Men’s Eco-Fashion Shopping Guide: Part 2

The wait is finally over. Below are more wonderful eco-conscious brands to whet your appetite. Part Two of our guide features the best in fair-trade footwear and something special for you dapper fashionistos! Enjoy. (And here’s a link to Part 1 in case you missed it!)

Brave Gentleman

Are you looking for a way to be sustainably dapper? Brave Gentleman is the company for you. BG is a  “full service” retail company for the wingtip wearing, custom suit designing, and environment loving  “lionheart.” After years of writing, the Discerning Brute, a blog dedicated to all things “fashion, food and etiquette for the ethically handsome man,” Joshua Katcher assembled his expertise and started a vegan retail company.

 

Brave Gentleman is about dressing and adorning the lives of the men brave enough to move away from fast fashion’s destructive practices without sacrificing taste, luxury, or style. Katcher’s genius ability to organize creative content has very obviously spilled into his line. He has managed to bring together top of the line vegan and environmentally friendly materials such as Future-Leather and Future-Wools. These fabrics use a very minimally impactful method to produce the same luxurious, durable, and wearable wool, and leather that we know. The Future versions are just better for the environment.

 

Dapperness is a sustainable lifestyle over at Brave Gentleman. Not only can you score the best hand made suits, but the site also offers items for your home, to help you groom, and to help you practice safe, and sustainable, sex. Even if you don’t call yourself dapper, or a gentleman, BG has something for you. Check out their vegan, organic cotton or linen, luxury button down shirts: a great way to keep natural and cool from the startup boardroom to day party.

 

Turn to Brave Gentleman when you are ready to add some very adult, but classic styles to your wardrobe like some those blue suede shoes. If you’re having trouble finding the best shoes for your feet, I suggest reading articles on footwearly.com that will help you choose!

 

We Three Leaves

On their About page, We Three Leaves points to some guiding principles that we can totally get behind. They are dedicated to being eco-friendly, cruelty free, and socially responsible. Isn’t that a great way to start building an outfit? The company curates and manufactures simple and on trend gear to get you through life.

 

The company boasts multiple certifications from multiple sustainable textile companies. Their cotton is legit and organic. We Three Leaves’s style is for those of you that love a simple button down, a pair of army green chinos, and some vegan boots to tackle life. They currently have Nudie organic twill jeans on sale for $125.

 

We Three Leaves brings you the building blocks of your wardrobe at very affordable prices while managing to keep it all sustainable. They even carry some of the brands that have been mentioned on this list! We Three Leaves also carry Etnies, the famed skater shoe company, whose shoes happen to be vegan!

 

The company also offers organic tees in a myriad of basic colors from nice comforting mustard yellow to bold oxblood red. You can give them to your friends as intro eco-fashion gifts! (Oh, and hint: If you are looking to get some of your favorite eco-friendly European brands shipped to you from the US, this is where to find them.) But if you’re looking for fashionable clothing for kids, then you may check out a reliable shop like Lonely Kids Club for more info!

 

Veja

We know you’ve been looking for the perfect pair of vegan sneakers. That’s where Veja comes in. The company makes beautiful organic cotton sneakers that are produced in the Amazon from plants that aren’t treated with pesticides. The sneaks are lovely, and as print loco as we are in here at Eco-Chick, you can tell that Veja tops our list of what’s cool in men’s eco-fashion.

 

The company offers more than just shoes. Veja also partners with design teams like LA panoplie and Greg Asner, the earth scientist, to make beautiful, and on trend, workbags. They use sustainably sourced rubber and canvases to bring bags, wallets and coin pouches and heavy-duty sustainable vegan shoes to market.

 

I love high tops, but Veja’s low canvas sneakers that come in a variety of colors from the monochrome black and white to bright and fresh citrus orange—the color- blocked canvas sneakers are a great way to add a pop of excitement.

 

Oliberte

Oliberte is the world’s first fair-trade certified shoe factory. The company’s tagline is, “This is Africa,” and it speaks to the fact that Oliberte’s shoes are designed and manufactured on that continent. Their fair-trade certification means that they pay their employees twice the minimum wage, provide them with 90-day maternity leave, and give adequate space between machines among other fair working conditions.

 

The company uses environmentally sourced leather for their shoes. The Hafde tannery that produces that leather for Oliberte’s shoes also practices sustainable fair trade habits, which include subsidized meals for employees, green lounging spaces, and an on- site health clinic. The company also recycles 80% of the chrome chemicals in the leather-making process.

 

Leather and sustainability can be controversial when combined, but Oliberte’s goal is to make all parts of the leather shoe process good for the environment and for both the consumers and the producers. Leather can last for decades if treated right—longevity is one of the keys to sustainability, after all. The company also donates 1% of profits to the planet.

 

The high top boots in the light tan color are a bright, yet rugged, statement for an active summer road tripping across the country. They are also great if you work on your feet.

 

Celia Grace Fair Trade for Men

You are probably wondering why a fair trade wedding dress company is on a guide for men’s fashion. The answer is that Celia Grace is one of the few companies that provide fair trade silk ties and bow ties for men. Men get married too, and they want to look good when they do. Celia Grace’s line of ties and bowties help make that happen.

 

 

For those of you not making the plunge any time soon, ties are necessary in formal environments like the office on presentation day (or your friend’s cousin’s sister’s wedding).  Celia Grace is also for those dapper days—when you  want to wear a suit and tie just because.

 

You can give Celia Grace’s silk ties as gifts for graduations, Father’s Day, or just ‘cause. You can have them custom dyed to whatever color suits you —with eco-friendly dyes of course.  For some of you dapper gentlemen, bowties are an important menswear accessory. Whether you are attending a semi-formal networking event, or getting through a long church service at your aunts second wedding, Celia Grace has the perfect accessory for you.

Keep an out for new additions to the Fair Trade for Men section on the Celia Grace site and don’t forget to click their stockist to find out if you can just pick some ties up in your area.

Need more men’s eco-fashion? Check out Part One of this series!