As temperatures slowly drop and days get shorter, people all over Europe finally say goodbye to the suffocating summer weather and start to get those hand-knitted gloves, colorful beanies, and soft scarfs out of their closets. But getting our wardrobe ready for the fall often means realizing we are in urgent need of new accessories.
If you don’t want to contribute to the disastrous impact that fast fashion is having on our planet, you may find yourself spending hours looking for the perfect sustainable alternative. But let’s be honest, not all of us have the patience to learn how to hand-knit a scarf or spend hours on the internet finding ethical, sustainable brands. This is why we created a list of our favorite five eco-friendly winter accessories brands for you to shop without worries.
Our Top 5 Sustainable Winter Accessories Brands
Qumpi
Let’s start with one of our favorites, Qumpi. Founded by Hugo Nuñez, Qumpi embodies Peru's ancient heritage, honoring the Inca legacy. The brand name's echoes the Incan reverence for high-quality fabrics, a reflection of their dedication to superior materials and craftsmanship.
Qumpi's winter collection includes sustainable scarfs crafted from Royal alpaca wool and silk, as well as vibrant, fluffy socks that brighten up winter days. What sets Qumpi apart is their commitment to natural dyes derived from plants like Achiote, Cúrcuma, and more. Their primary material is Alpaca Fiber, sometimes mixed with Silk for added elegance. Their colorful designs are the perfect piece to brighten up dark winter days.
Their products are sourced and produced in small to medium batches, guaranteeing quality and sustainability in each of their 10 to 15 garment types.
Beyond fashion, Qumpi believes in giving back. They currently support "Manos Unidas," helping indigenous Amazon communities, and have contributed to a water well project in Arequipa, the city where their products are made.
Best for: Scarfs, socks, pullovers and ponchos.
Price Range: From 30€ for a pair of socks made from baby alpaca wool up to 300€ for a high-quality pullover.
Why we love the brand: Premium and ethical alpaca wool, colorful accessories and high-quality natural fabrics.
Colorful Standard
If you’re looking for products characterized by classic elegance, Colorful Standard is the brand for you. This company sells simple designs with vibrant colors made from the best materials on the market. From emerald green merino wool beanies to soft lavender wool scarfs, this is the ideal brand if you’re searching for the perfect present for a friend with classical tastes.
Colorful Standard’s strength is in its vast variety of bold and vibrant colors. The brand’s dyeing processes also differ from the usual ones used by the fast fashion industry, as they only consume the necessary water and dyes needed for the creation of a certain product instead of producing an incredible amount of waste.
The cherry on the cake? All of Colorful Standard’s manufacturing processes take place in Portugal, following EU Labor Laws.
Best for: Scarfs, beanies, and socks.
Price Range: From 10€ for a pair of socks up to 65€ for a merino wool scarf.
Why we love the brand: Vibrant colors, minimum waste, and 100% European.
Rifo Lab
From colorful capes to soft gloves, and warm beanies, Rifo is the perfect shop if you need to get your wardrobe ready for the fall season. This brand only uses fabrics coming from 50% recyclable materials that are biodegradable and entirely natural.
Fully based in Italy, except for a single retailer based in Spain, this brand works with local artisans, located within the area of Prato, a small city close to Florence. Rifo Lab offers a variety of recycled cashmere beanies, maxi ponchos made from recycled cotton, and long gloves to warm up your hands on the coldest days.
Best for: Scarfs, gloves, beanies, and ponchos.
Price Range: From 34€ for a pair of gloves up to 100€ for a recycled cashmere poncho.
Why we love the brand: Entirely EU-based, recycled materials, an incredible variety of products.
Tentree
Tentree was born with a simple goal in mind: let’s plant as many trees as possible. This brand, selling scarfs, beanies, and other winter accessories, plants trees for every purchase you make. Up till now, Tentree has planted over 100 million trees and helped more than 75 million communities all over the world from Madagascar to Indonesia. This brand ensures that all its workers are properly compensated with fair wages by auditioning each partner factory on a regular basis.
On top of this, Tentree uses only organic or recycled materials, cutting back on water waste and CO2 emissions. Some of the products sold by this company include eco-friendly cotton beanies and wool-woven plaid scarfs.
Best for: Scarfs, beanies.
Price Range: From 17€ for a beanie up to 110€ for a sweater.
Why we love the brand: Over 100 million trees planted and a great variety of products.
Patagonia
Patagonia’s aim is to move towards a greener future and it does so with several campaigns targeting a myriad of problems from oil drilling to the reduction of protected lands by the hands of the USA’s ex-President Donald Trump.
If you don’t have the time to be an activist but still want to contribute to environmental causes, purchasing Patagonia’s products is the ideal solution for you. This brand is also famous for devoting 1% of its total earnings to environmental groups trying to make a concrete difference on our planet.
On Patagonia's website, you will find 100% recycled polyester beanies, the warmest gloves for your mountain hike, and other eco-friendly winter accessories.
Best for: Beanies, gloves, and more.
Price Range: From 23€ for a colorful beanie up to 80€ for the best quality gloves.
Why we love the brand: Involved in plenty of different causes to fight climate change and save our planet.
