10 Best Sustainable Clothing Brands From New Zealand

By Alex Assoune Apr 01, 2024

The best fashion brands from New Zealand ethically make stylish and eco-friendly garments. They create affordable, sustainable, fashionable clothes to help you dress well, feel good, and protect the planet.

Many fashion companies from New Zealand are committed to implementing ethical and sustainable practices. They offer environmentally friendly options to modern, eco-conscious fashionistas.

Check out our selection below of the best affordable and sustainable clothing brands from New Zealand that ethically make stylish garments under high 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. Allbirds

Category: Basics, loungewear, activewear, underwear, shoes, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Values: Organic, recycled, timeless, carbon-neutral, B Corp
Prices: $90-$120

Allbirds is a New Zealand-American sustainable apparel and footwear brand. It aims to make the world's most comfortable clothes and shoes with natural materials.

The brand was founded in 2014 by ex-soccer player Tim Brown and renewables expert Joey Zwillinger. It has quickly grown from an online retailer to a massive global brand.

Allbirds is now a global brand serving 35 countries, with 21 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide. It strives to design environmentally friendly fashion.

SHOP ALLBIRDS

2. Kathmandu

Category: Basics, knitwear, outerwear, sportswear, underwear, shoes, bags, accessories
For: Women, men, children
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
Values: Organic, recycled, B Corp, zero waste, give back
Prices: $50-$80

Kathmandu is a leading outdoor retailer from New Zealand that offers travel and adventure outdoor apparel and equipment. It promotes the values of sustainability and product innovation.

Kathmandu creates a wide range of affordable, ethical, and sustainable clothes and gear for the whole family. It operates more than 160 stores, including 45 in New Zealand and 115 in Australia.

Kathmandu is working to improve its environmental footprint, from its apparel and gear right through to its buildings. It uses sustainable cotton, lyocell, and recycled polyester to reduce its impact on the planet.

SHOP KATHMANDU

3. Maggie Marilyn

Category: Basics, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Values: Organic, recycled, luxury, local, made in New Zealand
Prices: $200-$550

New Zealand-based sustainable fashion designer Maggie Marilyn Hewitt locally makes clothes that equally enrich people's lives in fashion supply chains and the life of our home, mother nature.

The need-to-know designer creates stylish garments defined by her strong sense of luxury and fresh point of view. She founded her eponymous brand to make a difference in the apparel industry that needs change.

Maggie Marilyn is passionate about using fashion to create a better world. She is on a mission to transform the fashion industry into a transparent, circular, regenerative, and inclusive one.

SHOP MAGGIE MARILYN

4. Kowtow

Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, sleepwear, swimwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Values: Organic, Fairtrade, recycled
Prices: $60-$150

Kowtow is an ethical fashion brand from New Zealand that creates sustainable, affordable, natural, and timeless clothes from non-toxic, 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 affordable and organic fashion for the modern wardrobe, including dresses, denim, knitwear, outerwear, nightwear, and more.

Kowtow believes in responsible production processes and designs its collections with the entire lifecycle in mind. It uses responsibly sourced materials to achieve a minimal identity through simplicity and circularity.

Kowtow sources cotton certified by Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). It empowers farmers to negotiate with buyers to secure better prices. The brand pays a premium on every single cotton garment.

SHOP KOWTOW

5. Nisa

Category: Basics, loungewear, underwear, outerwear, activewear, swimwear, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Values: Organic, recycled, local, made in New Zealand
Prices: $40-$60

Nisa is a sustainable underwear label from New Zealand that ethically makes organic cotton briefs, bralettes, socks, and other intimates. It offers clothes made in its Wellington studio.

Nisa aims to help women from the bottom up and provide employment opportunities. Women from a refugee and migrant background lovingly sewn their underwear locally in a sunny studio.

SHOP NISA

6. ReCreate

Category: Basics, loungewear, knitwear, outerwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Values: Organic, luxury, artisan craft, give back
Prices: $110-$250

ReCreate is a sustainable clothing brand from New Zealand that provides fair employment for women in the marginalized community of Dey Tmey, Cambodia. It makes 100% GOTS certified organic cotton wardrobe essentials.

ReCreate aims to produce change within the fashion industry and better the lives of the people who make your clothing. It's committed to people and the environment, from sourcing raw cotton to fabric and garment production.

ReCreate designs each garment fully circular to ensure the softest possible footprint and protect our planet. It also commits 100% of its profits towards empowering disadvantaged people and communities in Cambodia.

SHOP RECREATE

7. Untouched World

Category: Basics, loungewear, outerwear, knitwear, shoes, bags, accessories
For: Women, men
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
Values: Organic, local, B Corp, give back, made in New Zealand
Prices: $50-$90

Untouched World is a sustainable clothing brand from New Zealand that celebrates living in harmony with nature. It believes you don't have to give up quality, luxury, and great design to be good to the planet.

Untouched World offers beautiful pieces thoughtfully designed with you and the environment in mind. It produces most of its collection in New Zealand.

SHOP UNTOUCHED WORLD

8. OVNA OVICH

Category: Basics, knitwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Values: Organic, local, made in New Zealand
Prices: $60-$270

OVNA OVICH is a sustainable fashion label from New Zealand dedicated to making social and environmentally conscious womenswear without following trends.

OVNA OVICH designs its collections in small batches and releases them steadily throughout the year. It uses local production in Aotearoa, New Zealand, natural materials, and sustainable practices.

SHOP OVNA OVICH

9. Twenty-Seven Names

Category: Basics, denim, loungewear, outerwear, knitwear, accessories
For: Women
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Values: Organic, local, made in New Zealand
Prices: $70-$380

Twenty-Seven Names is an ethical clothing brand from New Zealand that makes a commitment to sustainability, ethical production, and supporting local industry.

Twenty-Seven Names helps you make better choices with quality sustainable fashion and high transparency. It sources high-quality fabric, lining, and trims made from biodegradable and renewable resources.

SHOP TWENTY-SEVEN NAMES

10. Collective Canvas

Category: Sneakers
For: Women, men
From: New Zealand
Values: Organic, minimalist, timeless
Prices: $90-$130

Collective Canvas is an ethical shoe brand from New Zealand that creates unisex, simple, sustainable sneakers from natural and eco-friendly materials.

The footwear brand designs timeless sneakers made from organic cotton, natural latex rubber, renewable castor oil, and water-based glues in a transparent supply chain.

Collective Canvas makes minimalist, classic styles from naturally sourced and sustainable materials. It makes its insoles with a sustainable cork veneer cover.

Collective Canvas stays away from the traditional retail pricing model and partners directly with its factory to reduce margins and offer transparent pricing.

SHOP COLLECTIVE CANVAS

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

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.

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.