Bonjour, conscious beings! Our Conscious Festival is back, and this year we’re hitting London, Singapore, the online world, and – for the very first time – Paris. From 24-26 September, we’ll be delving into fashion, beauty, food, transport, energy, and money through the lens of sustainability and spirituality.
Among the many awesome things our festival has to offer, we’re particularly excited about the innovative brands we get to work with. This year, we have an abundance of sustainable chic companies leading the way when it comes to sustainability, solutions, and, of course, style. You can find them all in the festival’s Village (situated in LA CASERNE – Paris’ largest sustainable fashion hub) selling deadstock and sample pieces that are still in great condition and looking for a new home. We’ve compiled a handy guide to all of the fantastic folk you can find at this year’s festival.
And for those of you that would like to shop more responsibly throughout the year, check out The Good Goods’ interactive map to geolocate eco-friendly fashion stores and second-hand shops. Their team classifies brands and shops according to 11 social and environmental criteria!
Patine | Eco-friendly quality basics
Patine is an online fashion brand that sells eco-friendly, quality essentials. Its clothes can only be found on its own website to ensure prices remain accessible. Patine is a fan of the slow life, meaning it only uses sustainable or natural materials like hemp and Tencel (and uses synthetics only if they’re 100% recycled and local), and spends several months developing each material and garment with its makers. It works with manufacturers that are safe, fair, and also nearby, therefore limiting carbon emissions. It has six different items in various colours and prints, but its most popular piece is its relaxed, vintage-style Willie t-shirt which is 100% organic cotton jersey (and 40% of which is recycled).
Aigle | Conscious outerwear & footwear
Around since 1953, Aigle is an outdoor lifestyle brand known best for its handmade rubber boots. The company has risen to the call for change in recent years, creating platform Second Souffle where customers can recycle Aigle items in exchange for vouchers; initiating RRR Week, in which they encourage the community to repair rather than replace; and working with important environmental projects such as the UNFCC, an emissions charter for the textile industry. Buy all of your reliable outdoor wares from a company with a conscience (they also support the protection of birds and donate to farmers in financial difficulty).
Mud Jeans | Organic circular jeans that you can rent
Sustainable jeans might be nothing new, but MUD Jeans takes its commitment to another level. The denim brand sells organic cotton jeans and also allows customers to ‘rent’ jeans through its Lease A Jeans system. Rentals last for a year and then customers can return them or swap them – this way, every pair is returned to the company for recycling or repair. MUD also sells pre-loved MUD jeans through its vintage programme and accepts denim from other brands to recycle in exchange for discount vouchers. Ergo, super circular company! MUD also recycles 95 per cent of the water it uses through reverse osmosis, emits very few emissions, and has been certified by various boards and foundations including PETA, GOTS, and Social & Labor Convergence.
Lamazuna | Zero waste beauty products
Au revoir single-use cosmetic items. That’s what Lamazuna says to face wipes, cotton swabs, plastic bottles, and more. The brand aims to reduce your bathroom waste (and the amount of money you spend) by creating long-lasting, affordable, natural cosmetics, from reusable microfibre face wipes to bamboo swabs. Lamazuna also steers clear of plastic, instead opting for responsible packaging (decorated using veggie inks), solid bars, and the offer to recycle items that aren’t compostable through its partnership with Terra Cycle. Vegan, organic, cruelty-free, safe, zero-waste, and a supporter of reforestation in Amazonia and France; what more could you want from your new favourite cosmetics brand?
The Canvas | Conscious marketplace of fashion brands
The Canvas is a marketplace dedicated to the future of fashion. It works with rising ethical brands and gives them access to global markets and services (and adheres to the UN’s Sustainable Development goals), to offer customers a whole smorgasbord of sustainable, stylish, solution-based fashion. On their roster, you’ll find brands like Up-fuse, a slow-fashion company based in Cairo that supports local artisans, and Votch, a British cruelty-free watch company. Reflect Studio, a design group, is all about matching innovative utilitarian items with sustainability and fair trade ethics, while ADIFF focuses on creating outerwear to provide aid for the global displacement. For forward-thinking fashionistas, The Canvas has got you.
ACE | From waste to bag
Active, Chic, and Eco; that’s what ACE stands for. The brand’s mission is to transform waste into bags that are both stylish and functional – and they definitely succeed. ACE’s bags are made from recycled materials such as ECONYL (regenerated nylon from rescued fishing nets and landfill waste) and are also recyclable through their Give Back Program. They offer a variety of sleek sporty styles, from totes to lightweight backpacks, and have thought of every on-the-go need you might have, from extra pockets to removable straps. ACE is also a member of 1% For the Planet, choosing to donate to Healthy Seas.
Circle Sportswear | Zero waste production activewear
This company lives by its name and encourages a circular economy. Circle Sportswear creates sportswear (the usual activewear staples and more niche items, like neck-warmers) from recycled waste or recycled nylon. All of its materials are sourced locally, it has a zero-waste production process, and workers are treated fairly and guaranteed rights. More than just a sustainable clothing brand, Circle also focuses on the function of its items, ensuring they’re durable, appropriate, and comfortable for active lifestyles (pro-athletes test the clothes in over 20 sports!). It also offers to repair, donate, or upcycle any of its items that are showing wear and tear, keeping garments in that sustainable circle.
Bizance | Chic vintage-inspired fashion
When we hear ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ in connection with clothing, many of us think of a limited colour palette and muted, understated garments, but Bizance is here to show everyone that sustainability can also mean snazzy. The Parisian brand offers vibrant, rich, silhouetted pieces made solely from natural, organic, or recycled materials, including cotton hemp and Lyocell. Bizance knows women; its collection covers every mood or occasion, from long, silky skirts in bright prints and billowy boho tops, to lounge garms like tie-dye t-shirts and oversized sweatshirts.
WIGGLE | A collective experience
WIGGLE is an event collective that hosts a variety of different events, workshops, and exhibitions. The company is a fan of the ephemeral, creating one-time artistic events that encourage freedom and the exchange of ideas or knowledge. At this year’s Conscious Festival, WIGGLE will be presenting a herbalist’s guide to sex and wellbeing, which will include nutrition kits and recipes, as well as an exhibition of photography art, and music. Expect an exploration into desire, natural enhancers such as CBD and adaptogens, as well as tantric music and playful jewellery (with all items sold in eco-friendly packaging).
Scéona | Recycled fine jewellery
Scéona is a fine jewellery brand following sustainable principles. It doesn’t directly mine any of its materials, instead turning to recycled gold and cultured lab diamonds from India. Scéona’s aesthetic is minimal and modern, drawing inspiration from nature and the beauty of simplicity. As well as sourcing its materials sustainably and ethically, it also actively offsets its carbon footprint, uses 100% sustainable packaging, and is strict about its supply chain is free of child labour and other unethical or unsanitary conditions. Hooray for fine jewellery that doesn’t cost the Earth!
Back Market | Refurbished electronics
Referring to itself as a ‘refurbished (super)market’, Back Market is a platform offering electronics that have been refurbished, meaning they’ve been professionally restored and checked. Basically, the devices are like new but are sold at a fraction of the original price and demonstrate resourcefulness. Win! Every seller goes through a rigorous questionnaire before they’re allowed to post items, and Back Market offers reviews, a one-year warranty, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a transparent grading system. While it has an abundance of refurbished smartphones and tablets, it also sells printers, blenders, and beyond.
Panty’s | Carbon neutral period and nursing pants
Panty’s cares about women’s health, which is why they create absorbent underwear for periods and post-partum nursing. The first underwear brand of its type in Latin America, Panty’s was founded in Brazil and is committed to taking care of female health needs and the planet. The brand is a certified B Corporation, uses ‘carbon labels’ (which detail the amount of carbon expelled in each part of the process), and offsets all of its emissions. Its products are clinically, gynecologically, and dermatologically tested, meaning they’re super safe. The line includes periods pants for four different flows and the world’s first absorbent nursing bra.
Mina Storm | Comfortable and sustainable underwear
In today’s world of social media comparison, body positivity is the most important message we can send to women. Luckily, underwear brand Mina Storm is giving us a hand. The company, founded in 2016, creates underwear, period-wear, and swimwear inspired by the search for comfort and women’s empowerment. Mina Storm is all about embodying the female spirit while challenging typical views of femininity and lingerie. Think simple, iconic shapes and styles, all free from constraints (bye, underwires!), and a range of prints and colours. It also uses recycled fabrics, most of which are sourced locally. Big on boosting confidence, Mina Storm focuses on comfort, design, diversity, and body positivity, no matter the wearer’s shape, size, or changing body, and also shuns photoshopping in its ads.
Vestiaire Collective | Pre-loved luxury fashion resellers marketplace
Vestiaire Collective has become a household name among designer fashion lovers, but unlike most companies and platforms associated with high fashion, the brand is keen to promote and encourage a circular fashion economy. It does this by offering only preloved items. Vestiaire Collective lists used high-end garments and accessories from big names at a discount price, making designer fashion accessible and responsible. As well as encouraging a circular economy, the brand is also big on authenticity, checking each item that’s been sold so no counterfeits enter the buying/selling flow.
Lah Paris Bijoux | Transparent luxury jewllery brand
Lah Paris Bijoux is a luxury jewellery company keeping it classy and totally transparent. The brand uses only recycled metals from two factories, both of which are certified by the Responsible Jewelry Council. Lah Paris Bijoux’s pieces are made from silver and later plated in 18-carat gold (which has been bought from RJC-certified suppliers). The brand mixes a feminine aesthetic with a statement style, e.g. sculptural gold hoops and pendants ‘sealed’ with a heart. All of the brand’s craftspeople work within two hours of Paris, meaning the carbon footprint is low, and the brand is a fan of eco packaging.
Meet these sustainable French brands at this year’s Conscious Festival in Paris.