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If you live in France, you might be wondering which clothing brands are ethical. Keep reading to discover eight French clothing brands that have been rated “Good” or “Great” using our first-class methodology.
The French (fashion) Revolution
Over the last few years France has established itself as a leader in combatting fast fashion and the harmful effects of overconsumption and waste.
In 2019, it passed a bill banning companies from destroying unsold clothes and electronics, and last year it passed legislation to ban ultra fast fashion advertising, introduce a surcharge on ultra fast fashion garments, and mandate environmental disclosures at the point of sale.
Not only that, but authorities in the region are taking a fight to ultra fast fashion brands themselves, pushing to have SHEIN’s website suspended nationwide in 2025 for selling “childlike” sex dolls and weapons. This initiative was ultimately thrown out by courts, but they did state SHEIN must implement measures including age verification and filtering to protect children. Meanwhile, when SHEIN opened its first store in Paris in November 2025, protestors took to the streets and more than 110,000 people signed a petition to push back on the behemoth brand.
France is making it clear that the ethics of ultra fast fashion—like squeezing suppliers, exploiting workers, quickly churning out poorly made polyester garments, and using dark user interface patterns to pressure shoppers—are not acceptable. In an op-ed for The Guardian, writer Nicole Lipman noted, “By making it harder to purchase from Shein through corporate regulation, we can discourage the growth of ultra-fast fashion and limit its power in the market.”
Resisting ultra fast fashion becoming the norm also helps open the doors for more sustainable brands to build their business. When we understand the work, love, and time involved in making clothes slowly, by those who are paid and treated fairly, we can move towards a better fashion industry for everyone and champion the businesses who are doing the right thing. To that end, we’ve listed below some of the brands based in France that are putting these values into practice. They’ve been independently analysed by our sustainability experts for the public disclosures on their actions and impacts, and have been rated “Good” and “Great”.
What makes an ethical brand?
What do you need to look for to determine whether a brand is ethical or not? Long story short, an ethical brand makes sure it positively impacts on people, the planet, and animals.
This means making sure workers are treated fairly across the supply chain. This includes policies and practices on child labour, forced labour, worker safety, the right to join a union, and payment of a living wage.
An ethical brand also cares about its use of resources and energy, reducing its carbon emissions, impact on our waterways, as well as using and disposing of chemicals safely.
Finally, an ethical brand uses no or very few animal products, like wool, leather, fur, angora, down feather, shearling, karakul, and exotic animal skin and hair. Ideally, the brand is 100% vegan.
Now that you know what makes an ethical brand, you might decide to shop from companies located in your country or region. Whether it is to reduce your carbon footprint when shopping online or to support your local communities, shopping locally has many great benefits.
So if you live in France, you might be wondering which clothing brands are ethical. We know how you feel, which is why we compiled this list of more eco-friendly and conscious fashion brands from France. These brands have all been rated “Good” or “Great” using our first-class methodology and are amongst our favourites.
Want to check out brands from other regions? Check out our favourite brands from:
- Paris specifically
- the USA (including brands from California, LA, and New York)
- Canada
- Europe (and more specifically from Germany (including Berlin), Belgium, Spain and Portugal, Italy (including Milan), the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, and Switzerland)
- the UK (and brands from London)
- Australia and New Zealand
- Japan
