If we had to crown a single item of clothing as the best basic, it would be the versatile and ubiquitous t-shirt. Whether paired with some jeans for a classic outfit combo, or worn under a jumpsuit or slip dress for a more quirky look, tees are a basic that will see you through all seasons and styles. Tees are a great building block for both giving your basics an ethical overhaul and for putting together a capsule wardrobe. Chances are, you know you want a t-shirt that meets your needs and the planet’s—but what makes sustainable or ethical t-shirts, and where can you find one?
What makes sustainable and ethical t-shirts?
Most of us will throw our t-shirt on in the morning without a thought about its origins. But as conscious consumers, it’s important for us to ask questions like: who made my tee? Were they paid a living wage? And is the tee made from sustainable fabric? These questions aren’t easily answered. The good news is, there are tons of terrific tees out there that tick the sustainability boxes. But what about your boxes?
We don’t know about you, but what we’re looking for in a t-shirt is the right size, the right price, the right style, and the right ethics. We’ve scoured the planet for sustainable and ethical t-shirts and rounded up our top 36 brands that meet our ratings criteria to be classified as ‘Good’ or ‘Great’ overall. They include organic t-shirts like those from The Classic T-Shirt Company (US), Organic Basics (Denmark), and Birdsong (UK); custom made options like those from Mila.Vert (Slovenia), and Citizen Wolf (Australia); brands with extended sizing like HARA (Australia), and MATE the Label (US), and many more options. Here’s hoping one or more of these will tick your boxes, too!
It’s a long list, so we’ve organised it by country first. Don’t forget you can also search for brands in any category on the Good On You brand Directory, where we’ve rated nearly 3,000 fashion brands. Let’s go!
