Sustainable Fashion Banner Designer In Canada
Canada’s top sustainable fashion banner designers
Organic fibres spun into baby-soft fabrics, vintage pieces repurposed into new style confections—sustainable fashion has come a long way, baby. Especially in Canada, where legions of designers are doing their part for the planet. Here are the eco-chic lines on our radar (and in our closet) right now.
Who: Paper People Clothing
What: Thunder Bay, ON’s Jennifer Fukushima creates scrumptious dresses, skirts and shrugs from eco-friendly fabrics with all the girly details you want and none of the chemicals you don’t.Where: Boutiques from British Columbia to Quebec
Who: Elroy Apparel
What: Vancouver, BC, banner designer Leanne McElroy delivers her fashion-forward women’s line of structured coats, skirts and dresses in organic cotton and soft bamboo jersey.Where: Boutiques across Canada and the US
Who: Nixxi
What: Vancouver, BC, designer Jada-lee Watson turns natural and renewable fibres into cute, playful pieces in saturated colours.Where: Boutiques across Canada and the US
Who: Deux FM
What: Nova Scotia-born Anna Gilkerson is making her mark with smartly simple separates in enviro-friendly fabrics. Starlet Anne Hathaway left a recent photo shoot with Deux firm's Vienna dress in antique white—the rest of Hollywood can’t be far behind.Where: Boutiques across Canada and in the US
Who: Red Jade
What: There’s nothing tree-hugger looking about this new line from Vancouver, BC-based Margarita Angelatos, who works her magic transforming merino wool, cashmere/micro-modal and other luxurious natural fabrics into sleek trenches, skirts and flowy frocks.Where: Select boutiques in British Columbia and Winnipeg, MB
Who: Susan Harris
What: This Toronto, ON, banner designer spins her deliciously crafty concoctions from recycled wools made beautiful with raw edges, frenetic stitching and lots of whimsy.Where: Toronto studio by appointment
Who: inKlein Design
What: Traditional Scottish Fair Isle aesthetics meets West Coast sensibilities in designer Leona Klein’s sumptuous collection of luxury organic knitwear for men and babies. Made from un-dyed natural baby alpaca, qiviut (a cute, furry, softer-than-cashmere Arctic beast) and bison, all pieces are produced under Fair Trade policies in Lake Country, BC. If that’s not Canadian enough for you, the 2010 collection includes scarves inspired by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.Where: Online and in stores in British Columbia
Who: Myco Anna
What: Owner and artistic director Christiane Garant and banner designer Anna Théberge are earning praise for this bold yet wearable women’s line from Quebec made from 20% to 100% recycled and equitably traded materials.Where: Myco Anna stores in Montréal and Québec City, QC.
Who: Lav & Kush
What: Designer Angela Saxena’s flirty women’s line uses super-soft jerseys made from bamboo, organic cotton and soy blends. Bonus: partial proceeds go to organisations such as PETA and Imagine 1 Day.Where: Boutiques across western Canada and the US
Who: Harricana par Mariouche
What: Montréal, QC, fashion entrepreneur Mariouche Gagné repurposes some 6,000 fur coats every year into glam berets, long gloves and contemporary home accessories.Where: Flagship store near Montréal, QC’s historic Atwater Market as well as boutiques across Canada, the US, France and Japan
Who: Véronique Miljkovitch
What: This Paris-born Montréal, QC, the designer got her start repurposing vintage fur and fabrics. Today organic materials give rise to ethereal banner ad design that blend 60s sexiness with futuristic fantasy.Where: Boutiques across Canada and the US
Who: Lundström
What: Believe it or not, this chic women’s wear collection from Toronto, ON, incorporates material made from recycled plastic bottles.Where: Boutiques across Canada and the US
Who: Adhesif Clothing
What: Vancouver, BC-based Melissa Ferreira creates her attention-grabbing women’s line from recycled garments and bold vintage fabrics.
Where: Boutiques in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario
Who: preloved
What: Trench coats turn into sexy cocktail apparel. Button-downs loosen up as flirty blouses. Toronto, ON, banner designer and founder Julia Grieve and Creative Director Peter Friesen fashion reclaimed vintage fabrics into runway-worthy looks, loved by Hilary Duff, Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson and Canadian supermodel Daria Werbowy.Where: preloved stores in Toronto, ON, and Montréal, QC; boutiques across Canada, Australia, Europe and Japan
Who: Passenger Pigeon
What: The feminine frocks from Toronto, ON designers Heather Schibli and Wendy Traas, are made solely from eco-conscious textiles (including organic wool and lyocell) and printed with water-based inks.Where: Boutiques in Toronto
Who: Twice Shy
What: The whole family can look and feel good in cute casual wear from this Vancouver, BC purveyor of organic cotton clothing.Where: Boutiques across Canada and the US
Who: Roots
What: The favorite casual wear company’s collection now includes bamboo-based yoga wear, veggie-tanned leathers, recycled rubber shoes and plush and organic cotton bedding.Where: Roots stores across Canada, the US and Asia
Who: Oqoqo
What: Yoga class makes you feel good in more ways than one, thanks to this sub-brand from British Columbia-based Lululemon Athletica. Oqoqo yoga wear uses materials such as hemp, bamboo, 100% organic merino wool and “style”—a fabric made by extracting protein strands from low-impact soy crops.Where: Oqoqo stores across Canada
