Reduce, Reuse, Re-Wear: 12 Polish Ethical Clothing Brands

lyko-pjlife_promo-2.jpg, default, ŁYKO, photo: Nadia Szymańska / promotional material

Do you ever wonder how many clothes the world produces every year? The answer is 80 billion. The production of one cotton T-shirt from your favourite shop requires 2700 (!) litres of water. Is there any way to stop this monstrous manufacturing machinery? Start making a difference with our list of 12 Polish ethical clothing brands.

All the time, we hear that every single choice we make contributes to climate change. Honestly, it feels like manipulation… why is systemic change never discussed? But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to help our planet, if only slightly. Reduction is the core element of the process. No one is saying that consumption should be completely abolished, but it should be reduced for sure. So the best thing to do with clothes is to… stop buying them.

Don’t worry, the world has already produced enough clothes for everyone. There’s no need to make more. Of course, no one has the time for hunting in second-hand shops all the time. Sometimes, we just want to find a unique dress or a great present quickly. Fortunately, the Polish market has a lot to offer when it comes to conscious consumerism. But what does ‘ethical fashion’ actually mean? A few examples will explain it all.

NAGO

Thumbnail — Nago, photo: Dominik Tarabański / promotional material

The NAGO brand’s aim is to redefine the word ‘well-dressed’. The creators’ mission is to create ecological base collections with minimalistic, one-colour products wearable for years. The brand wants to avoid ‘following the trends’. They use 100 % ecological cotton and other plant-based cloths like biodegradable Tencel (rayon made of cellulose fibre), cupro (regenerated cellulose similar to silk) and vegan viscose. Even the buttons are ecological – made of metal, coconut, or ‘vegetable ivory’ – tagua nut.

You could dress from head to feet only in NAGO clothes. In their eco-labelled shop, there are not only trousers, dresses, jackets, blouses, jumpers and sports clothes, but also hats, underwear, scrunchies and even protective masks. NAGO is not only a great choice for women – they also have a large collection of shirts and hoodies for men. A big round of applause for not working exclusively with models wearing size S.

Elementy

Elementy, a brand created in 2015, is the first one that comes to mind if you think of long-lasting clothing. Situated in Warsaw’s Praga district, it presents a variety of simple and subtle women’s collections categorised in series. Their characteristic feature is universality. What makes the brand so special is that their website enlists all the components that make a product cost a certain amount of money. A minimum of 1% is always donated to social initiatives.

Conscious consumerism means expanding our knowledge about clothing production. Elementy has products made of organic cotton, biodegradable lyocell and Tencel (materials extracted from wood cellulose). Sometimes they add a little bit of elastane, for instance to the T-shirts, or linen to elegant trench coats. One of their interesting propositions is ethical jeans – made of a mixture of recycled or virgin cotton which spares 83% of the water that would be normally used in the production.

Even though Elementy can be called an ethical brand, they aren’t vegan. Their autumn and winter coats are made of materials from breeding sheep and goats, so in other words from wool and mohair.

PULPA

The next ethical brand, located in Wrocław – PULPA – produces clothes at three small dressmakers’. Marta Maruszczyk really knows how to combine comfort with elegance. The clothes she makes are suitable for both home and office. Take, for instance, the tracksuits made of cotton and elastane produced in Poland. But that’s not the only thing worth admiring.

You should definitely take a look at the loose blouses made of modal fabric or Polish linen, or at the Tencel dresses. The brand proposes a variety of original linen bomber jackets in earth colours. It’s visible at first glance – they adore oversize and minimalism. Everything PULPA produces is grouped in batches, so sometimes you need to wait two weeks for your order. But having an original dress from a tailor is worth the wait.

GAU

GAU – Great As You – is one of the first Polish ethical clothes brands, founded in Gdynia in 2013. Slow fashion is definitely their thing. Zero-waste, controlled production and high quality is the most important to them. Their clothes are made only of organic cotton from Polish knitting factories, and they never throw away spare materials.

We all know that hand-sewing can cause little slip-ups, but they always reuse the products or give them away to charities or single mothers houses. Their style is a mixture of ‘simplicity with a Scandinavian minimalism and a nonchalant Parisian style’. GAU’s offer proposes T-shirts, loose blouses with simple cuts, casual trousers and dresses – all that in incredibly sweet, pastel colours.

Maszynownia

Katarzyna Głogowska went all out for her strictly vegan business – Maszynownia. The brand’s message is clear: they do not tolerate any form of human or animal exploitation. This original, vivid and sometimes even cosmic clothes and accessories are hand-sewed and made almost entirely of recycled materials. Maszynownia‘s characteristic products are fanny packs of different colours, which are made of glittery velour, or even from an old train curtain with the Polish State Railways logo! There is no doubt: they take recycling very seriously.

ŁYKO

Created by two sisters, Helena and Maria, ŁYKO is located in Warsaw. In their offer, you will find bedsheets, clothes and accessories made of Polish and Lithuanian linen. The colours that dominate in the products are usually beige, dusty rose and different tones of grey. The sisters believe linen is precious and beautiful, but apart from its aesthetic aspects it is also an environmentally friendly and long-lasting fabric: ‘The production of linen fertilises the soil and you don’t need any chemicals, the only waste produced in the process is dust.’ The clothes and bedsheet buttons are made of coconut. You also won’t find the unnecessary tags on the clothes. Their catalogue is full of comfortable, loose shirts and trousers that you can wear both at home or work. Don’t forget to check out their adorable children kimonos.

Seaside Tones

Seaside Tones was created in 2015 by Anna Rutkowska and her husband Michał. Their clothing line, inspired by the colours of the sea, is produced in a few small Polish cities. Some of their sewing shops are so tiny, it is hard to even call them tailors. The material used in the production is mostly Baltic linen. ‘Linen is an amazing material!’ – says the owner. Not only is linen very long-lasting, but it also keeps you warm in winter, and chills you out in summer.

All of Seaside Tones’ designs are made by Rutkowska herself. The style is very elegant but at the same time, the naturally wrinkled material works great with nonchalant shirts and dresses. The brand also proposes clothing for men. Just by looking at the clothes, you can feel the sea breeze on your face. Their orders are packed in compostable, plant-based bags.

Alexandra K

We’ve covered most of the ethical and vegan clothing brands. What’s still missing? Leather goods, of course. Aleksandra Kościkiewicz is the right person to turn to. She made her brand Alexandra K in 2014 to produce luxury bags made of 100% vegan and environmentally friendly materials like pineapple skin (piñatex), apples or corn pulp. The brand was three times awarded by PETA, from Germany, Britain and France. Alexandra K’s bags are luxurious, with prices between 200 and 300 euros, but the quality makes them wearable for ages. All orders are packed in paper bags, there is no use of plastic. Did you know that in 2018, PETA UK gave Alexandra K bag as a present to Meghan Markle?

bynamesakke

Iza and Robert Keyes-Krysakowskis, the authors of bynamesakke brand, are the eco-masters of the Polish fashion business. The brand was created in 2008, and as they say, it’s all about protecting the environment. Their products are packed in cotton bags with no tags. The mission of bynamesakke is to produce high-quality clothes whilst controlling the ethical aspect of every step in the production process. The clothes are made in Poland and sewn from cotton with a fair trade certification, or from biodegradable Tencel.

The clothing brand collaborates with an ecological dye room that reduces the use of water by 90%. The amount of water is reduced from 60 litres to only six. To prepare their orders, they use starch resin and produce tags from recycled cotton. The clothes are all about simplicity, comfort and unpretentiousness.

‘Buying should bring pleasure, but it should also be calm and thought through. […] My impression is that in our times, fast fashion will come to its end’ – says one of the creators of the brand. We so wish that for our planet!

Roe&Joe

‘It’s not a brand, it’s a lifestyle’ – say the creators of Roe&Joe. They produce hand-made clothes with a few tailors in Poland. 98% of their clothes are made of biodegradable Polish materials. Except for linen, which comes from other EU countries.

They are all about zero waste. The brand offers clothes for the whole family, including infants. In Roe&Joe, you will also find children’s pyjamas and swimsuits made of nylon fibre from old fishing nets and nylon wastes. ‘We want our clients to know that everything we sell is high quality and hand-made’, the creators say. However, their ecological and ethical consciousness doesn’t include veganism. Their offer has shoes from natural leather.

Osnowa

The brand created by Paulina Sołtyk and Paulina Wardak is another proof that ethical thinking goes together with a love for minimalism and high quality. Osnowa makes collections full of harmonious clothes that fit together perfectly. The vast majority of their clothes are black-and-white T-shirts, dresses, shirts and trousers.

A very unique element of their page is their ‘second hand’ tab which allows clients to exchange clothes. This section of the page contains products which were not sold in the previous season.

To produce their clothing, the brand uses eco-labelled materials made with reduced amounts of water. The brand uses Japanese elastane, Italian bio silk, polyester recycled from bottles found in the ocean, and organic wool from Argentina and Australia.

Their production is very ethical – the clothes are made in a family business, and you even get the tailor’s signature on the tag. Osnowa says that all their employees are equally compensated. They were also the first ones to collaborate with the Scandinavian start-up RePack, which introduced reusable bags to the business. The bags can be reused as many as 40 times!

imprm

The owners of imprm say, mysteriously, that their brand can be summed up with the expression ‘what has been seen cannot be unseen. Who knows? Maybe it’s about the impossibility to unsee the craziness of today’s commercialism. The owners of the brand, graduates of the School of Form, say: ‘style can be achieved without hurting the environment.’

imprm uses ecological textile yarn made of nylon recycled from fishing nets or fitted carpets. They also use Turkish cotton, fair-trade only, in eco-labelled colours, as well as Polish linen. When you buy one of their products, you get them in biodegradable compostable bags made of non-toxic materials like corn starch. The bags are produced by the British company Better Packaging.

Their goal is to connect ethics with aesthetics. Amongst their products, you’ll find funny T-shirts, loose linen dresses, dungarees, colourful kimonos, and swimsuits. ‘Our brand is a story of today’s femininity’ – write the owners. Their vision of femininity is cheerful, bright and fresh.

Originally written in Polish, Jun 2020, translated by Sylwia Sienicka, May 2021

Tytuł (nagłówek do zdjęcia)

Reason & Flair

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Language English

polish fashion designers