The Top Sustainable Boutiques Around the World

Traveling rates were at their peak before the pandemic changed everything. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism accounted for at least 10% of employment worldwide and 10% of the global GDP, increasing constantly for the last 9 years. 

Then, Covid-19 happened and the tourism sector was forever altered in so many ways as well as the fashion sector. Everything came to a halt and companies needed to pivot to provide travelers and clients with safer experiences and working conditions. Today, travel is taking on a more intentional vibe with an uptick of travelers wanting to see more of the world in a regenerative manner. This may mean a more intentional way of traveling such as slow travel with a local vibe. 

What does that mean for sustainable fashion?

It means people may be traveling differently looking for more in-depth experiences for clothes in their travel and leisure endeavors. Hence, here are the top nine sustainable fashion boutiques around the world as well as their online presence to suit your needs as a global nomad.

1. 69 B Boutique London

69 B Boutique London was established in 2011 in East London Broadway Market which curates sustainable fashion products reflecting environmental, social and ethical standards including compostable packaging for online services and ethical styling as well. Their manifesto includes providing products with certifications such as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) and Fairwear standards to ensure products are safe for the planet and people. Also, all employees are paid a London living wage and the company is a London Certified Employer member. Other goals include carbon neutrality using Ecotricity for their energy supplier. This boutique has “improvement” targets to demonstrate an evolution of sustainable practices which includes: giving back to the community, transparency of supply chains goals for given products and improvements on packaging. This is the reference for 69 B Boutique London manifesto.

2. Back to Eco/ Infiniti Denim  Barcelona

Back to Eco in Barcelona is from the parent company, Infiniti Denim, as it is a circular fashion business model helping to divert over 20 tons of denim into upcycling apparel and accessories and recycling rather than going to incinerators and landfills. The team is made up of Spaniard women and women of colour whose challenge is “material fabric is not waste until we decide it is.” The entire in person boutique has apparel for women, men, and children which has been upcycled through their workshop, Back to Eco, hiring women from  social vulnerability programs in Spain. Their workshop has been awarded Catalina Ecodesign Award for Product Development 2019 for repair in jeans and upcycling apparel and accessories such as purses and aprons. Support for this entity comes from Levis, Reimagine Textile, Generalitat de Catalunya, and Ajuntament de Barcelona.

3. Amour Vert San Francisco / Berkeley 

Since 2010 Amour Vert is one of the trailblazing retailers who brought staple fabrics like tencel modal, cotton seed cupro and ethical wool to design tops, pants, dresses and even loungewear. The flagship store is in San Francisco while designing and producing the clothing in California to provide high quality apparel and minimize excess waste. Amour Vert is big on contributing Tees for Trees so that for every t-shirt you buy they plant a tree through the partner, American Forests.

4. Christy Dawn Los Angeles

Another California retailer, Christy Dawn, specializes in designing vintage style dresses with leftover fabric also known in the industry as deadstock as well as organic cotton and a Farm to Closet style fabric (also referred to as regenerative cotton) where production is in the U.S. and India. Slow fashion is encouraged and promoted to the design team to create a design they are proud of as they look to Mother Nature as the ultimate teacher and guide. 

5. Eileen Fisher NYC

A simple life, a sustainable wardrobe is Eileen Fisher’s tagline for a company established in 1984 and as a founder (fun fact), she originally majored in Math at the University of Illinois. She switched to interior designer and graphic design and then landed with fashion. Elleen Fisher is a privately held American fashion company specializing in women’s apparel from tops, pants to shoes but her famous kimono style staple pieces are what makes her brand notable. Sustainable initiatives include Circular by Design, Living our Values, Women together and more. Fisher began her fashion company with $350 dollars and now has stores across the U.S., UK and Canada. 

6. Bee Versa Lima Peru

Bee Versa is under the direction of Ornella Paz supporting the MADE IN PERU initiative. Bee Versa’s business model is to support and establish socially responsible brands competitively in the retail market in a collaborative manner to note economic importance of brands with social, environmental and cultural impact. Most products for sale include: women, men, and children across apparel, artisan made products, and lifestyle products such as skincare, soap, etc. For example, some of the sweater tops sold in the boutique come from alpaca, a staple fiber in Peru designed by artisan Peruvian teams to sell the final product in the store. Also, t-shirts for women are made with 100% organic cotton as well as other accessories and a line for children can be found on their online store.

7. Nukuhiva, Netherlands

Nukuhiva is a fair fashion and sustainable boutique store and the brainchild of Floortej Dessing a well-known broadcaster in the Netherlands who sold her book, “100 Places You Must See” and with the main book sale proceeds she went to build a Uganda school. The remaining funds she established a fair fashion/sustainable fashion brick and mortar store as well as an online presence. In 2014, she began a travel program known Floortej To the End of the World interviewing people from around the world living at the edge of the world. She has published travel books while owning her own publishing company with partner, Guido Keff.  According to the Nukuhiva website, “Nuku Hiva is the largest islands of Marquesas Islands, located between Australia and South America. With only 2,500 inhabitants, this is the most densely populated island of the archipelago.” As Floortej saw many poverty and injustices traveling the world she hoped for a better outcome for the planet and people and she saw it through fair trade retail shop. She opened up a second store in Utrecht with an aim to inform people about fair trade apparel. The shop includes apparel for women, men and accessories with brand names of People Tree, Komodo, Alchemist, and many more.

 8. Rothy’s -Chicago, USA

Rothy’s Chicago boutique styled store is located in the bustling Lincoln Park neighborhood providing 3D knitting technology with handcrafted assembly that is machine washable friendly showcasing shoes as the ultimate accessory as well as handbags.

There are five other locations and Rothy prides itself on owning and operating its own manufacturing production site in Dongguan, China. The company has a design studio in San Francisco with a creative design team which determines color, pattern and styles then transforms ideation into the CAD (Computer Aided Design) process and later sent to the manufacturer partners in China. There is a whole blog post on the process of collaboration from conception to finished product in the Art of ShoeMaking. 

9. Studio Jux and Co Flagship Store, Amsterdam and Utrecht

Jux is a term that means having fun or having a laugh in German. Founder Jitske Lundgren was traveling in Nepal when she met a man whose skin was covered in the color purple from walking in dye houses all day which became a pivotal moment for Jitske who decided change was needed in the fashion industry. Jux, a Amsterdam boutique store was created and prides itself on having a business model of social enterprise that has key sustainable and ethical practices for people and the planet. Re-defining success as a sustainable fashion company to create a winning business model for all stakeholders in the supply chain from employees, customers, lenders, and shareholders. Jux collection is made in the owner-invested factory located in Kathmandu, Nepal ensuring ethical labor practices for workers and minimizing environmental impacts. Products are varied but include women handwoven cotton tops, jackets, boots to accessories such as bags and belts. For example, you can find a dress made from vegan silk to jeans from upcycled yarn.  Jux carries MUD jeans, jewelry and homeware products as well. 

So there you have it. Those are the top sustainable fashion brick and mortar stores around the world you can check out if you are in that city or you want to support a local initiative with reputable sustainable fashion practices. Even during a post pandemic period, you can still find sustainable fashion stores while you are traveling the globe.

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY CINDY RANGEL

Cindy E. Rangel is a writer, sustainable travel speaker, and CEO/Founder of Ella Pocketbook and Women of Colour in Travel. Cindy believes living your fullest life has the elements of travel and nature. As a daughter of immigrants, travel and nature have been the biggest champions of her life and one of her fondest travel memories was arriving to Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru at nine years old with her three sisters and immigrant parents.