Brands to watch for 2021
Image: Pantee
Celebrating sustainable brands is what we do best. Here are our picks for the brands to watch for 2021.
We have lots of reasons to be excited for this brand new year ahead of us. Our favourite by far is seeing promising sustainable brands thrive and flourish. Some were able to find their way to notoriety despite the chaos last year. With 2019 dubbed as the ‘year of sustainability’, our expectations for 2020 were quite high. With movements such us #Payup and a total disruption of what we would typically consider the fashion calendar and its seasons, we have big hopes for 2021. At The Vendeur we love to see more and more creatives establishing their ethical businesses. We’ve done a round-up of brands that caught our eye for this year. From new faces to those about to become established authorities in the sustainable fashion realm.
Sustainable Brands To Watch For 2021
Pantee
Pantee started from a simple idea to create the world’s first underwear brand made from upcycled t-shirts. Did you know that it takes 2,700 litres of water to grow the cotton required for just one t-shirt? It’s already an impressive number, but if you consider that over 2-billion t-shirts are produced each year globally, then the count gets even more overwhelming. On top of this, studies show that roughly 30% of clothes made are never even sold, making all of that water waste even more pointless. T-shirts fabrics make super comfy and supportive underwear, but at Pantee they also source equally great materials from rolls of fabrics and offcuts before products are made. As well as using reclaimed fabrics, they avoid single-use plastics in their supply chain, preferring eco-friendly packaging. If that’s not already awesome enough, they also plant a tree for every product sold!
Clo de Vila
Clo De Vila is a brand that is excellently representing the resilience of sustainable brands in adversity. This quirky accessories brand’s story began when lockdown started. It was in March 2020 that the Bisous brooch collection was born. Its founder Justine Bonenfant, was celebrating the end of an embroidery class in Indonesia when she had to fly back to London. She found herself apart from her partner, along with the growing sadness and uncertainty of the Covid-19 crisis. However she also found comfort in embroidering these little kisses, like substitutes for the ones “she so wished she could give”. Clo De Vila collaborates with highly-skilled artisans in Mumbai, who hand-craft the brooches in small batches. They are the perfect way to elevate plain outfits and make them seem new again.
Lora Gene
If you love minimal design and clean lines, Lora Gene is an exciting, contemporary women’s wear label that brings together conceptual thinking and craftsmanship. Focusing on simplicity and no-fuss design elements, these items can be worn literally every single day. Lora specialises in staples, everyday pieces that enhance intelligent tailoring. Each garment is produced through conscious sourcing with care for the environment and the workers. She works with a network of suppliers who reflect her high ethical values. Lora Gene invests in fair trade businesses respectful of the environment. As a Member of Provenance and Certified B Corporation, the sourcing process is global and is based on minimising the use of resources and decreasing general waste. Plus Lora is size inclusive which is a rare thing within sustainable fashion.
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Sindiso Khumalo
We love, love, love Sindiso Khumalo! This sustainable textile designer based in Cape Town went under the radar in past years. That is until 2020 when she was named the Green Carpet Foundation Awards Best Independent Designer. A Central St Martins graduate, Khumalo studied architecture at the University of Cape Town before moving to London. She founded her eponymous label focused on creating modern sustainable textiles with a strong emphasis on African storytelling. She designs textiles by hand through watercolours and collage and has developed a uniquely colourful visual voice. Her aesthetic draws upon her Zulu and Ndebele heritage and speaks to Kwazulu Natal’s land, where she is from. Sustainability, craft and empowerment lie at the heart of the label. Sindiso works very closely with an NGO to develope handmade textiles for her collections. Her work has been published in Vogue Italia, Vogue UK, Elle Magazine and Marie Claire Magazine and “Africa: Architecture, Culture and Identity”.
Oshadi
Whilst it isn’t a newcomer, Oshadi is surely the most interesting label in the sustainable fashion landscape right now. The brand was founded by Nishanth Chopra in 2015 after seeing his homeland ravaged by the fashion industry. In order to eradicate the inherent problems within fashion supply chains, he came up with a somewhat revolutionary idea. The brand has a seed-to-stitch supply chain meaning that the cotton is grown, spun, and made into garments, all within the same area. This means that energy and emissions usually wasted transporting materials throughout the supply chain are dramatically reduced. Not only that but the brand supports growers and garment workers by paying fair wages. The company makes their own collections (which are beautiful) but they also supply other brands we love like Christy Dawn, Maggie Mariyln and Story MFG.
&Daughter
&Daughter is a slow knitwear brand aiming to convey beauty in useful things. With sustainability as its guiding light and central purpose. All these timeless clothes are created locally by the expert hands of makers in the UK & Ireland. While the fashion system makes trendy items failing the test of time, at &Daughter they are proud to evole imperceptibly over the seasons. The knitwear is created from the finest 100% locally sourced natural yarns, and they champion small-batch making.
Berjoan
If you consider your style to be on the romantic side then we have found the perfect label for you. Former To-ast, Erdem and Burberry alum Charlotte Cameron debuts her first collection for Berjoan in February and boy is it beautiful. The range incorporates British wool, FSC certified viscose and organic cotton jacquards, as well as buttons made from the nut of the tagua palm tree. Charlotte is proud of her field to fabric transparency. Each material is selected carefully to create the charming pieces, inspired by vintage clothes passed down to Charlotte by her Grandmother. With a focus on quiet simplicity, each piece is designed to be loved and worn, and handed down.
The collection is ready for pre order now and available to ship from 1st February.
Are you the next big thing to watch?
At The Vendeur we are proud to support brands, makers, suppliers and growers who are imagining a better world. So if this is you then we want to hear from you. You could be one of the first cohort of The Société, our small sustainable business support network. Click below to find out more.
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