The most ethical knitwear labels use recycled or organic materials to create affordable and eco-friendly garments and accessories that help you stay warm and comfy in cold weather.
Many eco-conscious brands run sustainable manufacturing processes and make them transparent for the end customer. They create each garment with sustainability and end-of-life in mind to make it reusable and recyclable.
The most ethical fashion items come from responsible production in a fair, economical, and resource-efficient manner, without animal-based materials. They minimize the environmental and social impacts of clothing.
If you are interested in environmentally friendly knitwear, buy clothes made from high-quality and sustainable fabrics that last a long time. Look for apparel companies that don't sacrifice sustainability for style, comfort, or performance.
I've done a lot of research and hard work for you so that you can buy from any of the below sustainable knitwear brands, knowing that they make affordable options under high social and environmental standards.
Panaprium is independent and reader supported. If you buy something through our link, we may earn a commission. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you will be making a big impact every single month. Thank you!
1. Tentree
Category: Basics, knitwear, loungewear, outerwear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: Vancouver, Canada
Values: Organic, B Corp, recycled, give back
Prices: $40-$80
Tentree is an Earth-first fashion brand designing durable women's, men's, and kids' knitwear for a healthy, sustainable world with recycled materials and organic fabrics such as cotton and hemp.
The sustainable fashion brand is B Corp certified and partners with global charitable organizations to plant trees and rehabilitate natural ecosystems.
Tentree aims to guide you on your journey and empower you to do your best when it comes to the environment. It already planted over 48 million trees and restored land in over eight countries.
2. Outerknown
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, loungewear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $50-$220
Outerknown is a clothing label that creates durable fashion items for women and men rooted in sustainability and transparency. It makes affordable and sustainable knitwear with the most planet-friendly fibers.
Outerknown keeps strict sustainability rules and aims to raise the standard for quality, sustainable design in the global fashion industry. It uses organic and recycled materials to reimagine and embrace circularity.
Accredited by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the ethical fashion brand invests in the livelihoods of over 5K workers through Fair Trade USA. Three of its partners are Fair Trade Certified.
3. Nau
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, loungewear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Portland, Oregon, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $60-$290
Nau is a sustainable clothing brand that uses innovative fabrics, treatments, and silhouettes. It focuses on comfort, breathability, and packability for its fall and winter collection.
Nau offers cute and cheap knitwear, jumpers, sweaters, hoodies, and jackets made of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and recycled polyester. It's committed to making warm clothing with high cold-weather comfort.
The clothing brand creates beautiful, fashionable, and multifunctional winter pieces with weather resistance and the best fit in mind. It's on a mission to make the world more sustainable by creating clothes that last a lifetime.
4. Toad&Co
Category: Basics, outerwear, knitwear, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, vegan
Prices: $50-$200
Toad&Co is a sustainable fashion brand making socially and environmentally committed outdoor clothes. The label creates cute and affordable knitwear for women and men.
Toad&Co aims to make a difference to clean up a dirty apparel industry, educate people on sustainable practices, and inspire folks to live their fullest lives.
The brand believes in sustainability and spontaneity because every day is an adventure. It uses eco-friendly materials such as organic cotton, hemp, Tencel, and recycled fabrics to make affordable clothes.
Toad&Co offers a large selection of sustainable and vegan outdoor wear and equipment, ethically made with cruelty-free and eco-friendly materials.
5. Amour Vert
Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, bags, accessories, shoes, jewelry
For: Women
From: San Francisco, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA, give back
Prices: $60-$140
Amour Vert is an organic clothing brand that makes classic staples for women, including knitwear, sweaters, cardigans, and other basics in timeless colors like navy, white, black, heather gray.
The sustainable fashion brand creates clothes in limited quantities to contribute to a more eco-friendly future. Its pieces are affordable, chic, comfortable, and better for the planet.
Amour Vert is committed to making fashion thoughtful, versatile, and sustainable. You'll want to keep its timeless pieces in your wardrobe forever.
The eco-friendly label has been planting trees in North America since it first opened its doors with its partner American Forest. It promotes sustainable practices and positive environmental impacts.
6. Thought
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, loungewear, underwear, sportswear, nightwear, accessories
For: Women, men
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $70-$210
Thought is a fashion label offering natural, ethical, and organic knits. It creates stylish and affordable collections for women and men with sustainable materials, such as organic cotton and hemp.
Thought creates timeless pieces that work wherever you are, including affordable and cute jumpers, sweaters, cardigans, and crews. The organic brand offers many pure cotton and vegan options.
Thought is committed to considered design, responsible sourcing, and fostering change. It aims to show that there are more sustainable ways to live, dress, and be.
Thought supports TRAID, a UK charity that works to minimize, improve, and transform the environmental impact of clothing manufacturing. Send your clothes back to TRAID to support the people and places making your clothing.
7. Everlane
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, activewear, underwear, bags, shoes, accessories
For: Women, men
From: San Francisco, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $10-$110
Everlane is an ethical fashion brand creating modern and beautiful essentials, at the best factories, without traditional markups. It's a great destination to buy high-quality, affordable, and sustainable knitwear.
The clothing retailer is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and sells primarily online. It uses a high proportion of sustainable and vegan materials such as organic cotton and recycled fabrics.
The apparel brand also offers ethically made and designed to last jumpers, pullovers, sweaters, cardigans, crews, and accessories for women and men. It believes in exceptional quality to make a difference.
Everlane is widely known for its radical transparency. It educates consumers on its supply chain, factories, employees, and the price breakdown of each product.
8. prAna
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, sportswear, denim, swimwear, loungewear, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Carlsbad, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, Fair Trade
Prices: $20-$150
prAna is an outdoor brand that makes clothing for positive change, to inspire new generations to thrive and stay active. Its premium lifestyle clothing includes an extensive collection of affordable, sustainable, and vegan knitwear.
prAna offers eco-friendly clothes for yoga, travel, and outdoor adventure enthusiasts. It also stocks a wide range of ethical sweaters, cardigans, jumpers, turtlenecks, tunics, and more.
The clothing label uses many sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, recycled polyester, regenerated nylon, and cellulosic fibers made from renewable resources such as lyocell and modal.
9. ABLE
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, bags, accessories, shoes, jewelry
For: Women
From: Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Values: Organic, artisan craft
Prices: $10-$130
ABLE is a sustainable clothing brand working with worldwide communities to stop the cycle of poverty by producing slow fashion and paying a living wage to women.
The label makes beautiful, modern, affordable knitwear, sweaters, cardigans, and jackets for women. It uses eco-friendly materials such as certified organic cotton, Tencel, and linen.
ABLE believes in progress over perfection and aims to be transparent and accountable to end poverty in the fashion industry. It publishes on its website the lowest worker wages of its manufacturing partners.
10. People Tree
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, underwear, activewear, nightwear, accessories, jewelry
For: Women
From: Tokyo, Japan
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled, artisan craft, give back
Prices: $60-$220
People Tree is an online garment retailer making clothes from environmentally-friendly materials, including Fair Trade, certified organic cotton.
In 2013, it became the first fashion company to be awarded the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) product label, guaranteeing dedication and compliance with the Fairtrade principles.
People Tree offers a wide range of cute and cheap knitwear for women, including jumpers, cardigans, sweaters, jackets, pullovers, sweatshirts, and more.
People Tree is committed to working with disadvantaged farmers and workers to promote fairer trading conditions. It helps combat poverty and employs people in underserved communities around the world.
11. Komodo
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, shoes, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $60-$150
Komodo is an ethical fashion brand that designs sustainable and affordable clothes for the modern wardrobe. It creates warm, chic, cheap, and cute knitwear, jumpers, sweaters, and cardigans for women and men.
The sustainable clothing brand uses eco-friendly and vegan materials, such as GOTS certified organic cotton, linen, Tencel lyocell, and recycled fabrics from PET plastic bottles.
Komodo ensures its garment production occurs in safe working environments, and workers receive a fair wage. It's a member of 1% For The Planet and donates a portion of its profits to environmental organizations.
12. PACT
Category: Basics, knitwear, loungewear, activewear, underwear, sleepwear, maternity
For: Women, men, children
From: Boulder, Colorado, United States
Values: Fair Trade, organic, recycled
Prices: $10-$120
PACT creates ethical, affordable, Fair Trade, and organic knitwear for women, men, and children. It aims to make quality clothing more consciously and ethically, without animal-based materials.
The sustainable clothing brand chooses the best ingredients, such as organic cotton and recycled materials, to create the best clothes, including soft, cute, and comfy knitwear, made in Fair Trade factories.
PACT considers the people who make the clothes are as important as the people who wear them. It encourages people to care about what they put in their bodies and what they put on their bodies.
13. Reformation
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, activewear, loungewear, underwear
For: Women
From: Los Angeles, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, made in the USA
Prices: $10-$160
Reformation makes sustainable and affordable clothes for women. It offers a collection of organic basics and comfy knitwear for petite up to extended sizes.
The clothing retailer designs effortless silhouettes that celebrate the feminine figure with the most beautiful and sustainable fabrics possible. It pays attention to minimize its social and environmental impacts.
Reformation uses sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled cotton, linen, and Tencel lyocell. It also makes some of its clothes with upcycled and recycled materials, such as regenerated nylon or deadstock fabrics.
14. Boden
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, swimwear, sportswear, nightwear, loungewear, bags, shoes, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: London, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, recycled, give back
Prices: $90-$190
Boden is a British clothing retailer selling high-quality and individual styles for women, men, and kids. It uses a large proportion of sustainable materials such as better cotton and regenerated nylon.
Boden takes climate change seriously and is taking steps to reduce its environmental impacts, such as using regenerated fibers in its warm and cheap knitwear, including jumpers, cardigans, and sweaters.
The clothing label also donates to numerous charities to support vulnerable families, educate young people, and empower workers in fashion supply chains.
15. Kowtow
Category: Basics, denim, knitwear, outerwear, sleepwear, swimwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled
Prices: $60-$150
Kowtow is an ethical fashion brand that creates sustainable, affordable, natural, and timeless knitwear out of non-toxic, mostly organic, renewable, and biodegradable materials.
The clothing label strives to create positive change by designing each fabric in-house from the yarn with unique weave, weight, stitch, color, and prints.
Kowtow offers many affordable and organic basics for the modern wardrobe, including sweaters, jumpers, cardigans, pullovers, and more.
Kowtow believes in responsible production processes and designs its collections with the entire lifecycle in mind. It uses responsibly sourced materials mindfully to achieve a minimal identity through simplicity and circularity.
Kowtow sources cotton certified by Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) that empowers farmers to negotiate with buyers to secure better prices. The brand pays a premium on every single cotton garment.
16. Patagonia
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, underwear, activewear, bags, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: Ventura, California, United States
Values: Organic, recycled, local, second-hand, B Corp, give back
Prices: $10-$250
Patagonia is an American clothing company that markets and sells outdoor clothing and gear for silent sports: climbing, surfing, skiing and snowboarding, fly fishing, and trail running.
The outdoor brand offers sustainable and affordable knitwear, including sweaters, hoodies, sweatshirts, pullovers, and cardigans that will last a lifetime.
Its first store opened in 1973, and since then, the brand has quickly expanded its product line. Patagonia is a Certified B Corporation and commits 1% of its total sales to environmental groups.
It uses many natural materials such as organic cotton, reclaimed cotton, and polyester fibers with a low environmental impact.
The outdoor label is committed to higher quality, integrity, and environmentalism. It's highly successful and a leader in the sustainable outdoor market.
Patagonia encourages repairing, sharing, and recycling through its WornWear marketplace of second-hand gear. It's committed to making high-quality products that last for years, so you don't have to buy more.
17. ARMEDANGELS
Category: Basics, activewear, knitwear, denim, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Cologne, Germany
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, recycled, vegan, give back
Prices: $30-$120
ARMEDANGELS is a slow fashion label that creates timeless, ethical clothes for women and men without compromise, including 100% cruelty-free knitwear, sweaters, and cardigans.
The company designs a variety of affordable clothes made from eco-friendly organic and recycled materials. It offers ethically made basics, sweats, jackets, coats, and accessories.
ARMEDANGELS produces its clothes under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the highest ecological, sustainable, and social standards for organic fibers.
The brand is also a member of the Fair Wear Foundation that ensures permanently ethical working conditions and fair wages for all textile factory workers worldwide.
18. Alternative Apparel
Category: Basics, loungewear, outerwear, knitwear
For: Women, men, children
From: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Values: Organic, recycled
Prices: $30-$90
Alternative Apparel is a sustainable clothing brand selling cheap and stylish fashion basics for a better future. It creates comfy knitwear for women, men, and children from organic and recycled fabrics.
Alternative Apparel is a fashion lifestyle brand best known for comfort, simplicity, and commitment to sustainability, making many affordable, vegan, and eco-friendly clothes, including basics, loungewear, outerwear, and knitwear.
Alternative Apparel is mindful of the impact it makes on the planet and its people. It uses biodegradable mailer bags and recycled materials. It adheres to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) guidelines, and most of its facilities are WRAP certified.
19. Indigenous
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: Sebastopol, California, United-States
Values: Fair Trade, organic, artisan craft, B Corp
Prices: $30-$170
Indigenous is an organic clothing brand that creates affordable, casual, chic, and timeless designs with ethical, sustainable, Fair Trade, and eco-friendly practices.
The fashion label offers beautiful and cute knitwear that has a positive impact on people and the planet. It supports talented artisans around the world through economic empowerment and a Fair Trade supply chain.
Indigenous well-trained artisans create fully-fashioned unique handknit and woven designs. The brand designs ethical workwear to minimize the strain on the environment and preserve the land for future generations.
20. Nomads Clothing
Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, bags, accessories, jewelry
For: Women, men
From: Cornwall, United Kingdom
Values: Organic, Fair Trade, give back
Prices: $60-$210
Nomads Clothing creates comfortable and soft Fair Trade knitwear inspired by Indian culture. It chooses to use natural fibers because they are better both for people and the planet.
Nomads Clothing only uses natural and renewable fibers such as Fairtrade cotton, organic cotton, and regenerated cellulosic fibers such as lyocell and viscose.
The fashion label aims to design Earth-friendly urban clothes for a sustainable future according to the values of Fair Trade and ethical fashion guidelines.
Nomads Clothing offers contemporary collections that celebrate great design and traditional artisan techniques to prove that it's possible to live a stylish and sustainable life.
The clothing brand makes sustainable and affordable fashion items and showcases original prints and textile techniques. It believes that organic cotton is the best form of cotton, both for the planet, the growers, and the customers.
Was this article helpful to you? Please tell us what you liked or didn't like in the comments below.
About the Author: Alex Assoune
What We're Up Against
Multinational corporations overproducing cheap products in the poorest countries.
Huge factories with sweatshop-like conditions underpaying workers.
Media conglomerates promoting unethical, unsustainable products.
Bad actors encouraging overconsumption through oblivious behavior.
- - - -
Thankfully, we've got our supporters, including you.
Panaprium is funded by readers like you who want to join us in our mission to make the world entirely sustainable.
If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you will be making a big impact every single month. Thank you.
0 comments