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The Best Women-Owned and Ethically Made Fashion Brands

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SDSU chapter.

Fast fashion is out and slow fashion is in!

There’s a reason you can buy a t-shirt at Forever 21 for $8. The fabric is low-quality and the women making it are earning unfair wages and working in dangerous conditions. If you want to learn more about the detriments of purchasing clothing from these sorts of fashion businesses, there are lots of resources. I suggest starting with “The True Cost,” a documentary available at thetruecostmovie.com

College students are broke; that’s pretty much a guarantee. But if you’re willing to splurge on some ethically made, high quality, gorgeous pieces that is from a woman-owned business and will look so cute on you, here you go!

DazeyLA

This is clothing for people who care. The clothing is made to order, so there’s minimal waste. And you can find the cutest shirts and sweaters with messages written on them like “Influence Change” and “Highlight Real.” Owner Danielle Nagel says that the “theme of all the artwork ties back into [their] mission to empower women.”

Salt + Umber

Your feet are going to look so cute in this company’s sandals. The footwear is created in small batches, with the business’s mission focusing on ethics and sustainability. The woman-owned business makes slide-on sandals, usually in earth-toned colors that match pretty much any outfit. Just scroll through their Instagram and be prepared to drool.

Miracle Eye

This female-owned and family run business is for people who can’t get enough of the 60s and 70s. The clothing and accessories will make you want to listen to the Beatles all day long. This is another company who believes in slow fashion and “leaving environment-harming pollutants behind.” You’ll find quartz necklaces, vegan leather chokers, flower-power rompers, orange jumpsuits and velvet bell bottoms.

Made by Minga

They make bags from cactus, y’all. The company collaborates with women artisans in Ecuador to create bucket bags, cross bodies, backpacks, satchels and market bags. The company’s website says “the fiber originates from sustainably harvested cactus and we use a variety of plants native to Ecuador to botanically dye each bag.” Talk about working in collaboration with the earth instead of against it!

If you’re gonna splurge, choose to support a business that supports women and the earth.

Monica Vigil is a journalism and theater student at San Diego State University. She is a staff writer and radio host for KCR College Radio, voted San Diego's best AM/FM station by the Union-Tribune Reader's Poll for 2018. She is passionate about performance and storytelling across all mediums. Monica's dream is to host a syndicated radio show and write magazine articles that make readers feel a little bit more alive. Outside of journalism, she hopes to one day own a farm sanctuary where happy cows and pigs roam the fields while Monica does vocal warm ups before performing in her red barn that was converted into a super awesome theater.
Emily is the Campus Correspondent for Her Campus SDSU. She is a 4th year journalism student from Chicago, IL. At SDSU, she is in Kappa Delta, is the Social Media Director of Rho Lambda and the Vice President Membership of Order of Omega. Emily's favorite hobbies are dancing, online shopping, planning out her Instagram feed, blogging and going to Disneyland. On a daily basis, you can find her glued to her laptop writing blog posts and editing Youtube videos. In the future, she wants to work for the Walt Disney Company on their social media marketing and communications corporate team. Emily's strong passion for digital media & content creation makes her very proud to be a member of the Her Campus team!