It’s out! A love letter to all the wonderful lifestyle brands we discovered, partnered with, and fell in love with during this year’s Conscious Festival. A love letter to our beautiful and conscious consumers and readers who are shaping the future of fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and sustainable living. This one is for you—save, share, shop, support—the future is already here.
Every year, we sit down to select sustainable brands: those in line with sustainable development goals, circular economy principles, and certifications. We’ve put together a list for our favourite selections that made it to the Conscious Festival this year—they not only ticked the boxes for being ultra-cute but are also valuing concepts and executions such as upcycling, no waste design, slow fashion, and more!
FASHION
GIGI PARIS
The crème de la crème of vintage jewellery was created in January 2020. At GIGI, you will find the new arrival of freshly picked vintage nuggets, high-end designer pieces, and passionately imagined upcycled jewellery. Their upcycled nuggets are made from buttons, padlocks, etc., taken from ready-to-wear or vintage accessories that are too worn or outdated. They save the most damaged or outdated fashion nuggets from oblivion that pass a rigorous authentication process. To GIGI, quality is sacred—they say no to planned obsolescence and do everything in their power to prevent the piece you love from snapping between your fingers.
CIPANGO
Cipango is an island on the high seas, one thousand five hundred miles from land. Paola Pimentel, a Franco-Dominican designer, draws her inspiration from the many trips she has made around the world. Cipango Paris clothing has as its concept the method of blending two opposing cultures in each collection. Identifying future ready-to-wear products as a journey through foreign cultures, Cipango respects a qualitative and ethical policy through products made in France and the refusal to use materials of animal origin. Cipango’s collections are full of subtlety and modernity, while remaining wearable on a daily basis by everyone thanks to their comfortable and fluid materials.
LABISK.OT
LABISK.OT took its first breath in summer 2021 and aligns with the needs of our planet. Through feminine and mix-and-match pieces designed and produced in Europe from recycled, recyclable, and eco-made fibres, LABISK.OT wishes to offer well-being in the lives of women while preserving nature. These pieces are sure to give you confidence and follow you from your workouts to your workdays.
THE CANVAS
The Canvas is all about building awareness for growing sustainable fashion and green initiatives by providing these emerging brands with a critical resource they need to compete with some of the larger players. All of their brands use the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for their product development, which doubles down on the Canvas’s sustainable reuse of our limited urban spaces (as opposed to constructing new buildings). This is further amplified by an innate interest in improving transparency and communication with the end customer.
BLOON
BLOON PARIS is the French brand that shakes the codes of the classic seat, created by an osteopath designer in 2018. Exit the four-legged chair, and welcome to the round and inflated seat that makes you feel good! Handmade in Portugal, its round shape promotes natural movements and optimizes the position of the back while stimulating your deep muscles. An irreplaceable piece for your home and office!
A POP STYLE
Make way for handmade retro chic fashion! A as in Apolline, STYLE as in fashion, and POP as in the colors she loves so much. The founder, Apops, has a weakness for pop colors and it shows in the piece she creates. She is convinced of their power on our morale: life, so short, is more cheerful in colors.
ÂGE PARIS
AGE Paris is for vintage lovers and those who like to distinguish themselves with unique pieces. They speak to those who love fashion but, above all, value the resources of the planet and conscious consumption. AGE Paris upgrades second-hand clothes and accessories and makes sustainable fashion pieces in the heart of Paris. They offer small quantities, according to finds and inspirations. They believe in more sustainable and valued fashion, with pieces that can be passed down as family heirlooms.
MARJ LABEL
Marj is a new sustainable fashion and lifestyle brand. Their goal? To offer people trendy and comfy clothes that are good for the planet and for the wallet. Their collections are produced near Marseille, France, and Jakarta, Indonesia, always respecting ethics and fair trade. Marj also sources the most eco-friendly materials: upcycled, recycled, organic… they’re up for anything as long as it’s green! Marj is now tired of how the fashion industry offers only “average” sizes and represents the same type of person over and over again. That’s why they believe in genderless clothing, available in all sizes and adaptable to most body types.
MANCI
Manci uses vintage pieces and customizes them with handmade embroidery, textile paint, textile markers, and fabrics. Sometimes, the clothes are broken down and the fabric is recovered to create new, unique unisex pieces. The vintage style is like Manci: loose clothing from another era that is brought back to life through modernization. Manci is an ethical way of rethinking fashion: an existing piece comes to life with a different look.
IPSILON
Ipsilon is a sustainable street-wear brand with a positive message. Ipsilon believes that as we express to each other our gratitude and love, we change the world around us. ‘Infinite love and gratitude’ is Ipsilon’s mantra; it expresses and teaches love for other people, hence the idea of #thisTEEcanCHANGEyourLIFE by respecting and loving those people around us.
L’ATELIER NANA
NANA is something delicate. Graceful. Sincere. The brand focuses on upcycling vintage shirts and sweaters made from natural materials, which they use as a canvas for hand-embroidered details, from leaves to abstract lines. Every garment is carefully chosen and repaired to become an everlasting piece of art. Nana Irgolič, the sustainable artist behind the brand, is from Slovenia and finds her inspiration in nature. Every material that she uses is reused and saved from landfills. With her artwork, she hopes to touch every heart and show people how we can find beauty in everyday objects and beings.
CECANCE
The collections of Cécance are designed consciously: sustainable and locally produced. With European linen and French tailoring. The use of linen allows for an ecological commitment to a noble raw material. The minimal aesthetic makes Cécance a timeless and modern piece.
DLC
DLC’s commitment is to propose a more virtuous fashion by using existing material—that of unused clothes—to create 100% upcycled collections. D.L.C. stands for the initials of Dammarie Le Chatelier, founder and name of the brand. The desire to create high-end fashion pieces that are contemporary and desirable and that reuse the available raw materials inspires the designer’s mind.
NICHA
Through Nicha, Charlène shares the know-how she acquired as a stylist for over 10 years in the most beautiful French and Australian fashion houses. She focuses her attention on every detail and strives to achieve the highest standards of quality and fit, flattering every body type. Charlene shapes Nicha as an alcove where she can connect with women, bringing to life the wardrobe she designs for them and contributing to their physical and mental well-being. Fascinated by the energy and benefits of semi-precious stones, she incorporates them into her designs as a tool to help us unite our thoughts with our bodies in order to initiate lasting transformations in all areas of our lives.
BLISS
Touched by medals and broken jewels, abandoned at the bottom of baskets in flea markets, Bliss’ designed had the idea to give them back life by reworking them and assembling them so that they would transmit their stories and find their powers of protection. Bliss thrives by working with existing resources, limiting the use of supplements, sourcing them consciously, encouraging recycling and zero waste, even in packaging, staging, communication, and collaborations.
KATIA SANCHEZ
Katia Sanchez’s quest is a humble but rare one: to knit with beautiful soft yarns that render the color well and keep them eco-friendly. Simple and sustainable!
PANTYS
Ditch your disposable pads and tampons for our high-tech, washable, reusable, comfortable, hygienic, and sustainable absorbent underwear! pantys feature quick-drying, leak-proof, breathable, and antibacterial fabrics that are designed to absorb anything from menstrual blood and vaginal discharge to sweat and bladder leaks. What are you waiting for? Slip on a pair of pantys and step into the future!
LIASE
Liase Jewellery is designed and produced entirely in Florence, Italy. The brand focuses on working with local artisans, mainly in small laboratories, mixing old and new jewellery-making techniques. All pieces are made in Eco-silver, an alternative to 925 sterling silver, which is recycled from jewellery, medical equipment, electronics, and giftware. Just like the silver, their gemstones are carefully sourced locally in pursuit of being environmentally friendly. Inspired by different artistic and cultural movements and with a love for architecture and ancient jewellery, Liase fuses intricate geometries and modern shapes with colorful gemstones and enameled details.
ETHICHUNT
A curation agency and marketplace, Ethichunt humanizes the customer experience of ethical fashion by empowering their partner designers, who are 99.5 % women, and giving voice to conscious consumers who also believe that fashion shouldn’t cost our planet. Head over to their instagram for a selection of high-end responsible pieces!
CHEZ NOUS
CHEZ NOUS is a ready-to-wear and accessories brand that celebrates diversity through ethically designed pieces. It is an ode to the plurality of identity, to the “in-between”. The pieces are made from materials with low environmental impact in workshops promoting the social and economic emancipation of employees between France and Tunisia.
ROMY JUNE
Romy June is designed for today’s kids and superwomen while maintaining a strong connection with memories of the past. Linked to the concept of lightheartedness and expressive freedom of the little ones, they respect nature, choosing ecological fabrics and packaging and producing exclusively in Italy with a strong support for local craftsmanship.
MEDINA
The environmentally-conscious and women-centric swimwear brand dreamed up by Lou Medina in 2017 is looking to make a splash this season with its neutral-yet-bold hues and undeniably flattering silhouettes, all of which are sure to render you and your friends empowered and confident upon first wear.
JOLIE PARISIENNE
Jolie Parisienne is about comfortable clothing made to last. Designed in Paris, manufactured in workshops in the north of France, and then printed in Paris. 100% organic cotton, certified OEkO-TEX 100. Jolie Parisienne is a brand that cares about quality, environmental comfort, and good taste.
NUYHENN
NUYHEEN offers you the choice of an exceptional garment made in superior quality fabrics that are 100% eco-responsible! All made in France, so you can benefit from unique craftsmanship while maintaining this direct link with their suppliers (because loving fashion also means choosing to respect those who make it).
CAIRE
Caire’s five commitments have got us all heart-eyes: limited collections to avoid overproduction; a commitment to be transparent and guarantee the traceability of our products and raw materials; production in a Spanish artisan workshop; fair price, to preserve the know-how of their partners and material guaranteed without chemicals, environmentally friendly and vegan. Elegant and innovative vegan leather!
THE WILDING SHOES
Wilding wants to translate the regenerative impact of their shoes to our well-being and to the entire way we do business. To achieve this, they focus on partnership-based production, innovative materials from regenerative cultivation, and supporting renaturation projects – this is their way of making a positive impact on all levels, step by step.
RENOON
Renoon is the shopping platform that won’t actually sell you anything. They empower you to get all the information you need to make responsible choices before you buy. Renoon asks companies to send their data and then allows everyone to contribute to collective knowledge by leaving a review of how they’ve personally experienced the sustainability of a brand.
BEAUTY
ELEPHAS
Founded in 2015, Elephas offers beauty with exceptional active ingredients and works concretely for the conservation of elephants. Their objective: to offer all those who seek it the excellence of beauty with a strong ecological and planetary awareness about the direct impacts on the conservation of wildlife. Elephas, a brand with a pioneering model recognized by the UN for its concrete impacts, is a member of the Conscious Fashion & Lifestyle Network.
ATELIER POPULAIRE
Created in 2018 by a group of committed entrepreneurs, Atelier Populaire is a certified organic cosmetics factory that has its own facilities in the 19th arrondissement, Paris. Atelier Populaire offers a whole range of face and body products with a complete IN & OUT ritual ranging from surgras cold saponified soap to organic virgin oils, organic macerates, and organic essential oils, including a Cellular Relaxation + CBD range to take both skin care and emotional health. The brand focuses on the desire to provide cosmetics for everyone that are as durable as they are aesthetic and practical.
BYCA
Byca is a French cosmetics brand that is revolutionizing the hand sanitizer game. Working with one of the most renowned perfumers in France as well as an expert laboratory to ensure that their products comply with current standards, Byca’s line of silky antibacterial gels are as effective as they are fragrant. With scents like fig, lemon thyme and vetiver, their no-rinse gels are a pleasure to use and are made up of carefully chosen ingredients with a strong focus on those that are raw and natural. What’s more, for each bottle sold, Byca donates 3% of the revenue to charities that support medical research into epidemics.
FOOD
GEBANA
Gebana has been a pioneer in fair trade since 1998 and committed to more sustainable global trade since 1973. Their vision is to change global trade in favour of family farmers, local economies, and the environment. Gebana cooperates directly with family farmers all over the world, and they distribute their products just as directly to customers in Europe. Together with hundreds of thousands of customers and family farmers worldwide, Gebana is leading the way in sustainable trade with more equity, quality, and affordability.
SEV
SEV is a brand of 100% natural drinks based on an ingredient from the heart of the forest: maple sap. But it’s more than just a drink; it’s your healthy and environmentally friendly plant-based seltzer upgrade. A virtuous circle between maple trees, sap producers, and consumers to create drinks that are both delicious and healthy, while allowing the planet to continue breathing.
GALLIA
10 years after the creation of the brewery, Gallia’s desire remains the same: to shake up the codes and breathe new creativity into the world of beer in France. Rémy, their brewer, explores all directions, without imposing any limits, to imagine different beers, always giving more room to nature, to the richness of French soils, and to the world of wine.
Missed the Conscious Festival? Don’t fret! All talks were recorded and are available for replay here.
FEATURED IMAGE: Thanks to Katiuscia Pezzullo. Shot by @juliencrouigneau Irk Magazine and French Cowboy. Models: Green is The New Black. Stylist Emy Venturini, Hair Cassandre Santenac, Special thanks to Mia Macfarlane and LaurentPo.