& Other Stories Review

Jen Greggs
5 min readFeb 23, 2022

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I recently went into a roomy & Other Stories store in Coal Drop yard, King’s Cross, London. & Other Stories was my favourite shopping destination before I committed to a year of buying secondhand clothes exclusively. I’d almost forgotten how much I love this brand — they just get everything so right. The knitwear with interesting details and in gorgeous colours! Probably the best range of denim on the high street!

On this visit there was a lot more evidence that the brand is taking action on sustainability: earrings made from recycled glass and brass, jeans made from a mix of recycled and organic cotton, and jumpers made from Responsible Wool Standard Wool. So, is & Other Stories now a sustainable fashion brand? I was really hoping the answer to that question is ‘yes’ as quite honestly I’d love an excuse to go back to shopping there

Products with sustainability claims seen in store in London, January 2022

What’s good

What’s not so good

  • Lots of the clothes contain some sustainable fabric but in combination with plastic-based and non-sustainable fabrics. I am in love with this green top. It contains RWS-certified wool — yay! But it’s also made from virgin polyamide and elastane, both plastics-based synthetic materials with a high carbon footprint — hmm. I consider labelling clothes which are only partly made from environmentally preferable textiles with sustainability claims to be a form of greenwashing, as it can lead me to think I’m buying something sustainable when I’m not.

My purchase

I bought these jeans, which are 99% recycled and organic cotton, and 1% elastane. This is my first purchase of new-new jeans since 2019. (The cardigan I bought from Indi & Cold, a Spanish brand.) These were the most sustainable I found in the store. There are even better options available from other brands — and I’ll be publishing an edit of sustainable denim soon! — but I decided they’re good enough.

New Other Stories Jeans

The verdict

& Other Stories has improved its sustainability performance significantly over the past three years or so — which is great — but it’s got a long way to go. A fraction of their range is sustainable so I might buy the occasional brand new & Other Stories item, but it requires scrutinising the product information details of each piece. I’ve picked up a couple of Other Stories jumpers on Depop that I adore, and will continue to buy the brand secondhand.

Other Stories cardigan. Eyes closed again!

What to read next …

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In “Sustainable fashion”

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