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.

    • jjpamsterdam@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      4·
      16 days ago

      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!

  • Lumidaub@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    16 days ago

    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?

    • jjpamsterdam@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      2·
      16 days ago

      Haha! For the socks I also mentioned Treazy as an alternative. Armedangels also has socks made in EU, although I haven’t bought any.

  • RidderSport@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    16 days ago

    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

    • jjpamsterdam@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      1·
      16 days ago

      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.

      • RidderSport@feddit.orgEnglish
        1·
        16 days ago

        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

  • thzihdd@feddit.orgEnglish
    1·
    16 days ago

    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.

    • jjpamsterdam@feddit.orgOPEnglish
      8·
      16 days ago

      Thanks I guess, although this might be ironic. Just to be on the safe side: the real European heroes are currently sitting in a bunker in Donetsk or manning an air defence system in Kyiv.