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Indigenous Review: Sustainable and Ethically Sourced Chemical Free ClothingView photo · 1 on record
39.5%Plant

Indigenous

United States$$Scanned 2026-09-05
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By the numbers

The smart read on Indigenous

Fibre class
Recorded
39.5%
of recorded textile styles are plant-fibre styles
Catalogue scanned
Listing data38/38
38 eligible styles recorded · 5 non-textile items excluded
Sourcing
transparency
Partial
5/5
Full farm-to-shelf
Indigenous composition
38 styles
Plant39.5%
Animal13.2%
Synthetic5.3%
Semi-synth0%
Mixed fibres42.1%
Every entry, recorded

Every recorded entry, with its finding

38 styles39.5% Plant2026-09-05 checked38 on record
Plant 39.5%Animal 13.2%Synthetic 5.3%Semi-synth 0%Mixed fibres 42.1%
#StyleStated compositionClass
001Essential Scoop TeepimaPlant
002OK WOMENS CORD WEEKEND SHIRTcotton, alpacaBlend
003AMSHA LARGE PLANTER BASKETcotton, alpacaBlend
04
05
06
07
08
09
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ElastaneSynthetic

Stretch plastic (spandex). The usual hidden ingredient in "cotton" underwear.

Found in 5 of 38 recorded styles.

Including Essential Straight Leg Pant, Active Long Sleeve Scoop Tee and Yesand Shirt Tail Bottom Henley.

Checked against all 38 recorded styles in this listing, not unscanned products.

Your recorded-material checks

Choose what you want to inspect in Indigenous’s record. This filters recorded findings; it does not assess clinical safety.

Recorded findings for Indigenous

The first 3 recorded entries are shown in this preview.

  • Essential Scoop Tee · pima
  • OK WOMENS CORD WEEKEND SHIRT · cotton, alpaca
  • AMSHA LARGE PLANTER BASKET · cotton, alpaca

A missing match in this preview does not establish absence from the full record. Open the full record

The story

About Indigenous

Owner · Scott Leonard is the owner of Indigenous.

Indigenous (Indigenous Designs) is a pioneer organic and fair-trade brand (since 1994) and an original founding B Corp (certification since lapsed) whose Fair Trace Tool lets shoppers scan a QR code to meet the specific Peruvian artisan who made the garment and see the location, techniques and social impact. Indigenous sources organic extra-long-staple Pima cotton from small family farms in Northern and Southern Peru (Chincha and Lambayeque valleys), plus organic alpaca and highland wool, and works with 1,500+ artisan knitters through named women-led cooperatives such as Sama Knits and Kero Designs on a WFTO-based fair-trade model. Its main gap is the absence of a single consolidated supplier list and unnamed spinning and dye facilities, but per-garment farm-to-artisan traceability makes Indigenous one of the most transparent brands in this set.

MaterialsIndigenous handcrafts its clothing using 100% natural and organic fabrics, and the brand names three fibres in particular: organic Peruvian cotton with extra long, cloud-soft and durable fibres, free-range alpaca raised by small-scale ranchers, and…
SourcingEvery Indigenous piece is made by hand, with individual artisans handknitting each sweater from start to finish and specialised artisans handcrafting woven designs on old-world wooden looms. Indigenous builds its supply chain around fair trade…
End of lifeAll of the dyes Indigenous uses are free of harmful chemicals, low impact, free of heavy metals and Azo-dioxazine compound free, making them safe for the wearer and the earth. For fully dye-free clothing, Indigenous…
Details
Brand NameIndigenous
CountryUnited States
Websitehttps://indigenous.com/pages/sustainable-fashion
OwnerScott Leonard is the owner of Indigenous.
Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/indigenousdesigns
Made inIndigenous garments are made in Peru, hand-knitted and hand-loomed by artisan cooperatives in the Andes (the brand cites working with hundreds of knitting/hand-looming artisan groups across South America). A 2010-era GreenMoney Journal profile additionally lists production partners in Guatemala and India. (Sources: indigenous.com/pages/our-values; GreenMoney Journal; Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire 2010.)
Certifications
GOTSIndigenous is not GOTS certified as a company, but uses organic cotton processed to GOTS standards.
VeganIndigenous clothing brand is not a vegan clothing brand.
Who is behind it
Woman OwnedIndigenous clothing brand is not a woman owned clothing brand.
Verification statusnot assessed
Scan coverage
Products in catalogue43
Products read38
Catalogue read %88.4
How it was readRecalculated SKU by SKU from the saved direct-scan CSV Band column. Plant means the complete SKU was classified as 100% plant fibre; all other textile bands fail the plant test. Unresolved and excluded products are named separately.
Sources checkedSaved direct SKU scan CSV: Indigenous.csv. Row-level URLs retained: 0 of 48.
Last checked2026-09-05
Straight talk

Where Indigenous isn’t perfect

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Confirmed at the source

What we read and checked

Read the evidence and its qualifications alongside each finding.

38 styles
Recorded findings available in this listing
Recorded data
Material evidence across 48 catalogue records
30Cotton mentioned
10Material not stated
Recorded mentions can overlap when one style uses more than one material.
Sources in the record
B Corp · Brand-attested ↗
At a glance

Recorded features & ownership

Every listing read fibre by fibre against the stated composition. Where a garment states no percentage, it is recorded as undisclosed rather than assumed.

Catalogue read
88.4%
38 / 43 styles read
Fibre score
Not assessed
published at full coverage

This catalogue has not been read in full yet. A Throne fibre score and composition breakdown are published only once every in-scope style has been read, so no fibre percentage is shown until the read is complete.

Certifications & claims

What the sources support

B CorpBrand-attestedTheir claim ↗

We are proud to be a founding B Corp... (present-tense on homepage; directory 403 not fetchable) · Checked 2026-08-08

GOTSBrand-attested

Indigenous is not GOTS certified as a company, but uses organic cotton processed to GOTS standards.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100Brand-attested

Indigenous is not OEKO-TEX certified as a company, but uses dyes approved to the OEKO-TEX 100 standard.

1% for the planetBrand-attested

Indigenous clothing brand is not a member of 1% for the Planet.

VeganBrand-attested

Indigenous clothing brand is not a vegan clothing brand.

After use

Care, repair & end of life

The full record

Every field we hold on Indigenous

The field values retain the source’s wording and qualifications. A preview is shown where the full report is not available to your account.

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Try
01Certificationssharedgood
GOTSIndigenous is not GOTS certified as a company, but uses organic cotton processed to GOTS standards.
OEKO-TEX® Standard 100Indigenous is not OEKO-TEX certified as a company, but uses dyes approved to the OEKO-TEX 100 standard.
Other CertificationsIndigenous was one of the original founding B Corporations and was recognised by B Lab as Best For The World, but it is no longer listed in the official B Corp directory (checked 14 August 2026), so it is not currently a certified B Corp. Its fair trade model is based on the standards of the World Fair Trade Organization rather than Fairtrade International certification.
02Ownership & legal entityowngood
OwnerScott Leonard is the owner of Indigenous.
Owner LinkView source
Owner / parent companyIndigenous (legal name Indigenous Designs Corporation, trading as "Indigenous" at indigenous.com) is an independent US company founded in 1994 by Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds, with Joe Flood also named as a co-founder in some accounts; the idea followed Scott Leonard's travels in Ecuador/the Andes. It is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and has no parent company on record; Matt Reynolds is listed as President on its Better Business Bureau profile. (Sources: GreenMoney Journal; Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire 2010; BBB; Utne.)
03Sourcing & supply chainsharedgood
Cotton: country of originPeru
Cotton: named farm / region / co-opSmall, often family-operated farms in Northern and Southern Peru; Chincha and Lambayeque valleys cited as growing regions
Wool: origin + farm + mulesing statusOrganic alpaca and highland/merino wool from Peru (Andean/highland; specific herding regions not disclosed); silk also used
04Scan coverage & transparencysharedwatch
Products in catalogue43
Products read38
Catalogue read %88.4
05Possible flagssharedwatch
Why no scoreNOT ASSESSED from saved CSV: 38 of 43 in-scope rows classified (88.4% coverage); possible fully plant-SKU range 34.9-46.5% can change the score band. No score is published.
Sourcing red flagsNo consolidated public factory/supplier list (traceability is per-garment via the Fair Trace Tool, not a master roster); GOTS certification not explicitly claimed despite 'organic' cotton; spinning mills and dye houses unnamed; some artisan-count/impact figures are self-reported
Possible flags
Essential Cropped Wide Leg PantMentions an elastic waistband or cuff but does not state a percentage or confirm it is elastane, so a small unquantified elastane content is possible.
Elbow Sleeve Boatneck DressThe description mentions silk, which is not in the stated composition (likely a trim, lining or care note); it is not counted in the score.
Essential Boatneck DressThe description mentions silk, which is not in the stated composition (likely a trim, lining or care note); it is not counted in the score.
06Other recorded detailssharedgood
Brand NameIndigenous
ExcerptIs Indigenous a sustainable clothing brand? See the real fibre breakdown, plant, animal or synthetic, before you buy.
Buy LinkShop link (affiliate)
The complete field ledgerMembership unlocks every recorded field on this brand.
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Verdict

Catalogue read 88.4%.

Questions & answers

Straight answers

Is Indigenous sustainable and ethical?
Documented facts: Indigenous was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA; it is a founding B Corp (widely reported as certified May 2007) and participated in Fair Trade USA's first apparel pilot (2010, confirmed by a Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire release); GreenMoney Journal documents GOTS processing and Oeko-Tex 100 approved dyes; garments are Peruvian artisan-made in natural/organic f
Where is Indigenous made?
Indigenous garments are made in Peru, hand-knitted and hand-loomed by artisan cooperatives in the Andes (the brand cites working with hundreds of knitting/hand-looming artisan groups across South America). A 2010-era GreenMoney Journal profile additionally lists production partners in Guatemala and India. (Sources: indigenous.com/pages/our-values; GreenMoney Journal; Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire 2010.)
Who owns Indigenous?
Indigenous (legal name Indigenous Designs Corporation, trading as "Indigenous" at indigenous.com) is an independent US company founded in 1994 by Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds, with Joe Flood also named as a co-founder in some accounts; the idea followed Scott Leonard's travels in Ecuador/the Andes. It is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and has no parent company on record; Matt Reynolds is listed as President on its Better Business Bureau profile. (Sources: GreenMoney Journal; Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire 2010; BBB; Utne.)
Is Indigenous legit and worth it?
Indigenous is a real, long-established clothing brand and a still-registered business, but it appears to be wound down to a near-dormant state rather than actively selling. Its website (indigenous.com) is live with a 2026 copyright and a functioning cart, its BBB profile lists it as in business (President Matt Reynolds, 1 employee), and an Instagram reel references a pop-up ending February 2026; however, the online store's collection pages ("best-sellers," "womens," "all") currently return "no products match your filter selections" (empty inventory), and a Yelp listing marks the Santa Rosa physical location as CLOSED. No bankruptcy or formal closure notice was found. Verdict: a genuine, legitimate business that is currently minimally active with an effectively empty storefront, not a scam and not confirmed defunct. (Sources: indigenous.com; BBB; Yelp listing title; Instagram.)
Is Indigenous fast fashion?
Indigenous is not fast fashion; it is a slow, small-batch, artisan/cottage-industry brand. Since 1994 it has produced hand-knitted and hand-loomed garments made to order through artisan cooperatives in natural and organic fibres (organic cotton, organic alpaca, merino wool, silk), a model that is the opposite of high-volume fast-fashion turnover. (Sources: indigenous.com; Utne; GreenMoney Journal.)
Is Indigenous non-toxic and safe for skin?
Certifications: Indigenous is documented as a founding B Corporation, described by multiple sources as one of the first cohort of Certified B Corps and certified since May 2007, and as a participant in Fair Trade USA's first apparel certification pilot announced in 2010. A GreenMoney Journal profile states it uses GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) processing and Oeko-Tex 100 approved dyes with organic-certified cotton. Not verifiable: whether the B Corp certification is currently active/renewed (the B Corp directory pages were inaccessible), and no evidence of European Flax certification was found. (Sources: multiple B Corp references; Fair Trade USA/PRNewswire 2010; GreenMoney Journal.).
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Independent directory evidence

How Indigenous compares across published ratings

These results are not interchangeable scores. Each source stays in its own published scale, with its actual scope shown beside it.

DirectoryPublished resultWhat it measures or reportsSource date
Good On You ↗Good · 4/5Planet: Good · People: Good · Animals: Good1 Mar 2023Captured 24 Aug 2026
The Throne ScanRecorded result38 eligible styles checked for stated fibre composition; 39.5% plant among recorded textile styles5 Sep 2026

External results are quoted from the linked directory record and are never converted into the Throne Scan scale.

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Last checked 2026-09-05 · verified · Ask us to rescan this listing

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