I’ve switched over to only buying clothes made in EU countries, if at all possible, a while ago. Today, as far as I know, is the first day of wearing only clothing made in the EU and it does feel like a small achievement. I’ll try and share some findings I made along the way for this community and welcome additional Ideas and inspiration. I’ll start from the top.
- Baseball cap by Armedangels (German company) made in Portugal
- Shirt by Eterna (German company) made in Romania (although Eterna can be tricky as they have manufacturing in China as well)
- T-shirt by Sanvt (German company) made in Portugal
- Trousers by Hansen Garments (Danish company) made in Italy (while pricy, this has become my new favourite option to replace the casual but sturdy type of trousers I used to buy from Carhartt. I also tried Meyer Herrenhosen, a German company, Made in Romania, which were fine but not exactly what I personally prefer)
- Belt from H&M (Swedish company) made in Sweden
- Underwear by Hanro (Austrian company) made in Bulgaria
- Socks from my local Kaufland (German company) made by Softsocks (Bulgarian company) in Bulgaria (although I also own several pairs of Treazy socks, which are made in Portugal and my daughter has come to absolutely love the colourful SOXN socks made in Germany)
- Shoes by Giesswein (Austrian company) [Edit: made in Austria this is a legacy item; Giesswein seems to have switched manufacturing to Asia recently, I therefore recommend Shoepassion also for more casual shoes, as these are still made in Europe, mostly Portugal] (for work I often wear Shoepassion shoes, made in Portugal, with different models made in other EU countries)
Some of these were fairly easy to find and available at major stores (H&M, Kaufland, online at Zalando) others were more obscure. Especially the more specific pieces like sturdy but good looking trousers took some searching. Surprisingly some pieces like the shoes or the shirt had been in my wardrobe for ages already without me paying attention to their “Made in” labels.
Generally some “responsible” brands like Armedangels have been amazing with their transparency, declaring where every piece is manufactured in their online shop. On the other side established brands like Eterna sent me a friendly response to my Email explaining that they themselves couldn’t say for sure which of their products is made where and recommended checking the label or EAN code.
Finally it’s obviously a bit more expensive to buy European. But then again workers in Portugal, Bulgaria or Austria have completely different working conditions than their peers in Bangladesh. Overall I will certainly try to continue buying EU made clothes whenever possible. I’d love to hear from other users who have gone on similar journeys or who might have different input.
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You’re an inspiration!
I’ve switched to varusteleka eu made gear and sievi work boots 5 years ago. It was trivial to do, way cheaper in long run, and also I look totally badass. Buying exactly same things every year or two is such a satisfying slap to fast fashion!
the varusteleka stuff looks a lot like what you encounter in Stalker (the game) - you’re right, looks badass :-)
I actually happen to know a few stalker characters irl. And I maintain pripyachka.com now. And hang out with a dude who cares for Strugatskii’s apartment. One of them turns 100 today I think, that’s one of reasons I’m drunk now.
they did recently sponsor/contribute funds for the ongoing development of the game
Road To Vostok, which is very Stalker like
You consider once a year not fast fashion? Whats is fast fashion then? Genuine question, i hate fashion and buying clothes and generally wear stuff until it’s not “ok” and/or mendable anymore.
I resupply once a year, it doesn’t mean I discard them. I’ve got to change clothes once in a while, something goes bad during the year (usually 1 shirt and dozen socks). I spend much time working in forest and on farm, training dogs. Things break.
Makes sense, i was just surprised thinking about it, thx for the insight
On a journey like this what I found most difficult is not to go insane. With search engines sucking (though you can narrow down google to look only in EU) it’s sometimes really annoying to find every little item from an EU company. I still buy used non-EU clothes on Vinted, because who cares, they’re already there. Patagonia is cool despite being an US company, so they get a pass.
Finally it’s obviously a bit more expensive to buy European. But then again workers in Portugal, Bulgaria or Austria have completely different working conditions than their peers in Bangladesh.
Things have a base price. The fact that you can buy a t-shirt for 5 euro doesn’t mean that this is how much it “should” cost. It means that the company cut every corner possible to nuke the price to an absurdly low level, where it’s downright unhealthy to the ecosystem/industry at that price. It’s not that the made in EU clothes are expensive, it’s just that the price is just right if European manufacturing and natural/recycled materials are important to you.
Shoes by Giesswein (Austrian company) made in Austria
Are You sure? I’ll be lazy and leave a link to one of my previous comments.
Maybe they have different models sourced differently. I’m positive that the two pairs I own were made in Austria (at least that’s what’s on the made in label)
Edit: I’ll take a look under the soles just to be sure, as I recall the made in declaration was part of the packaging at the time. I’ve owned the shoes for a while though.
Edit 2: It looks like I am indeed the proud owner of shoes that were once made in Austria but, the way it looks, no longer are available since manufacturing has moved to Asia. I’ll buy new casual shoes from Shoepassion, since they still manufacture in Europe. Thanks for pointing this out to me!
Interesting Read Keep it up!
I switched to Hanro underwear, and besides being EU, they are a great comfort and fit. 100% recommend!
That was my last piece of the puzzle. I really look forward to the long term comfort you described.
Armedangels (German company)
(≖_≖ ) … “poor”? “arms”? … “Dangels”, wzf are Dangels, Brudi… oh wait, that’s English, goodness gracious…
Good job, way better than I’ve managed so far :) Now how to avoid Kaufland and the like for their less than stellar treatment of employees?
Haha! For the socks I also mentioned Treazy as an alternative. Armedangels also has socks made in EU, although I haven’t bought any.
I’d recommend checking out Asket. They have a lot of transparency. I assume that not every step of every product is within the EU, but you should be able to see it per product.
Thanks for sharing! That is truly the gold standard of transparency. Obviously it’s impossible to have 100% of everything all the way to the cotton farm made in Europe, it’s still worth it to try and have more of the value chain remain local or regional in my opinion.
Linen can be farmed and processed in Europe.
Hansen Garments (…) while pricy Finally it’s obviously a bit more expensive to buy European. But then again workers in Portugal, Bulgaria or Austria have completely different working conditions than their peers in Bangladesh.
You weren’t kidding. 2400 euro for an ugly jacket? I support buying European, but rather than giving these fucks 2400 euro, just buy the fast-fashion jacket and separately track down a Bangladeshi garment worker and gift them 2400.
2400 euros for 10-15 years or 200 euros every year? That has to be taken into account.
Just because its expensive, it doesn’t mean its going to last a long time 😅
In that case indeed, it doesn’t look like long lasting stuff. And 2400€ is way way overpriced. it’s not clothing, it’s social signaling.
Do you work in a woodchipper? Besides, the jacket I linked didn’t survive until the end of the photo shoot.
How the fuck can a 200 euro jacket only last 1 year?! Is that serious?
I don’t know, I don’t wear those. T-Shirts and coats but no jackets.
The Hansen trousers look great. At the moment I am buying used Carhartt or Levis as they are affordable. But especially Carhartt Jeans have been getting worse.
Did you buy one of their Jeans and can you tell me something about the fit? 300+ Euros is quite the asking price
Thanks! I own this pair of Hansen trousers. I’ve used them as a replacement for the Master Pant. I appreciate the wide cut that allows for better movement and just looks solid in my opinion. Both are fitted at the hip and go straight downwards from there with no fancy tapering or anything like that. Both Hansen and Carhartt have a similar level of “sturdyness”, for lack of a better word. While it’s a bit painful to essentially pay double for a European made alternative, I can afford it and will continue doing it. I fully understand that others may not have the same level of financial freedom here.
Thanks, I was looking at the jeans in particular. Actual Denim is hard to get nowadays or so it seems and while these are not made in Europe, they are made in Japan, which is reasonable I guess. The price makes more than the cheaply made but expensive stuff some other companys sell
If you’re looking for denim, this could be a place to look. All trousers made in Europe (Romania).
Well done!
Sad, that Strauss mainly manufactures in Bangladesh. I love their clothes.
Hummel is also pretty good at sneakers
but they dont produce in Europe
Great achievement!
I personally tried
https://mudjeans.com/ https://fairjeans.de/
Bleed sadly went bankrupt, did not order from their new label yet: https://www.picea.earth/
On the shoe side of life I like barefoot shoes. Many labels available with european production (Wildling, vivobarefoot, and so on). Personally very happy with my Vivos. Lasted like 8 years and now they even repair them. Looking forward to getting them back soon.
Meyer is a German company that makes topnotch pants
