% of packaging in 2022.
9. BITE Studios
Good On You rating: 3/5 It’s a start (March 2025)
Founded in 2016 by a collective of designers from Sweden and the UK, BITE, an acronym for "By Independent Thinkers for Environmental progress", is a luxury womenswear brand.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Material selection: BITE Studios prioritises the use of organic and low-impact materials, such as organic cotton, responsible & organic wool and forest friendly viscose. Conversely, BITE says that they do not use animal skins, fur or feathers as well as avoiding virgin polyester, polyamide and elastane. They even avoid conventional cotton.
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Local production: It manufactures its products closer to home to reduce the climate impact of long-distance shipping.
10. Aiayu
Good On You rating: 4/5 Good (June 2023)
Established in 2005 by Maria Høgh Heilmann, aiayu is in fact a Danish luxury brand, despite the fact that the brand name means “soul” in Aymaram the language of Bolivia’s indigenous people.
Sustainability milestones and practices:
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Certifications: The brand says that wherever possible, it sources from GOTS or RWS accredited sources. Similarly, it requires partners to hold leading certifications such as SA8000.
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Fibre-to fibre recycling: To optimise recycling options, most of the brand’s materials are managed as pure mono materials.
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Repair service: While many luxury brands do not think too deeply about after sales services, aiayu offers paid-for repair services which can help prolong the life of their products.
Wrap up
We wrote at the beginning of this article about regular luxury brands prizing exclusivity. Surely sustainable luxury brands don’t want to go down that route, right? They want their clothes to be worn by everybody so that everybody’s wardrobes become more sustainable, perhaps even circular. Part of the solution for achieving this goal is making sure that sustainable clothing is relatively more affordable. Our fabrics are top-notch too as we use certified organic cotton. Furthermore, our clothes can be sent back to us to be recycled when they reach end-of-life. Check out our Sustainable Essentials range!
