Hannah Ernst

As of April 2023, over 40 brands and retailers have signed the binding agreement on ensuring safe working conditions, promoting worker empowerment and protection, and supporting collective bargaining agreements. One of the world’s biggest denim brands producing in Pakistan has yet to sign the Pakistan Accord: Levi Strauss & Co and Wrangler. Global support for the Pakistan Accord has been growing among competing retailers, yet these two denim brands ignore accusations and neglect the possibility of being a leader in the worker safety space.

International denim brands like Levi’s can only stay relevant in the long haul if they show concern for environmental and ethical issues. Big corporations today are swimming against a strong undercurrent of activism and have to compete with emerging brands that embed social and environmental justice in the core of their business models. By disregarding workers’ rights, companies like Levi’s ultimately run the risk of being exchanged for alternatives. Luckily, some brands are already committed to ethics and the environment. To kick off Earth Month, this is our round-up of six sustainable denim brands that are alternatives to big brands like Levi’s who won’t commit to saving workers lives in Pakistan and preventing the likes of another Rana Plaza tragedy.