TENCEL™ puts the T in sustainability—but what is TENCEL clothing exactly?
It’s that which is made from a specific brand of lyocell fabric or (less commonly) modal fabric, trademarked by the Austrian company Lenzing.
TENCEL™ is widely regarded as the most sustainable semi-synthetic fabric due to the fact that Lenzing manufactures strictly using a closed-loop process—meaning they recycle all water and chemicals used to turn the wood cellulose into something silken. No wonder its popping up faster than the eucalyptus trees from which it comes.
Using sustainable materials alone isn’t enough though. With our Brand Rating System, we will soon be judging brands based on 22 criteria, to ensure they’re both sustainably and ethically sound. See more about what to expect when we next refresh this in our explainer here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
A Quick Look At The Best TENCEL™ Clothing Brands
Toad&Co makes those long flights feel like a breeze thanks to their breezy and comfortable TENCEL™ travel clothing.
In love with circular fashion, Amour Vert has a platform where old TENCEL™ clothes can be resold or traded.
Index: TENCEL™ Clothing Manufacturers
- Organic Basics Jump to brand
- Toad&Co Jump to brand
- Amour Vert Jump to brand
- tentree Jump to brand
- Tradlands Jump to brand
- Paneros Clothing Jump to brand
- Encircled Jump to brand
Organic Basics
About Organic Basics
Price Range: $$–$$$
Organic Basics is (perhaps obviously) one of the best organic clothing brands, especially for those everyday essentials we all wear.
Their clothing made of TENCEL™ includes mostly underwear and basics (like simple t-shirts), along with some women’s dresses and pants.
Organic Basics’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
We know TENCEL™ is the primary material in all garments in this collection, but their website does not make it clear whether it’s 100% TENCEL™ clothing or still contains the 5% of elastane we know it once did.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Organic Basics’ factory details (including which factory made each item) are super transparent: how many employees, hours worked, vacation days, etc. These factories are regularly visited and backed up by REACH, GOTS, BSCI, and/or OEKO-TEX certifications.
Their manufacturers take the form of one of two Portuguese factories, one of which is also SA8000-certified and bluesign®-approved.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Sending orders via carbon-neutral shipping, participating in the Regenerative Organic Cotton Pilot Project in Turkey, and operating a low impact website that offsets the carbon emissions generated by browsing, they’re clearly conscious of their environmental impact.
Beyond the “pain killer” solution of carbon offsets, they’re tackling the problem at the source by aiming to reduce emissions by 50% by 2025.
Inclusivity:
Women’s sizes run from XS-XL and men’s from S-XXL.
Community & charitable giving:
They’re a member of 1% for the Planet, through which they actively support organizations like Nordic Ocean Watch and Rewilding Europe.
Toad&Co
About Toad&Co
Price Range: $–$$
From Toad&Co themselves: “We love TENCEL™ so much we would marry it.”
Toad&Co’s TENCEL™ women’s clothes includes a selection almost as wide as its Chaka Wide Leg Pants—along with tops, bottoms, dresses, and underwear. Their men’s collection is smaller, featuring only tees and undies.
Toad&Co’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Most of the brand’s TENCEL™ lyocell clothing is blended with GOTS-certified organic cotton and a small percentage of elastane.
Only their underwear is almost all TENCEL™ with a touch of spandex.
Supply chain & labor practices:
A California factory that employs disabled adults is where some of their garments are manufactured. Toad&Co partners with global manufacturers for the rest.
Regardless of where the TENCEL™ clothes are made, every factory adheres to the brand’s code of conduct and is regularly audited.
They’ve been featured on Outside Magazine’s best places to work in the sustainable outdoor clothing and gear industry for several years running.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Toad&Couses recycled/reusable/reusable packaging. Wait, reusable?
When checking out, customers have the option to receive their order in a LimeLoop Mailer, which can be sent back to be shipped out again.
Toad&Co also sends any scraps to The Renewal Workshop to be transformed into new garments and offsets all HQ emissions.
Inclusivity:
All sizes run XS-XL.
Community & charitable giving:
Not only are they a contributor to 1% for the Planet, but they also provide travel and outdoor adventure opportunities for their disabled employees.
Amour Vert
About Amour Vert
Price Range: $–$$$
With a name that’s French for “green love”, it’s hardly any wonder Amour Vert has a penchant for green and sustainable materials like TENCEL™ in the aptly-named Dream Collection, which features a dreamy range of jumpsuits, pajamas, dresses, tops, and pants.
Like the Agnes Dream Knit Jumpsuit, all the styles are so classy and elegant, they make for excellent sustainable work clothing—even if that means working from home in their PJs.
Amour Vert’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Their range consists of TENCEL™ modal clothing, made mostly of modal with minimal spandex for stretch.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Like the majority of Amour Vert’s clothing, all are made in the USA where labor laws are more strictly enforced.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The TENCEL™ is created using a closed-loop, carbon-neutral process and finished garments are shipped in compostable or recyclable materials printed with soy inks.
The ReAmour program allows customers to resell any unwanted Amour Vert pieces to keep them in circulation.
Inclusivity:
XS-XL sizes are available.
Community & charitable giving:
For every t-shirt purchased, they plant a tree through American Forests®.
tentree
About tentree
Price Range: $–$$
tentree makes some of the best TENCEL™ men’s clothing—along with that for women. Not only do they make clothing out of wood pulp, but they take a page out of the circularity playbook by supporting global reforestation projects to plant more trees.
Check them out for men’s and women’s TENCEL™ tops, leggings, sweats, hoodies, PJs, and more—like the all-in-one outfit, the Tencel Slater Jumpsuit.
tentree’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
You’ll find some 100% TENCEL™clothing—including the sustainable jumpsuits—but the rest feature sustainable fabric blends. TreeWaffle garments contain lyocell, GOTS-certified organic cotton, and elastane.TreeFleece is made of lyocell, organic cotton, and recycled polyester.
Any buttons are made of coconuts.
Supply chain & labor practices:
tentree is one of the top-rated Certified B Corps. They can show you the impact of every garment made and have a factory ledger detailing their manufacturing partners. Many of these partners are certified by organizations like BSCI, WRAP, SA800, Fair Trade, and the Fair Wear Foundation.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
As a Climate Neutral brand, tentree purchases carbon offsets for their already minimal emissions. You can do the same with their Climate + offset subscription packages. You can offset your (or your family’s) monthly emissions or help clean up the industry. They have zero single-use plastic consumption.
Inclusivity:
Sizes range XS-XXL for women and S-XXL for men.
Community & charitable giving:
tentree has an affinity for trees (obviously), which is why they plant ten for every purchase. By 2030, they should far exceed their goal of planting 1 billion trees.
Tradlands
About Tradlands
Price Range: $$–$$$
Tradlands wants to be the antithesis of fast fashion. To achieve that they opt for durable fabrics and simple details with just two small batches released per year.
Shop slow and sustainably with their quaint but essential collection of ladies’ TENCEL™ shirts, dresses, and pants.
Tradlands’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Tradlands’ fabric choices vary somewhat depending on what upcycled deadstock they can source, but a 70/30 TENCEL™/linen blend is one of their core fabrics.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Tradlands partners with two family-owned factories. One produces knitwear and the other woven goods. These factories adhere to US-based regulations ensuring fair trade-compliant work hours and overtime pay.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
They transform waste into scrunchies and use sustainable materials for packaging like compostable cornstarch poly bags and FSC-certified hang tags.
Inclusivity:
Szies range from XXS to 4X.
Community & charitable giving:
Each order helps fight rainforest by supporting Certified B Corp One Tribe.
Paneros Clothing
About Paneros Clothing
Price Range: $$$–$$$$
Paneros Clothing combines small batch styles with California-inspired design. The conjunction of the Greek words pan and eros mean “love all”.
While primarily an upcycled clothing brand, their natural sustainable fabrics show the earth some love, too. Shop their floral, flirty, and fabulous collection of TENCEL™ women’s shirts, blouses, dresses, and skirts or opt for something sleek and professional, like Kate Blazer and matching trousers.
Paneros Clothing’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Paneros’ lyocell is sometimes blended with less-sustainable types of rayon fabric. However, these are sourced as deadstock. They never use new synthetic materials. It’s all OEKO-TEX-certified and either undyed or dyed naturally.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Designing and dyeing happen in Los Angeles, which is also where repurposed pieces are sourced and handcrafted. For non-upcycled pieces, manufacturing partners are based in Indonesia, one of which is WRAP certified and the other specializes in “slow fashion”.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Paneros turns fabric scraps into scrunchies, only produces small batches (60 pieces or fewer), and utilizes traditional handcrafting techniques. Their mailers are made from 100% recycled materials.
Inclusivity:
Paneros accommodate sizes XS-XL (2-12).
Community & charitable giving:
Not only are they members of 1% for the Planet, but have also donated 10% of proceeds to the ACLU and CDC Foundation in past years.
Encircled
About Encircled
Price Range: $$–$$$
For comfortable, uncompromising style, check out Encircled.
Take our word for it and add the Dressy Sweatpant to your wardrobe. This has become one of our all-time favorite wardrobe pieces, for both professional and casual wear alike. The MicroModal fabric makes it buttery soft to the touch, wrinkle-free, and so cozy you could live in it—as we often do! Especially for folks like us who work primarily from home, its unmatched comfort is so appreciated, as is its couch-to-cubicle versatile appearance.
Those who do a lot of business travel (or just travel in general) will also love it because it’s a comfortable airplane pant that makes it look like you didn’t just get off an airplane when you land!
Encircled’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Encircled uses both Lenzing Modal® and TENCEL™ lyocell fabric, both usually blended with a small percentage of spandex. Occasionally, organic cotton, organically-grown bamboo clothing, or linen is blended in, too.
All materials are OEKO-TEX-certified and dyed using non-toxic dyes.
Supply chain & labor practices:
This Certified B Corp manufactures in Canada within 60 km from their Toronto HQ, and about 50% of their fabrics are knit in Ontario, too. All partners are vetted using their Ethical Code of Conduct checklist.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Some garments—like the Everyday Twist Top—are designed to be worn in multiple ways, maximizing style variety while minimizing consumption. Scrap fabric is upcycled into accessories or industrial products.
True to their name, Encircled has a Facebook community for selling, buying, and trading Encircled clothes, and resources for anyone curious about circular fashion.
Inclusivity:
Sizes run from XS-4X, or 0-20 with models representing all sizes.
Community & charitable giving:
Their Encircled “Impact” Fund provides grants to emerging non-binary and women-identifying BIPOC-founded Canadian brands. 15% of their collaborations, giveaways, and pop-up markets are dedicated to Black-owned brands.
Heather earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from the The Ohio State University before completing a Masters in Environment at The University of Melbourne. She then went on to achieve a Permaculture Design Certificate at the Djanbung Gardens. Heather feels best when she is barefoot in a forest or has dirt under her fingernails. She’s constantly daydreaming about her homesteading future and has a rapidly-growing list of the best local (and not-so-local) hiking trails. When she’s not busy hoarding an embarrassing number of upcycled glass jars, experimenting with urban composting, or quelling her eco-anxiety on a long run, Heather spends her 9-5 working for a sustainable agriculture nonprofit, where she advocates for state and federal policies that support thriving farmers and a habitable future.
