10 Women-Owned Sustainable Brands You Need On Your Radar
These labels incorporate material innovation, upcycling and conscious production practices so that you can look good and feel good about it.
When women create for women, an unspoken magic is conjured. Of course, there are many amazing womenswear designers who are men — but understanding the body and mind of a woman is an intimate process. Sometimes, putting on a dress or artisan-crafted blouse is the confidence boost one needs to let their true, inner diva shine through.
Below, we round up some of our favorite women-owned independent labels and emerging brands in honor of Women’s History Month — each founder channels their femininity and lets it pour abundantly into their craft. Not only do these brands represent powerful women paving their own lanes within the industry, but they also set an honorable standard when it comes to conscious production. Each of these companies produces mindfully, incorporating deadstock materials, upcycling or traceable sourcing — so, you can step out feeling self-assured and confident in more ways than one.
Taottao
Taottao
Yitao Li started Taottao, the color-explosive brand of every maximalist’s dreams, in 2021 after she graduated from FIT. “I did a year of made-to-measure. Now, I still do a lot of that; basically, all of my pieces are made-to-measure or pre-order until I receive the order, then I make everything piece by piece. I don’t overproduce,” she explains. Creating with a small but mighty in-house team that now consists of seamstresses and Li’s mother, she continues to explore the idea of zero-waste creation while also emboldening her wearers through statement pieces that say, “All eyes on me.” She shares, “I’ve always been told by society, especially in China, what to do and how to dress as a woman. I live in China part-time, and sometimes, Chinese women are even afraid to wear bikinis on the beach. I want to bring that confidence to wear whatever you want. I want women everywhere to feel that way.”
That Girl That Did Your Hair x HOTHEAD
Tgtdyh X Hothead/Nina Aprile
Nina Aprile started her career as a hairstylist, creating the looks for major runway shows and working with the likes of Grace Ling, Priscavera and Dion Lee. But after a few years of working BTS, she decided to step into the spotlight with her own brand: That Girl That Did Your Hair. Now, through a match made in heaven partnership with sustainable hair accessory founder Amy Mazius of HOTHEAD, the two have developed a special-edition line of upcycled hair accessories. “It’s about using what’s there to make something really special. And a lot of it is at a more accessible price point than buying a plaid Balenciaga dress. I think sustainability, at the end of the day, is also about inclusivity,” Mazius shared.
Created using excess textiles from brands including Balenciaga, Dsquared2 and others, they can even double as bag charms, jewelry and more — because women understand the appeal of a dynamic product for busy girls. On creating for women, Aprile expressed, “We’re better together. If we’re all creatives, then let’s create together. Amy has shown me that color doesn’t always have to be so bold; it could still be moody and fun. I’m very black and white, so having green in this collection was different for me. The creativity is limitless when you create with other women.”
Marrow Fine
Marrow Fine
Jillian Sassone’s jewelry brand began as a passion project, as she wanted to memorialize her grandmother’s passed-down stones by using them as the centerpiece for a sentimental ring. Not long after, she launched Marrow Fine, a female-founded and focused brand inspired by heirloom pieces. “When we started, a lot of designers weren’t working with heirlooms because of quality controls. That’s where the name Marrow came from — we’re honoring the good, old bones of these past pieces,” she says.
When reworking or creating her own designs, she only uses reclaimed gold and she is also a big fan of incorporating reclaimed, antique diamonds. But beyond providing a new life for meaningful family relics or heirlooms, her biggest joy in launching the brand is designing for women. “Nine years in, being able to mentor mostly younger girls that are working here, that’ll go on to have their own brands and do big things — it’s amazing. I also love working with all these amazing women who are coming in to mark different milestones — job promotions, new babies, anniversaries. We’ve built this really amazing community,” she states.
Blondita
Blondita/Molly Johnson
The Blondita girl is fun! She’s fresh! And she’s never afraid to turn heads. Angela Ruis has always had an affinity for upcycling used fabrics, making them into creations reflective of that carefree spirit. But when she founded Blondita, she had no idea her crafty origins would resonate with Sabrina Carpenter, Devon Lee Carlson and many more. “I was just kind of designing for what I thought was cute at the time. It all came from such a genuine place. So, I want to keep creating from that place of, ‘What would I want to wear?’” she reflects. Ruis wants to continue highlighting deadstock and reworked fabric in upcoming releases, sharing, “We just produced a one-of-one collection that was all made from vintage fabrics I sourced. It had these one-off garter skirts included. I’m always finding new fabrics. Lately, I’ve just been an online girl and I’ll find these cute fabrics that someone’s grandma is selling.” And as for what’s to come — new categories for the cool girls! You can expect shoes and jewelry from Ruis, which will complement her dainty bubble skirts and matching sets.
Esquina Esquina
Esquina Esquina
Josefina Roveta has a background in art history and an extensive portfolio as a cultural manager, but she doesn’t take herself, or her brand, too seriously. While championing the often-overlooked work of Argentinean artisans, she also curated a brand with charm, producing pieces that reflect her propensity for statement dressing. Growing up, she watched VH1 and took a lot of inspiration from American street style elements, so even the brand’s name “Esquina,” meaning corner, represents her affinity for bridging the gap between different cultures and aesthetics.
“It’s important to not only give artisans protagonism but also to learn from them. Most of the techniques used are untreated leather practices related to horse riding that we have recontextualized. Many of these techniques are also traditionally led by men. So, it’s been quite interesting for us to rethink them through a sexy, quirky lens,” she shares.
For Roveta, “a man thinking about how a woman wants to dress is very different than a woman who knows how women want to dress. For [her], it’s very intuitive because the majority of pieces in the collection are things [she] would wear.”
Campbell & Kramer
Campbell And Kramer
Alden Kramer and Presley Campbell met as roommates at UCLA and both had a shared passion for fashion — they also immediately connected over the ideals they shared and believed that promoting sustainability was integral to the industry. Campbell & Kramer is now a full-blown business that has been sported by street style’s cool girls from Bella Hadid to Em Rata, but it started off as a simple upcycling operation. The label uses deadstock materials to produce the wardrobe must-haves the duo just couldn’t find already on the market, like their recently released ultra-soft Demeter collection. “We want to create pieces that can be worn a million different ways. Our goal is always to make women feel the most confident while they’re wearing our pieces,” Campbell says.
Alden discusses how designing for women continually inspires the brand: “Our inspiration comes from all of the talented and creative women we see online and collaborate with every day. Whenever we design, we’re just constantly asking ourselves, ‘What is the Campbell and Kramer girl doing?’ The Campbell and Kramer girl is doing things for herself. She’s not doing things for the approval of anyone else. She knows herself.”
Bangla Begum
Bangla Begum
French jewelry designer Fanny Boucher founded Bangla Begum five years ago, aiming to give sculptural embellishments more meaning. She wanted to emphasize the storytelling aspect of jewelry, creating pieces for herself and her powerful community of women that have function beyond just beauty. “We’re a woman-owned business, but it’s also a woman-propelled business,” she says, “What I’m really trying to do when I design for women is to diversify the conversation that we are having with jewelry.”
Through a recent collaboration with a close friend, Sarah of lingerie brand Henriette H, Bangla Begum recently released a silver whistle inspired by France‘s passionate culture of demonstration. 20% of profits will be donated to Fondations des Femmes. On top of activism, Boucher also makes sure to maintain mindful practices within the brand: “We also are fully transparent with traceability. We make 90% of our products locally and whatever we can’t make in France is made in Germany, like our chains. Italy makes our recycled resin. It’s actually made in the same factory as Prada. These considerations are embedded within my brand,” she adds.
Huha
Huha
Picking out the perfect underwear is personal. Alexa Suter created Huha when she couldn’t find the right pair for her — most synthetic options just didn’t seem like the best of the best, so she decided to create something better. Huha underwear is breathable, comfortable and knitted with zinc oxide which helps fight off unwanted bacteria and reduces the risk of UTIs. Since each pair is made out of TENCEL cellulose fibers, they’re also water-conserving — earning the brand its own EU Ecolabel.
“I think that what we’re doing as a brand shouldn’t be revolutionary, but rather the norm. We’re just making undies for real bodies and trying to solve problems for women that regular undies don’t. We really look to our community to learn what they’re looking for. It’s a collaborative effort with a team of strong women behind it, and we just continue to question the status quo and imagine something better,” she says. “Making women feel more comfortable in their skin, and helping them realize their body was never the problem — it was just their underwear.”
Danz
Danz
DANZ makes the types of pieces that you’d probably see on the cool, downtown girl who’s always on the go. But beyond the relaxed city-girl silhouettes, the brand is dedicated to blending the worlds of fashion and technology. Founder Danica Zheng says, “Since launch, we’ve introduced over 10 unique textile innovations, including Seacell technology, Far-Infrared technology, Sandwashed Cotton and more.” The Seacell collection features a patented fabric made from seaweed fiber. It is produced in a closed-loop system with zero chemical waste, making the biodegradable material rich in natural vitamins A and E, as well as antioxidants.
Not only does Zheng want her customers to look good, but she wants them to feel good about what they’re purchasing as well, stating: “Leading a woman-owned brand is about supporting women and continuously pushing to show how far our efforts can take us. We do this by embracing the female form through designs that accentuate and celebrate the body, by collaborating with female partners and teammates and by fostering a community where we uplift one another.”
SVNR
Svnr/Jenna Saraco
Christina Tung is a multifaceted founder who appreciates mindful design, and this shines through her brand SVNR. She always appreciated the hobby of jewelry making, especially as a child, and after picking the activity back up one rainy weekend, she discovered that she could tap into her inner child once again — and she now had the chance to share that wonder with others. “SVNR exists at the union of ethics and aesthetics. Ethical production meets candy-colored versatile statement pieces like jewelry and hand-dyed silks, inspired by places I’ve been, or bucket list destinations. The name SVNR — souvenir — to me is about a memory,” she explains.
Tung is constantly inspired by the world around her, often working with found materials and overlooked scraps. But perhaps what inspires her most are those she keeps close. “My mom is an entrepreneur, so it’s meaningful to me to be able to follow in her footsteps. I love making [women] feel beautiful, powerful and attuned with nature — natural silks against our skin and adorned with shells and gemstones.”
