Lingerie, a deeply personal facet of our wardrobe, carries an environmental and ethical weight often overlooked. Many traditional lingerie brands prioritize profit at the expense of sustainability, utilizing materials that harm the planet and exploiting labor practices.
In stark contrast, sustainable lingerie brands are dedicated to eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and bamboo, along with ensuring fair working conditions. By choosing sustainable lingerie, you're not just making a positive environmental impact but also endorsing brands committed to ethical practices.
Sustainability is undeniably attractive. With that in mind, we embarked on a quest to discover some alluring sustainable lingerie brands that cater to both eco-consciousness and bedroom aesthetics.
Whether you favor vintage eco-lingerie or modern designs, we've got you covered for those special moments.
Here are some factors that make lingerie sustainable and ethical:
Price range: $29 to $82
The brand is committed to ongoing sustainability improvements, with the ultimate goal of minimizing environmental impact.
Founded by Madonna Bain, Eco Intimates is a bespoke label hailing from Byron Bay, Australia, where each piece of lingerie and sleepwear is lovingly designed and produced in small, sustainable batches.
The brand's core materials are organic cotton, featuring a 100% cotton broderie anglaise, and upcycled materials for trims and accent panels.
Eco Intimates offers sizes from XS to XL and, in their mission to promote body positivity, has initiated the EI Real Girls Campaign, celebrating the beauty of women being themselves.
Sustainable Fabrics: The brand carefully selects natural and sustainable textiles, even repurposing surplus materials from larger producers to minimize waste. They maintain unwavering quality standards for their eco-textile sources.
Organic Cotton: One of their signature materials is GOTS-certified organic cotton, known for its softness and luxury feel. It's dyed or printed using low-impact dyes, adhering to global organic textile standards.
Ethical Production: Manufacturing is a collaborative effort with three home-based businesses in Bali. The brand works closely with these artisans and ensures flexible and ethical working conditions, even in the face of travel limitations due to COVID-19.
Sustainably Produced: The emphasis on high-quality materials and craftsmanship ensures that each piece is hand-crafted, not mass-produced. This approach aligns with sustainability goals by creating durable and beautiful products.
Packaging & Shipping: Eco Intimates adopts eco-conscious packaging, using compostable bags and encouraging recycling of DHL packaging
Price Range: Price range: $18 to $90
Girlfriend Collective was founded on the principles of transparency and ethics. Co-founded by Ellie and Quang Dinh, this husband-and-wife team combined their fashion and marketing backgrounds to create high-quality athleisure wear with a strong commitment to ethical practices.
The bralettes and underwear offered by Girlfriend Collective are crafted from recycled water bottles and are fully recyclable. Furthermore, through their ReGirlfriend program, you can also recycle any undergarments you no longer need.
The brand is committed to inclusivity, offering size ranges from 2XS to 6XL and providing accessibility options on their website.
Environmental Responsibility: The company prioritizes eco-friendliness, using recycled materials like post-consumer water bottles and ECONYL® for their activewear and undergarments. They also use lower-impact dyes and ensure proper wastewater treatment in their supply chain. The brand encourages responsible washing practices to minimize microfiber shedding.
Circular Fashion: The brand addresses the end-of-life issue by operating a ReGirlfriend program, allowing customers to send back old or damaged pieces for upcycling, promoting circularity in a fashion industry known for its waste.
Ethical Manufacturing: Girlfriend Collective's factory is certified by Social Accountability International (SAI) and follows the SA8000 standard. The brand has a Code of Conduct that covers labor standards and pays a living wage in certain production stages. They monitor health and safety conditions through third-party audits and trace most of their supply chain.
Animal Welfare: Girlfriend Collective's products are generally free of animal-derived materials, making them vegan-friendly.
Sustainable Packaging: Girlfriend Collective collaborated with CRP to guarantee that every component of their packaging program is constructed using 100% recycled materials, including hangtags and shipping materials. As part of this program, they offer a gift with purchase: a reusable pouch crafted from 100% recycled fabric, right down to the stitching thread.
Price Range: $60—$86
JulieMay, the recipient of the London Prestige Award for Lingerie Brand of the Year, offers a delightful selection of ethical and sustainable lingerie.
Juliemay is an ethical and allergy-friendly lingerie brand dedicated to providing comfortable, hypoallergenic intimates for individuals with skin sensitivities. Co-founded by Ellie and Quang Dinh, Juliemay's mission is to create beautiful lingerie that is not only stylish but also gentle on the skin.
Their collection, crafted from organic Pima cotton and 100% pure organic silk, is both luxurious and eco-conscious, ranging from sustainable bras, sports bras, and bralettes to a variety of bootylicious organic cotton panties like the Ashley Cotton Silk Brief with an elegant lace cutout. Skin-friendly and hypoallergenic, their organic cotton lingerie caters to those with sensitivities.
Juliemay offers a wide range of sizes, from 8-18 for briefs and 32B to 42DD for bras.
Materials: JulieMay's comfortable intimates feature pure organic silk inner layers in bras and panties. They specialise in crafting allergy-friendly lingerie for women of all shapes and sizes. Each bra is lined with 100% Pure Silk, a hypoallergenic and antibacterial fabric.
Their comfort bra collections, including underwired bras, non-wired bralettes, and push-up and padded options, combine organic Pima cotton with silk inner layers. Their organic lingerie is free from synthetics, exposed plastic hooks, stitched tags, nickel, or latex.
Ethical Production: All JulieMay products are meticulously handmade at a certified production site with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications, ensuring workplace health and safety, fair wages, and various eco-friendly attributes.
All these sites adhere to ethical, fair trade, and sustainable standards.
Green Practices: JulieMay avoids harsh chemicals, minimizes water usage during the dyeing process by using small vats, and employs recyclable paper packaging. All components are free of synthetics, exposed plastic hooks, stitched tags, nickel, and latex.
The brand also promotes inclusivity by featuring diverse models of all ages, races, shapes, and sizes.
Community: JulieMay, in collaboration with Greenspark, supports multiple projects that have offset 1.1 tons of CO2, removed the equivalent of almost 3000 plastic bottles, and reforested 1.18 hectares of trees.
Price Range: $18—$62
Subset, formerly known as Knickey, is an eco-conscious brand committed to raising the standards of sustainability in the underwear industry. They focus on organic materials and recycling to provide high-quality, toxin-free undergarments.
Subset has expanded its product range to offer a broader selection of inner-wear, including underwear, bras, maternity wear, lounge apparel, and men's inner-wear.
The brand caters to a wider range of body types, and it offers a diverse range of sizes.
Toxin-Free Undergarments
Subset's undergarments are made from certified-organic cotton, free from harmful chemicals and toxins commonly found in synthetic fabrics. This ensures a safe and comfortable wearing experience.
Sustainable Materials
Subset's products are certified by GOTS, Oeko-Tex, Fair Trade International, and Forest Stewardship Council, ensuring compliance with high sustainability standards.
They use organic cotton as the primary material for their products, emphasizing breathability and skin sensitivity. The brand avoids petroleum-based fabrics and other potentially harmful materials commonly used in the underwear industry.
Recycling Program:
Subset offers a recycling program that allows customers to recycle their old and unwanted underwear. This initiative helps prevent these items from ending up in landfills.
Subset has partnered with SuperCircle to further scale its Intimates Recycling Program, aiming to achieve higher-value recycling outcomes for used intimates.
Environmental Focus
The brand uses a high proportion of lower-impact materials, including Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton. Subset also incorporates low-impact materials to minimize chemicals, water usage, and wastewater in its supply chain. It uses renewable energy in its supply chain to reduce its climate impact.
Fair Trade and Ethical Practices
Much of Subset's supply chain is certified by Fairtrade International – Small Producers Organisations and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton. The brand traces most of its supply chain, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Price Range: $42—$145
ColieCo, a renowned lingerie brand based in Sagres, Portugal, is a shining example of a company that embodies sustainability and ethical practices in every facet of its operation. ColieCo is a vegan lingerie brand, which means they do not use any animal-derived fabrics, glues, or waxes in their products.
Its commitment to sustainability, ethical production, and corporate and social responsibility sets a high standard for the fashion industry. Through its transparency, fair practices, and dedication to the environment, ColieCo proves that it's possible to create beautiful and sustainable lingerie while making a positive impact on both people and the planet.
ColieCo offers a range of sizes from XS to 2XL but also provides custom sizing upon request and free alteration services to accommodate unique body shapes.
Locally Sourced Materials
ColieCo strives to minimize the carbon footprint associated with material procurement. This includes sourcing fabrics, elastics, and other components from suppliers based in Europe. By reducing the transit of materials, the brand contributes to a more sustainable supply chain.
Sustainable Natural Fibers
It actively promotes the use of TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers, derived from sustainably sourced wood, and bamboo silk made from organically grown bamboo. ColieCo primarily uses recycled materials, such as fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles or reclaimed deadstock mesh, lace, and printed fabrics. Their thread in all garments is made from 100% recycled plastic bottle poly. They also offer sustainable silk lingerie alternatives made from ECOCERT certified, organically grown, and closed-loop processed bamboo fabric.
Supply Chain & Labor Practices
ColieCo's lingerie is ethically produced by hand in their studio in Sagres, Portugal.
They source materials locally within the EU and from small, independent businesses committed to sustainable fashion. For fabric suppliers outside Europe, they require certifications like SA8000 and annual third-party audits for labor and environmental practices.
Carbon Commitments & Green Practices
ColieCo's bamboo fabric comes from FSC-certified forests and is processed in an ISO14000-certified environmentally responsible facility. They minimize fabric waste by hand-drawing and cutting the pieces.
All shipments are carbon offset through Carbonfund.org, and they package orders in 100% recycled materials.
Environmental Responsibility
ColieCo ensures that all of its partners and suppliers adopt measures to mitigate and minimize their environmental impacts. Suppliers are expected to assess and address their carbon footprints, waste production, water and energy use, as well as pollution. The brand also encourages its partners to seek certification against internationally recognized standards of excellence in sustainable production.
Choosing sustainable lingerie is an important step towards creating a more ethical and responsible fashion industry. By supporting brands that prioritize eco-friendly materials, ethical manufacturing, and inclusivity, we can make a positive impact on the environment and the people involved in the production of our clothing.
As we continue to discover the best sustainable lingerie brands, it's important to educate ourselves about the key features to look for and how to shop consciously. By making informed choices and supporting local and independent brands, we can contribute to the future of ethical fashion and create a more sustainable world. So, let's embrace sustainable lingerie and make a difference, one intimate garment at a time.
