We all need at least a few dress shirts in our closets that we can go to for days in the office or those fancier occasions. Whether you enjoy getting jazzed up or it’s a bit of a chore for you, choosing sustainable men’s dress shirts over the traditional variety is something you can feel good about. Regardless of the occasion, here are some excellent men’s sustainable clothing brands that are setting a higher standard in the world of men’s fashion.
What Makes Sustainable Men’s Dress Shirts Different?
With so many different labels – sustainable, ethical, fair trade, regenerative – it can be hard to know what’s important. To make things simple, sustainable men’s dress shirts, and sustainable clothing in general, usually prescribes to most or all of the following features:
- Natural or recycled materials
- Chemical-free fabrics
- Eco-friendly packaging without the plastic
- Ethical, fair trade labor practices
- Supply chain and shipping transparency
The number of brands applying better practices like the ones above is growing, which means we have a number of great options for ethical men’s shirts. Here are the best ones out there now.
Eight Smart, Sustainable Men’s Dress Shirts
Living Crafts
Living Crafts starts its sustainable men’s dress shirts with natural raw materials, like GOTS certified organic cotton. They even use cotton labels and mother of pearl buttons. Even in the manufacturing process, Living Crafts ensures its dyes are poison-free and uses thermo-mechanical refining to ensure there’s no need for chemicals. The shirts are also made using 100% wind power. To ensure transparency and fairness, their products are certified by Control Union and they are committed to using long-term, ecological, and socially justifiable standards in all production.
ASKET
ASKET creates classic, well-crafted items that you can wear forever. While they do use thoughtful materials, like organic cotton and linen, they focus more on transparency and lifecycle. ASKET provides incredible transparency, giving you exact stats on the cost of production, traceability of origin, and CO2 impact of each garment. Each item is made to last, with extensive care guides and repair offerings to ensure it. Plus, you can send them garments you no longer want and they’ll make sure they get a second life rather than going to the landfill.
Carpasus
Carpasus is a Swiss brand that, from the very beginning, focused on sustainable men’s dress shirts. After the devastating disaster at Rana Plaza, a fashion textile building in Bangladesh that collapsed, Carpasus’ founder was inspired to create ethical clothing from organic cotton, made in fair, transparent working conditions. Plus, they wanted the shirts to be comfortable, durable, easy to iron, stylish, and attractive.
Today, Carpasus is still delivering on that mission, making ethical men’s shirts from organic, fair trade cotton. They even include 100% natural corozo buttons and removable collar stays made from Swiss alpine maple wood or FSC certified bamboo. Plus, each shirt has a modest collar spread designed to be worn with or without a tie.
No Nasties
No Nasties launched in 2011 with a mission to make men’s sustainable, fair trade, and organic clothing. Since then, they’ve launched planet-positive clothing. In other words, they invest in ways to positively impact the planet to offset the negative carbon impact that clothing production inevitably has.
For example, for one of its sustainable men’s dress shirts, No Nasties invests in carbon offsets for 300% of the shirt’s footprint and plants three tees. Each product on the site lists its carbon footprint, carbon offset, and trees planted. To date, they’ve saved over 28 million liters of water, offset 120,554 kg of CO2, and planted 45,185 trees.
Finisterre
Finisterre is a British surfer brand that mixes casual surfer aesthetic with smart British style. It’s been a Certified B Corp since 2018, which means it’s legally and morally committed to prioritizing the environment in all of its functions. To show this commitment, Finisterre releases a yearly impact report.
They use natural materials, like organic cotton and wool, as well as recycled materials for performance pieces. They package clothing in water-soluble, recyclable, and biodegradable garment bags, use string hang tags instead of plastic, and use kraft paper mailbags. Plus, they offer a repair program so you can mend your favorite men’s sustainable clothing items and keep them forever.
Finisterre’s collared shirts are pretty casual, as you’d expect from a surf inspired brand. Still, they’re great for a casual Friday at the office, or better yet, happy hour afterward.
Ably
Ably makes sustainable men’s dress shirts with a twist – natural fibers combined with technology. They turn cotton, wool, and silk into clothing that can last forever using Fillium, a nano-free finishing technology that is made according to Bluesign standards for sustainable materials and production. Filium makes clothing stain-resistant, odor-resistant, and quick-drying. That means you don’t need to wash it as much, so you’re also saving gallons of water (about 120 per month, according to Ably.)
Knowledge Cotton Apparel
Knowledge Cotton Apparel’s mission is centered around three things – gaining knowledge, taking action, and respect. The company is always seeking information as to how it can cause less impact on the environment, taking action with that knowledge, and acting with respect toward the planet and its people. This can be seen in the natural and recycled fabrics it uses in its ethical men’s shirts, as well as in its practices.
Knowledge Cotton Apparel has several green certifications, including The Global Recycle Standard (GRS), Organic Content Standards (OCS), and BSCI, which is a supply chain management system that helps make improvements within farms, factories, and global supply chains. Each shirt lists how it stacks up to a similar shirt made of conventional fiber, so you know the real impact of your purchase. For example, the shirt in the image above required 91% less water use, 61% less energy use, and the production released 46% less carbon dioxide. The company has been a carbon neutral certified company since 2019.
Thought
Thought started out over two decades ago with a simple mission to use natural materials like hemp and ramie. Although it started as a beachy brand, it’s since morphed into a more contemporary, modern style. The brand still focuses on using natural materials, like GOTS certified organic cotton and linen, but has expanded its features to become a full-fledged men’s sustainable clothing brand. It promises responsible sourcing, uses ethical factories, and supports charities like Smart Works, Trees for Cities, and The Woodland Trust.
Images via brands.
