You’ve probably heard that the fashion industry has some problems.
Burberry burned $36.5 million worth of clothes in 2017 and had been burning clothes for years before they were called out. Eventually, public pressure led to a promise from the brand to change this policy, but it doesn’t account for the damage done for years before.
The Rana Plaza factory that collapsed in Bangladesh in 2013,
which killed 1138 people, produced clothes for Wal-Mart, Zara, and many other notable
brands. The collapse was caused by critical structural issues, which the brands
producing there should have been responsible for.
Brands like Gap, H&M, and Adidas have been linked to factories poisoning the rivers in Indonesia. And don’t forget, Gap owns many brands including Old Navy and Banana Republic.
These are just the brands that have been caught. Most big
brands hide their supply chains, because as we know transparency is critical
for accountability.
The good news is that we need not buy from any of these brands. We can vote with our dollars for brands that better align with our style AND our values.
Let’s vote for brands that are taking tangible measures to pay workers fairly, provide safe working conditions, and reduce the environmental impact of making clothes. You need not make sacrifices on price, style, or quality to make a positive impact.
With this list of 12 brands you’ll find high quality items, great style, and competitive pricing. While the price of ethically sourced clothes will never be as low as fast fashion, if you calculate the cost per wear, by dividing the price by the number of wears, you’ll find options that are built to last much more cost effective than fast fashion.
These brands are all based in the US so for American shoppers you won’t pay any premium on shipping or increase your carbon footprint.
12 Ethical Men’s Brands in the US 2026
Here’s 12 go-to ethical men’s brands to cover all your wardrobe needs.
Eco-Stylist is reader-supported. We only feature fashion brands that pass our sustainable brand criteria.Learn more here.
1. Los Angeles Brand: Outerknown
LA based Outerknown’s motto is “For People and Planet” and you can see this in the way they do business.
Outerknown was founded in 2015 by Kelly Slater, 11-time
World Surf League Champion, and designer John Moore, who previously worked with
brands such as Quicksilver. They wanted a conscious clothing brand that
provided better looking men’s clothes for surfers, without all the logos, and
without being part of the fashion industry’s dark side.
What you have today is far more than just a brand for surfers. Outerknown provides eco-friendly and ethically made menswear including jeans, blazers, shirts, and sweaters.
A company that values fair trade and sustainable sourcing,
and is transparent in its supply chain, Outerknown produces products you can
feel good about. For example, many of their products are made with organic
cotton and recycled materials.
Pesticides used on conventional cotton pollute our soil and
water, kill wildlife, and poison farmworkers. Organic cotton uses none of those
pesticides.
Outerknown’s jeans are made with organic cotton and produced at Saitex, the leading sustainable denim factory in the world. At Saitex nearly all the water used in production is recycled and filtered, eliminating the toxic wastewater that many denim factories dump into rivers.
Our experience:I’ve worn Outerknown swim trunks, jeans, and a wool blazer, and each piece continues to hold up. Watch my swim trunks review.
Shop Outerknown
2. San Francisco Brand: Taylor Stitch
Taylor Stitch has a great selection of basics and men’s essentials responsibly built for the long haul. Since each item is crowd funded, they never over produce, eliminating the problem of wasteful excess inventory.
Founded in 2009, Taylor Stitch is based in San Francisco,
CA. They have a stunning selection of shirts and blazers, and sometimes do limited
runs of suits as well as shoes.
Taylor Stitch embraces ethical practices, ensuring fair
wages and benefits for workers. They have also made good effort to improve the
sustainability of their manufacturing over the last few years, incorporating
organic cotton and other sustainable materials.
Taylor Stitch is a go-to for durable men’s staples.
Our experience:I own Taylor Stitch jeans, suits, shirts, pants, and jackets. Every piece is really nice, built to last for years, and some of the best clothes I own. Watch my Taylor Stitch review.
Shop Taylor Stitch
3. Los Angeles Brand: The Classic T-Shirt Company
If you want basics made right here in the US, The Classic T-Shirt Company is hard to beat. Their premium tees, long sleeves, and sweats are handmade in Los Angeles at a vertically integrated partner factory, where workers are paid above California minimum wage and receive parental leave.
Every shirt is made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton, which is traced through the entire supply chain back to small farms in India. They use toxin-free garment dyes, ship in recycled packaging, and pledge 1% of their equity, profits, and time to causes like tree planting, ocean cleanup, and safe water.
Shop The Classic T-Shirt Company
4. Boulder, Colorado Brand: Pact
Pact Apparel is based in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 2009, they give us super soft organic cotton basics that make the world a better place.
The products are 100% GOTS certified organic cotton, made in
Fair Trade factories, and vegan. Pact is great for underwear, socks, tees,
henleys, hoodies, sweats, and polos.
Pact products are affordable, soft, well-fitted, and ethically made. Pretty hard to beat that combination.
Our experience:Our team wears Pact’s organic cotton underwear, and it’s comfortable and holds up well. I’ve also reviewed their men’s pants and henleys. Watch the review.
Shop Pact
5. San Jose, California Brand: Vustra
Vustra hand selects facilities dedicated to community growth, women’s empowerment, and uses low impact dyes. Looking great and making a positive impact just got way more synonymous.
Vustra offers stylish button up shirts that are both affordable
and sustainably made. All the shirts in their first collection are 100%
certified organic cotton and made in Fair Trade factories.
Cofounder Parth Desai says he was inspired to start Vustra by both the Rana Plaza Incident and the Fashion Revolution. He wanted to give customers ethically made men’s button-ups that are more colorful and have unique patterns compared to the other options out there.
Sustainable fashion is often perceived as only having basics, like plain white button-ups. Vustra fills that space with brilliant patterns and colors in an ethical brand.
Our experience:I’ve owned Vustra tees and both long- and short-sleeve button-ups. They’ve all been really comfortable, and none wore out in under five years.
Shop Vustra
6. Carlsbad, CA Brand: prAna
prAna, founded in California in 1992, has built a reputation for durable activewear with sustainability at its heart. The brand takes a holistic approach—protecting environments, conserving resources, and empowering communities through responsible material choices and plastic-free packaging initiatives.
They’ve diverted over 56,000 lbs of clothing from landfills through their Renewed Apparel Program, repairing and reselling apparel to extend product lifecycles.
prAna also leads industry change with its Responsible Packaging Movement, pioneering roll-pack packaging and eliminating plastic bags from its supply chain—plus collaborating with brands to reduce packaging waste broadly.
Our experience:I’ve reviewed prAna’s Stretch Zion Pants (see photos below), and more recently two of their men’s shirts and a pair of shorts on YouTube.
Shop prAna
7. Santa Barbara, CA Brand: Toad&Co
Toad&Co is a Santa Barbara, CA based brand offering fun casual sustainable clothing for him and her. They donate 1% of every order to a cause you pick at checkout.
Toad&Co uses a variety of more sustainable and vegan friendly fabrics in their clothes including hemp, tencel, organic cotton, and recycled materials. When it comes to packaging they use more sustainable materials but they haven’t stopped there.
Toad&Co recently started offering the option of a reusable shipping mailer! This is a shipping bag that you can receive your clothes in, and pop back in the mail afterwards, so it can be re-used: again and again and again.
Our experience:Our team has worn Toad&Co’s Marigold Tiered Midi Skirt and one of their women’s sweaters. Both are comfortable, easy to care for, and easy to pair with outfits.
Shop Toad&Co
8. LA, California Brand: AlterX Co.
AlterX Co. is a LA based brand on a mission to create one of the best impact tees on the planet! How are they doing this, you ask?
It starts with 100% more sustainable fabrics, with their tees being 60% hemp and 40% organic cotton. From there, they do all of their manufacturing within a 12 mile radius of LA to reduce CO2 emissions and pay their makers living wages.
They also use sustainable packaging, and if that’s not enough, they donate 20% of every sale to non-profits, with causes like fighting hunger in the US.
So … why are you still reading this? Check out their t-shirts.
Shop AlterX Co.
9. Men’s Underwear Brand: Opok
Opok specializes in organic cotton underwear for men. Founded by two former Team USA water polo players, the brand started out of concern about synthetic fabrics and the chemicals in everyday clothes.
Their boxer briefs are 95% GOTS-certified organic cotton with just enough stretch, dyed with GOTS-certified pigments, and finished with flat seams and a cotton-lined waistband. Opok also shares unusually specific details about who makes them: one partner factory in Turkey’s Izmir region with about 200 workers, and a smaller one in India. Beyond underwear, they make organic cotton tees, hoodies, and socks.
Shop Opok
10. LA Brand: KNOWN SUPPLY
Known Supply is the real leader of radical transparency. Each item you buy has a tag with the name of the maker, whom you can then “meet” on Known Supply’s website.
They pay fair wages, use sustainable fabrics, and offer a great selection of tees, hoodies, hats, beanies, masks, and more. Known Supply is based in Los Angeles, California.
To learn more about them check out our interview with their founder, Kohl Crecelius.
Our experience:In 2022 we collaborated with KNOWN SUPPLY on custom organic cotton Eco-Stylist hats, with the maker’s name on every tag. I own one and wear it almost every day.
Shop KNOWN SUPPLY
11. NYC Brand: Conscious Step
Conscious Step makes socks with a tangible impact. Examples include socks that plant trees, socks that give clean drinking water, and socks that protect LGBTQ lives.
To date, they’ve raised more than $1,950,000 for 21 nonprofit partners, funding causes like meals, tree planting, and books for kids. The socks are made from organic cotton, Fair Trade certified, and vegan certified. This means no pesticides, no child labor, and no animals.
Originally inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Conscious Step was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in NYC.
Our experience:I’ve worn Conscious Step socks many times over the years, and they’re still one of my favorite sock brands.
Shop Conscious Step
12. Ventura, California Brand: Patagonia
Last but not least, Patagonia. We hope you discovered some new brands from this list, but Patagonia surely isn’t one of them.
They’ve been a leader in the sustainable clothing space for some decades, designing clothes to last, and standing behind it with their lifetime warranty. If your clothes don’t last, they can repair and resell them through Worn Wear.
In addition to this, in 2022 Patagonia gave the company to the planet, meaning their future profits will go to fighting climate change. In simple terms it means ~$100 million a year will go to environmental non-profits fighting the good fight.
Patagonia is known for their outdoor apparel, outerwear, and performance gear, which is still true today. Their clothes are great for climbers, hikers, backpackers, surfers, and lovers of the outdoors. But don’t sleep on their staple pieces like shorts, short sleeve button ups, tees, vests, jackets and more.
Our experience:My Patagonia organic cotton button-up is about eight years old and still looks nearly new, and my Patagonia jacket was the best outdoor jacket I’ve ever owned.
Shop Patagonia
Increase Your Impact: Share12 Ethical Men’s Brands in the US
That wraps up 12 brands to help you find ethical and dapper menswear. If you enjoyed this article, please share it!
The more we promote conscious shopping the more change we can make together.
Where to Find More Ethical Mens Clothing Brands
Looking for something you couldn’t find from the 12 brands above? Check out:
Anything else? Drop us a comment letting us know what you’re looking for and we’d be happy to help you find it.
Editor’s Note (Updated October 2026):We replaced two brands, fact-checked every brand, and added notes on the pieces I’ve worn.
Garik Himebaugh is the founder of Eco-Stylist, the go-to resource to find ethical clothing. He’s also a sustainable personal stylist and international speaker on all things sustainable fashion. Garik loves coffee, climbing, and clothes.