Looking for fashion companies that are actively helping others? Here are 10 fashion brands that give back.
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Caring about the brands we shop with is important because by shopping with them, we are putting our money behind their purpose and cause.
By shopping with companies that make a positive impact on people and the planet, you, too, are making a positive impact. Plus, I’ve found that shopping at brands you genuinely support and stand behind just feels better.
Recently, I have been making an effort to be more intentional about the brands I shop at, and I’ve learned a little about brands that give back.
Common ways companies give back:
One-for-one model:
One of the models you may be most familiar with is the one-for-one model. This means that when you purchase an item, such as a pair of glasses or shoes, another pair is donated to someone who needs them.
While giving back to people in need is great, it’s a double-sided coin. There are flaws in the one-for-one model. Sometimes, in reality, the goods provided make little to no impact on the overall life of the communities brands are donating to, considering the job conditions or lack of resources these communities are living with. In addition, big brands giving away these items can end up negatively impacting local producers of these goods.
Donating a percentage of their profits to a charitable cause:
Several brands also give back through monetary donations, from either a percentage of their profits or a separately established amount. Brands often donate to causes that align with their values, such as organizations that fight back against climate change, homelessness, domestic violence, lack of mental health resources, inequality and more.
Donating other goods or services:
Another way companies give back is by donating other monetary amounts, goods or services with every purchase. For example, FEED donates a certain amount of meals to children in need with every purchase made.
Making a true social impact:
One of the best ways that brands can give back is by creating safe and stable jobs, especially for those that are currently living and working in bad conditions or unemployed, and holding social responsibility as a core value of the brand.
Brands that give back:
1. Toms
One of the most known brands for the one-for-one give-back model, in its early years, TOMS donated a pair of shoes for every pair purchased.
After coming to the realization that giving a pair of shoes away for every pair purchased was much more difficult to execute and complicated, in terms of impact on the local communities’ footwear industry, the environment and the positive impact that it really made, than planned, TOMS decided to change its give-back philosophy.
Now, TOMS invests 1/3 of its profits towards cash grants and partnerships with community organizations, to drive a more sustainable change.
The brand is also a Certified B Corporation, meaning the brand has voluntarily met the highest standards for social and environmental performance. TOMS also puts out an annual 2022 Impact Report so its consumers have a transparent look at the brand’s impact.
2. Bombas
Bombas gives back through a one-for-one system in which Bombas works with 3,500+ Giving Partners to donate the top three most requested items in homeless shelters: socks, shirts and underwear.
So far, the brand has donated 75 million items to multiple organizations, including overnight shelters, transitional living facilities, street outreach teams, rehabilitation centers, title 1 schools and medical service professionals.
Read more about how Bombas gives back in the brand’s Impact Report.
3. Warby Parker
As part of their mission to help the 1 billion people around the world who need glasses but don’t have access to them, Warby Parker has a program called “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair,” in which the brand donates one pair of glasses to someone in need or help organizations administer essential eye exams and sell glasses at affordable prices for every pair of glasses purchased.
The brand partners with VisionSpring to support the low-income employees of the organization as they provide accessible eyewear to communities with few options available. Warby Parker also created Pupils Project, a program that partners with organizations and local government agencies to provide free vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to children in need.
So far, Warby Parker has donated 10 million pairs of glasses and has impacted more than 50 countries.
4. Conscious Step
Conscious Step offers a variety of socks that give back to different causes, such as animals, women empowerment, LGBTQ rights, mental health and more. As of March 2023, the company has donated more than 1 million dollars to its nonprofit partners. This has allowed them to:
- Plant 640,00+ trees
- Change 7,500+ lives with water
- Donate 88,000+ books to children
- Protect 1,500,000+ trees
- Provide 170,000+ meals to people in need
I love giving Conscious Step socks as gifts or stocking stuffers because you can select socks that correlate with a cause the person you are shopping for cares about, making the gift more personal and meaningful.
5. Patagonia
Did you know that Patagonia donated the entire company to climate change in 2022? Rather than selling the company for profit and losing the direction of the business or taking the company public, all the profits the company makes, which have been up to $100 million a year, are now donated to climate change. Read more about Patagonia being donated to climate change here.
Along with making Earth its sole owner, Patagonia is also a Certified B Corporation and a California benefit corporation, has donated 1% of annual sales to grassroots environmental nonprofits for the last 49 years, created 1% for the Planet, a non-profit corporation that encourages other businesses to do the same, and has a second-hand program called Worn Wear to help close the loop on its products.
6. DIFF Eyewear
DIFF Eyewear gives back through a buy-one-give-one program and by funding eye care for people in need. The brand partners with Sightsavers, an organization that helps DIFF provide sight-saving treatments to people in need. As of May 2023, DIFF has donated over 1.4 million pairs of reading glasses, and 3 million people have received eye care from DIFF’s Gift of Sight program.
7. FEED
FEED is one of my favorite brands that give back because some of their products, such as reusable vegetable bags and shopping totes, also help you reduce your single-use consumption.
For every purchase made, FEED donates a number of school meals to children as part of the brand’s mission to end child hunger. Since the company started in 2007, the brand (and its customers) have donated over 126 million meals. As of 2022, FEED is also a Certified B Corporation.
8. The Tote Project
The Tote Project designs fair trade tote bags, meaning that workers are paid fair wages and work in safe conditions and that there is no child or forced labor in the making of the products. Every tote sold supports sex trafficking survivors and those at risk as they pursue their dream jobs.
As of March 2023, The Tote Project has donated $49,322.16 to support sex trafficking survivors, and the company’s co-founders volunteer to teach classes to survivors on topics such as entrepreneurship and technology.
9. Solios
Solios, the first Certified B Corporation watch company, protects one acre of rainforest for every watch sold through donations to Rainforest Trust, an organization that restores one acre of rainforest every 16 seconds all over the planet.
The brand also utilizes solar technology to power its watches, builds watches with recycled stainless steel and recently launched a recharged collection consisting of refurbished watches.
10. Coyuchi
Coyuchi is a bed, bath, apparel and home brand that donates 1% of the profits from every purchase to your choice of one of the brand’s four current non-profit partners: California Native Plant Society, Fibershed, Marin Agricultural Land Trust and White Buffalo Land Trust.
The brand also uses only 100% organic cotton on its textile products to reduce its environmental impact and provide high-quality products and has a repair and resale program called 2nd Home Renewed™.
Coyuchi is also:
- Certified by the Global Organic Textiles Standard
- Fair Trade Certified
- Certified by the MADE SAFE seal
- Certified by the Global Organic Latex Standard