Here’s my ultimate guide to UK women’s ethical underwear brands. Whether it’s sustainable and eco-friendly bras or knickers, here are the brands prioritising comfort and style, whilst being kind to the environment.

Some brands have paid to be featured here – identifiable by the AD tag after the brand name. I only select brands that I genuinely believe are doing good things for people and the planet.

I started writing about ethical women’s lingerie in 2013, way back in the infancy of Moral Fibres. I remember lamenting about just how few brands there were, the lack of bras that went beyond a C cup, and the lack of underwire. It was a woeful picture.

Thankfully, lots of things have changed over the last 13 years or so. There are now a whole host of eco-conscious UK brands out there, using sustainable production practices and fabrics such as organic cotton or recycled fabric. They also cater to a wider size range and offer a whole lot more options and support than ever before.

Guide To Women’s Ethical Underwear Brands In The UK

If you’re looking to invest in new undies, I’ve rounded up my favourite ethical and sustainable women’s underwear brands in the UK right now. These all offer beautiful bras and knickers that are kind to the planet, whilst offering the support you need.

To make the post as helpful as possible, I’ve included a size range and average price, so you can shop according to your size and budget. I’ve also included any discounts, to help your money go further.

Not Basics

• Price: £16 – £30
• Size range: 28A – 38F
• Available directly from Not Basics

Not Basics (formerly Pantee) is a British underwear brand that aims to tackle textile waste in the fashion industry.

Catering for bra sizes 28A to 38F, Not Basics uses unsold deadstock fabric to make its comfortable undies – including soft and supportive underwire-free bras and briefs. Each bra is double-layered for extra comfort and support.

Deadstock fabric is the leftover or surplus materials from manufacturers, brands, or mills that would otherwise go to waste. This gives these unused textiles a second life.

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Lemonade Dolls

• Price: from £16 for knickers, and £30 for bras.
• Size range: 30A – 44HH for bras and UK 6 – 26 for knickers
• Available directly from Lemonade Dolls

Lemonade Dolls is another good choice for sustainable and ethical underwear.

Every single Lemonade Dolls item – both bras and knickers – is made from 100% recycled or ethically sourced materials. This includes recycled polyamide lace and Modal made from renewable beech tree fibres, which can use far less water than cotton. It also avoids the use of nickel in its trims.

In terms of people, Lemonade Dolls works with transparent suppliers whose factories are independently audited and regularly visited to check safety, fairness and working conditions. They guarantee no child labour, that all staff are paid above the minimum wage, a maximum 8 hour workday and breaks for staff.

What I also love is that any unsold garments are recycled or donated to the refugee charity Choose Love, rather than sent to landfill.

Get 20% off your first order when you sign up for the Lemonade Dolls mailing list.

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Stripe & Stare

• Price: from £18
• Size range: 6 – 22 (knickers), 26A – 42E (bras)
• Available from Stripe & Stare

Stripe & Stare, a female-fronted certified B-Corp, makes sustainable underwear designed for women who are too fun for frumpy underwear and too busy to wear anything uncomfortable. I bought some knickers from Stripe & Stare recently, and I can confirm they are so comfortable. I’m always a bit sad when they are in the wash!

Made from sustainable Tencel, its supersoft knickers and bras are available in plain neutrals or bold colours and fun prints in a wide range of styles.

What’s also to love is that Stripe & Stare plants a tree with every order placed, in collaboration with Ecologi. So your pants and bras made from trees grow more trees!

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JulieMay Lingerie | AD

• Prices start from: £21 for knickers and £58 for bras
• Size range:  30B – 40G / 42DD for bras and UK 8 – 18 for knickers
• Available directly from JulieMay Lingerie

Do you have sensitive skin that is easily irritated by your underwear? Then try JulieMay Lingerie.

​This woman-owned organic and ethical UK brand specialises in making naturally hypoallergenic bras and briefs, from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic pima cotton – known for its super soft properties – and other natural materials.

JulieMay also avoids the use of latex, nickel, exposed elastics, synthetic materials or harsh chemicals in all of its underwear. Essentially, anything that may irritate your skin is out, and only the gentlest materials are in.

For extra peace of mind, AllergyUK has scientifically tested and approved JulieMay Lingerie as being suitable for people with hypersensitive skin or allergies to synthetic fibres.

​There’s a great range to choose from. Find underwired, non-wired, bralette, sports bras, and post-surgery bras, alongside high-waisted and low rise knickers. These are all ethically and sustainably handmade in a certified production site that pays all staff well above the minimum wage.

JulieMay also supports a variety of charities. This includes Mind’s vital mental health work to AKT, which helps LGBTQ+ young people find safety and support, alongside the Eden Reforestation Project, which restores forests and livelihoods around the world.

Get 15% off at JulieMay Lingerie using the exclusive discount code MORALFIBRES at the checkout.

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ColieCo

• Price: From £30+
• Size range: 28B – 38F (custom sizing also available)
• Available from ColieCo

ColieCo sells very sexy lingerie (with underwire!), all made by hand in Portugal, using only recycled, reused, and reclaimed fabrics.

All ColieCo products are produced in-house, in a safe, comfortable, and discrimination-free working environment by highly skilled workers paid a fair and full living wage.

ColieCo manufactures its underwear to order and uses intelligent garment design and cutting processes. These processes help to keep textile waste to an absolute minimum.

Sizes for its soft and underwired bras range from 28B through to 38F. However, ColieCo does take requests for custom sizes if you need underwear outside that size range. I’d say that prices are very reasonable for handmade, ethical women’s underwear.

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Anekdot

• Price: £50 – £100
• Size range: XS – XL
• Available directly from Anekdot

Anekdot makes stylish, eco-friendly bras and knickers – in sizes XS to XL – that are designed and handmade in Berlin using sustainable materials.

These are all sourced from production leftovers, end-of-lines, off-cuts, deadstock, and vintage trimmings. 

To find these, the Anekdot team hunts down fabrics from factories that are closing down, makers’ surpluses, production errors, or miscalculations. This means the materials used have never been worn, but make for truly zero-waste, ethical underwear. 

As well as using surplus fabrics as the main material for its products, Anekdot is committed to making the absolute most of these materials.

As such, Anekdot cuts around small defects and makes its patterns in a way that minimises off-cuts. Textile scraps from its production, too small to use in any of its designs, also get used in other projects – from making accessories, patchworks, or filling pillows.

Get 10% off your first order when you sign up for the Anekdot newsletter.

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Nudea

• Price: £35 – £48
• Size range: 30A – 40GG
• Available directly from Nudea

As someone who is very much on the bigger-busted side of things (E cup over here), I have long lamented the lack of underwire from eco-friendly bra brands. I’m in my 40s, and I’ve had and breastfed two children. Let’s just say I need all the support I can get! So it was a total joy to recently discover Nudea.

This sustainable and ethically minded brand has a wide range of knickers and wired and non-wired bras in a range of colours, and inclusive styles and sizes. These are all made using natural and recycled materials, including organic cotton and recycled polyester, and are crafted with durability and longevity in mind.

As a certified B-Corp, Nudea is serious about transparency, ethics, and giving back. It pledges 1% of all sales to charity and supports access to underwear for those who can’t afford it through its partnership with the charity Smalls for All.

Nudea also displays the carbon footprint of every garment it sells, to help you make considered shopping choices. It also offers a handy bra recycling scheme to help you dispose of your old underwear responsibly.

Get 10% off your first order when you sign up for the Nudea mailing list.

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Rapanui

• Price: £10 – £15
• Size range: 8 – 14
• Available directly from Rapanui

Ethical clothing brand Rapanui makes its sustainable organic cotton underwear using natural materials in its factory, which is powered by renewable energy. Even the underhands of the bras are made sustainably from recycled polyester and natural rubber.

With vegan-friendly bralettes and knickers ethically made from organic cotton at more affordable price points, they’re sure to be undies that you turn to day after day. I just wish Rapanui could introduce more inclusive sizing options.

Get 10% off your first order when you sign up for the Rapanui mailing list.

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Sprout Organic

• Price: from £15
• Size range: 4 – 28 plus custom sizing available
• Available from Etsy

Want to add some fun to your underwear drawer? Then head straight to Sprout Organic. Here you’ll find bras and knickers – all handmade in the UK in GOTS-Certified organic cotton – in a riot of bright and bold prints.

When it comes to inclusive sizing, Sprout Organic is in its own class. Its entire range of bras is made to measure. This means it can cater to any size – perfect if you’re looking for ethical bras for larger busts.

And if you have any extra requirements, such as one cup a different size to the other, or require shorter or longer straps, then this can be accommodated at no extra charge. This doesn’t come at a premium – all of Sprout Organic’s bras cost just a reasonable £35.

There’s lots more to love about Sprout Organic. Sprout Organic strives to be as close to zero waste as possible. All fabric scraps are repurposed or recycled, and all its parcels are sent out in fully recyclable packaging.

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WUKA

• Price: £10+
• Size range: 2XS – 6XL
• Available directly from WUKA

WUKA’s size-inclusive knickers – available in bikini briefs or midi briefs – range in size from 2XS to 6XL. These are ethically made and are certified carbon-neutral and vegan-friendly.

What’s more, these ethical undies are made from Tencel modal.

Tencel is made from responsibly sourced wood pulp from carefully managed beech tree forests, which are FSC-certified to ensure sustainability. Read more in my guide to Tencel.

WUKA also sells a wire-free and unpadded bralette (pictured) in sizes XS to 2XL, in the same sustainable Tencel modal.

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Luva Huva

• Price: From £49+
• Size range: 30A – 40E (custom sizes also available)
• Available from Etsy

Luva Huva, another sustainable lingerie brand, sells stunning ethical underwear for women, all handmade in the UK. 

Its pretty range of knickers and non-underwired bras and bralettes are made using remnants, vintage fabrics, and end-of-line fabrics and trims sourced from local suppliers and producers where possible.

Natural fabrics, such as bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, soy, and Tencel, are also prioritised. These materials are all specially selected for their softness and comfort.

What’s also to love is that Luva Huva is always happy to create made-to-measure garments to fit any size. This means custom sizing is always free of charge.

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Modibodi

• Price: £21+
• Size range: 8 – 26
• Available directly from Modibodi

Finally, there’s the size-inclusive brand Modibodi. As well as being the makers of some of the best period pants around, this brand also offers underwear for a wide range of circumstances.

Its range includes ethical breastfeeding bras, sweat-proof bras, and eco-friendly underpants for incontinence, pregnancy, and perspiration. Modibodi also offers adaptive underwear for people with disabilities.

This female-founded brand uses fabrics such as GOTS-certified organic cotton. Meanwhile, its underwear is OEKO-TEX certified. This means that all of Modibodi’s products have been independently verified as being free from harmful substances.

For new customers, your order comes with a 60-day risk-free trial. This means that if you are not happy with your Modibodi underwear, it can be returned, even if you have worn it.

Get 10% off your first order when you sign up for the Modibodi newsletter.

What About The Underwire?

That’s a bit of a whistle-stop tour of the women’s ethical underwear landscape in the UK in 2026. It’s definitely an improvement from when I first started writing about underwear back in the early days of the blog, but I feel like there is scope for more improvement.

For example, as someone who wears an E cup, I’d love to see more underwired bra options. For small brands, I get it. Underwired bras are true feats of engineering. They take a lot of skill to make, as well as specialised machinery and components. I can understand why small brands don’t have the funds to invest in both the machinery and components AND in learning the skills.

The bigger brands that do make underwired bras need to be more accountable so that those of us who need underwiring can access ethically made bras with the support we need. I live in hope that day comes soon!

I update this post regularly with new makers/shops that I’ve found. So do check in next time you’re in the market for underwear. You never know, there may be more underwire!

More Sustainable Underwear Resources

If you’re looking for more sustainable undies resources, I’ve got you!

• Try my guide to UK sustainable sports bras.
• Try my handy bra-fitting tip to make your bras last longer.
• If you’re cleaning out your underwear drawer, I have a useful guide to underwear recycling.
• Plus, did you know you can recycle your bras for charity? Here’s all you need to know.

Wendy Graham