Editor’s Note
This article highlights the critical need for clear, standardized definitions within sustainable fashion to combat greenwashing and empower consumers. As the industry grows, moving beyond vague marketing terms toward verifiable practices is essential for genuine progress.
The lexicon of sustainable fashion can be really vague. Terms that appear in brand blurbs could mean pretty much anything. For example: what does ethical production, or environmentally-sound manufacturing really mean in practice, anyway? These terms leave a whole lot of room for guesswork and open up the possibility for greenwashing on the part of brands that are, in fact, far from ethical.
As sustainable fashion fans, we also have to constantly sift through new certification types and “in vogue” terms. To illustrate, lots of luxury brands boast their goods are handmade or produced by artisans, but does that mean they were paid ethically? What about local sourcing: how vast of an area counts as ‘local’? And what exactly constitutes an artisan, as opposed to a skilled worker?
A more secure way to evaluate a brand’s sustainable practices is through ethical fashion certifications. To simplify this process, I’m breaking down the ethical fashion certifications that we look for and trust when evaluating the sustainability factor of a fashion brand.
If you want to ensure that they were produced ethically, look for clothing brands that participate in the Fashion Revolution. This will clearly indicate that their manufacturing processes ensure fair wages to all employees and that all production stages are fully traceable and transparent. Fashion Revolution doesn’t yet provide actual ethical fashion certifications, but from what we understand, they’re working on one. Watch this space!
This ethical fashion certification evaluates organic agricultural products that could comprise garments. Think: organic cotton, hemp, or linen, for example.
EcoCert started in France and has since expanded internationally. They provide agricultural training and help make plans to move farms to more organic practices. EcoCert also certifies textiles made with organically grown materials according to Organic Content Standards. The aim of this standard is to guarantee the traceability and integrity of raw materials during all stages of manufacturing.
If the cotton is produced in Pakistan, the weaving done in India, the cutting done in Bangladesh, the assembly done in China, and the printing done in the U.K., it’s really easy to get standards mixed up. But the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is one of the most trusted ethical fashion certifications out there. That’s because it unifies standards between countries and stages of production. It verifies the organic status of 70% of textiles. It can be found on clothing made from organic cotton, hemp, wool, or linen.
Today, GOTS has 19 authorized certification bodies monitoring 1.4 million workers and 4,600 facilities operating under their conditions.
Sewing is one of the most labor-intensive phases of production. It’s also the phase where the most labor problems are. So the Fairwear Foundation is one of the ethical fashion certifications that focuses on practical changes for garment workers.
Fairwear Foundation membership means a brand has followed set steps based on the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights. Employment must be chosen freely; children under 15 are not employed; equal opportunities are given to all employees; workers have a right to unionize; all employees have the right to equal opportunities, collective bargaining, a living wage, a safe environment, regular employment, and reasonable hours. In short, it’s all about the human factor in production.
The Fairwear Foundation is based in Europe and works with brands that use European production.
This is arguably the best known of all the ethical fashion certifications. The Oeko-Tex Standard tells you the textiles you’re wearing don’t contain toxic chemicals. This is especially important for children’s clothing and sleepwear.
The system they use has four tiers and includes illegal chemicals, chemicals that are legal but are considered harmful to health, chemicals considered generally safe, and safe chemicals.
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 can be used over the various production phases. Compliance testing is done by independent inspectors. Often, you’ll see Oeko-Tex certification next to GOTS certification.
Everything that grows goes back into the ground eventually, and Cradle 2 Cradle is all about this lifecycle. In short, Cradle 2 Cradle certification focuses on the organic health of a garment’s material. It checks its recyclability, renewable energy use, water efficiency quality, and the social responsibility behind its production.
In short, it’s an excellent indication of both solid ethics and sustainability.
After the human rights abuses the global fashion industry was exposed to in the 1990s, the Ethical Trading Initiative was launched to better oversee manufacturing centers. Their mission is very straightforward: to protect workers’ rights in global supply chains.
They focus on the same nine principles as the Fairwear Foundation.
